A few questions ?

[spetersen]

Hi Ron,

From someone who was in the business, was a jukebox and wall boxes taken care of by the diner, or a route person? Who would pick the music offered, Who would change the records and title strips? Who would collect the money?

Thanks,

Scott

[Ron Rich]

Hi Scott,
Operator--in 99 % of the cases-- Read the "Hi Newbies posts" in FAQ's Ron Rich

[Lincoln]

I was curious about how long a jukebox would stay in service or how long it would stay at a particular establishment. With new models coming out every year, did they change frequently? I remember putting quarters in the jukebox at our local tavern, but I never paid attention to. Were not jukeboxes very expensive, like the price of a car at the time?

Lincoln

[Ron Rich]

Hi Lincoln,
That length of time was determined by various factors, such as "competition" (I'll give you a "better deal-newer/better jukebox--") and of course, revenue earned by each location--and area of the country. In some areas "loans" were offered to the location by the operator. A lot of it depended on the operator-- We ( my operating partner, and I), found it was really no problem. We tended to keep our phono's ( and other stuff) well maintained, and relied on customer word of mouth, for new locations. If on the rare occasion that we could not fix something in 24 or less hours, we changed the machine. We seldom got "bumped" ! We had about 100 phonographs in our operation. One chain of restaurants wanted only one model phono in their stores. They had 26 of the same model phono's. I always kept a spare, re-built one of those, in reserve for them. I can only remember one time I used that spare-- and they were very appreciative that I did so ( they remodeled the area, and the phono got badly damaged in the process, the day prior to re-opening). Ron Rich

[juke46]

Ron,
That is an interesting and informative post. I've only known a few of the people who actually owned and maintained the machines for locations. They were usually generous with their knowledge and experiences. Great Stories of how it was! When we first began a search for a jukebox we went to a big operator who did all sorts of vending machines. He had a number of used jukeboxes they would sell but they seemed very expensive and AS-IS, of course. Many looked like they had been in a war. We visited several small operators and had a bit better luck but we kept on looking for the best buy with my zero knowledge of the machines.

Finally we ended up at the AMI dealership. They were also obviously surprised that some "Nut" would want one for home use. Their prices were better too. Friendly, but they kept trying to sell me one of those used "trade-in" machines that played the record in a vertical position, called Seeburg". I, in my brilliance, was not buying something that played records like that! Nothing but trouble! As I think I mentioned previously, we ended up with a "shopped out" AMI Continental 2 with a real turntable for $150. They refused to sale a manual or even a copy of the manual. I was also strongly admonished, by the man selling it, "keep your hands off of it". Well, it was about 1972, who would want a jukebox in the house. "We Would"! People thought phonographs were supposed to play records at home, not a brightly lit beautiful jukebox! We had it for many years without any problems. A little lubrication was about all I ever did except for those darn microswitches that did get out of adjustment once. Everyone loved it, on free play, of course.

In a year or two one of the AMI guys (the really crabby one) opened his own business and was selling refurbished machines. We could not afford another but I went there to see about a AMI Continental shop manual and to look at his restored machines. He had the desired manual but would not allow me to take it to be copied. I could certainly understand his concern. Finally, with sympathy from his lovely wife, a $100 dollar deposit plus a $35 actual charge for the use of it plus the cost to copy it I now had a decent copy! Today, I now have a real shop manual, not a fading copy!

That machine, our first, was finally sold so I would have the additional cash to buy a 24 select Wurlitzer jukebox. We loaded the AMI into the buyer's open bed pickup truck. He was ready to go, I offered rope to secure it but my offer was refused with an annoyed "it don't need tied down". I wonder if it made it to wherever he was going?

[Ron Rich]

Hi David,
About 15-25 ? years ago I got a call asking me if I would be willing to use my pick up truck, (with a "Tommy Gate" on it) to pick-up and deliver a phono from San Jose to San Francisco ( about 60 mi). This person offered a very good amount of $$ for it, so I said "yes". The day came and I picked up a Contie-2, tied it to my truck and took off-- Just getting on the Freeway and looked in my rear-view mirror and noticed that the Contie, was "tilting"--being strangled by my strap ! So I stopped my truck on the ramp,got out, hopped onto the bed and up-righted the phono. I re-positioned my straps, and jumped off the bed--at which point, I realized that I had left the engine running, the park brake "off", and had, as was my habit, locked the door upon exiting ! I'll let you imagine the words I uttered ! I used a block of wood I always carried for a wheel chalk. I looked for the "roadside call box" the state had provided about every half mile--sure enough, I was dead center between two. When the Hi-way Patrol guy got there, we both laughed. He waited, with me, for the tow truck -- long and short of this story--I will not move a Contie, if the "radar screen" is still attached ! Ron Rich

[edison]

Hi everyone,

I'm still new to this website. How do I track if one of my comments has been commented on? A lot of times I will comment on threads and have a hard time keeping track. Is there something that I am missing?

[spetersen]

If you click on the participated button you will see the posts that you made, if new posts were added yours, there will be the word new on the participated button

[Ron Rich]

Edison,
First off--Do not "hack" posts-- Start a new one ! PLEASE read, the Hi Newbies post in our FAQ's section ! Ron Rich