Post by juke46 on Apr 3, 2019 10:34:49 GMT
Jukeboxes That Went To Mexico and Then Came Home To USA
Anna and I planned a vacation driving trip over a large part of America. I had rebuilt a small enclosed rental trailer from a defunct rental company. It had funny little elephants painted all over it. This was likely about 1980. We'd be seeing the countryside and looking for jukeboxes or? No schedule, no hurry, just wherever the roads took us. There was one in particular we wanted, a 1941 Wurlitzer 750 and/or whatever else we found. Anna liked the 750 model because it was small in comparison to other machines.
We did find a 750-E but it had served time in Mexico. That was a real negative, but we wanted a 750 very badly. It had all the original plastics. A big plus since they appeared in good condition. Amazingly all the metal castings were present and unbroken. The castings, of course, were in dire need of being re-plated. One must also be cautious buying such a machine in another way as well. Termites love to eat them. I suppose this means termites have good tastes? This one was termite free. I think the thick coatings of bright paint were too much for any termite to digest. Perhaps they just did not like the bright color scheme?
A machine from Mexico will have been very well-used and abused. We had a friend, Bill, who was a jukebox repairman and had extensive training. He served his Country during WWII repairing machines everywhere. This included foreign countries where American soldiers were serving. They needed the music and a reminder of home. Bill could make a Wurlitzer 24 selection mechanism as good as new replacing worn parts and adjusting it perfectly. He had certain parts remade so every part was available as new or recycled from another mechanism. Bill rebuilt our 750 Wurlitzer mechanism and it has been flawless for all of these years.
Another serious consideration is Mexico's coins do not work in American jukeboxes. This translates to "if it is from Mexico it is not going to have the original coin gear". This one had a fabricated tin ramp which a coin (or any round coin like object) would roll down and close a small microswitch allowing for one credit to be created. Since, at the time, other vintage machines were finding their way back to the USA from Mexico American replacement coin gear was very difficult to acquire and also very costly. After a time of searching and advertising we found the coin gear. The machine was finally complete and functional. We found the machine in Shreveport, Louisiana. We had received a tip about it while wandering around in one of many antique shops in Jefferson, Texas.
imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/1575/XqPR3A.jpg
imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6876/hZ5HgO.jpg
juke46 - Peoria, Arizona
Anna and I planned a vacation driving trip over a large part of America. I had rebuilt a small enclosed rental trailer from a defunct rental company. It had funny little elephants painted all over it. This was likely about 1980. We'd be seeing the countryside and looking for jukeboxes or? No schedule, no hurry, just wherever the roads took us. There was one in particular we wanted, a 1941 Wurlitzer 750 and/or whatever else we found. Anna liked the 750 model because it was small in comparison to other machines.
We did find a 750-E but it had served time in Mexico. That was a real negative, but we wanted a 750 very badly. It had all the original plastics. A big plus since they appeared in good condition. Amazingly all the metal castings were present and unbroken. The castings, of course, were in dire need of being re-plated. One must also be cautious buying such a machine in another way as well. Termites love to eat them. I suppose this means termites have good tastes? This one was termite free. I think the thick coatings of bright paint were too much for any termite to digest. Perhaps they just did not like the bright color scheme?
A machine from Mexico will have been very well-used and abused. We had a friend, Bill, who was a jukebox repairman and had extensive training. He served his Country during WWII repairing machines everywhere. This included foreign countries where American soldiers were serving. They needed the music and a reminder of home. Bill could make a Wurlitzer 24 selection mechanism as good as new replacing worn parts and adjusting it perfectly. He had certain parts remade so every part was available as new or recycled from another mechanism. Bill rebuilt our 750 Wurlitzer mechanism and it has been flawless for all of these years.
Another serious consideration is Mexico's coins do not work in American jukeboxes. This translates to "if it is from Mexico it is not going to have the original coin gear". This one had a fabricated tin ramp which a coin (or any round coin like object) would roll down and close a small microswitch allowing for one credit to be created. Since, at the time, other vintage machines were finding their way back to the USA from Mexico American replacement coin gear was very difficult to acquire and also very costly. After a time of searching and advertising we found the coin gear. The machine was finally complete and functional. We found the machine in Shreveport, Louisiana. We had received a tip about it while wandering around in one of many antique shops in Jefferson, Texas.
imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/1575/XqPR3A.jpg
imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6876/hZ5HgO.jpg
juke46 - Peoria, Arizona
