Trash Picked Tuesday: The one that started it all!

I've been saving up this one since I started Trash Picked Tuesday! This is probably the very first item we ever trash-picked. And by 'we', I mean my brother and I, since we were both still living at home over 15 years ago.

This was one of those things that was just too cool to pass up, even before I knew exactly what it was. I happened along it curbside while driving through my neighborhood one cold winter night. I'm not sure what made me stop, because the last thing my parents probably wanted me to bring home was a fake fireplace. Perhaps I only wanted the firelog insert- I know I must have noticed the electrical cord sticking out the back.

So I went home and persuaded my brother to come over with his truck and we loaded it up. Not until we got home did we discover what was inside:

The left side door opens to reveal a lighted and mirrored bar. The mirrored panel also rotates to another side which has slots for LP records. Why LP records? Because the right side door opens to reveal a stereo component system, with an analog tuner, record player and 8 track deck. The red panels on either side of the fireplace are actually speakers. There's a better pic of the right side here (not my auction, just had a good photo!). And my brother does still have the square trim piece that goes on the right side door- just didn't get put back after the big move- it's in his new place. (The item sitting on top of the fireplace, that looks like a ventilated cooler is a Seeburg BMI-1000, another incredible piece of 1960s electronics, and another post.)

Turns out this piece was made by Koronette, an East German company, sometime in the late 60s. It had a state-of-the-art stereo system, along with the bar and the electric fire logs. Three ways to entertain yourself in one super cool trash picked item!

Cool stuff from Chez QT: the jukebox

Today I'm feeling crappy, so no Make-it-from Scratch Monday post, just a random pic of cool stuff at Chez QT. Plus, I'm crazy busy getting ready for my son's birthday party- he turns 6 tomorrow. So you just get to enjoy some eye candy, my 1959 Seeburg jukebox:

 When I was growing up, this used to be in the Rec room of my parents' church. It never worked, and was kind of in disrepair, with the title strips all wonky. But as a small child I used to love just going over to push the buttons, even though nothing ever happened. I used to tell my parents that one day I would own that jukebox. Like all parents, I'm sure they just rolled their eyes and said "whatever"...

But I never forgot, and I even kept a list of all the records I was going to buy to put in it. Once I was old enough to go shopping on my own, I started to buy those 45 rpm records.

Fast forward about 15 years, to when I had my first apartment- my mom told me the church was getting rid of some stuff, and right away I remembered the jukebox. So I called up and offered them $200 for it. I think the church secretary thought I was on something, because she said, "You know it doesn't work, and you'll have to move it!"

No problem! I had my brother go over with his truck the next day and we loaded it up. I paid the church and brought it home.

Once I had it in my apartment, I plugged it in and it lit up. but it did not work. That was OK with me; it was mine, and was the coolest nightlight you ever saw! A few years later, after meeting my husband we got it fixed- apparently years ago some kid had gotten in the back and switched a tube into the wrong spot. The repairman just put it back in the right socket and it played. But not that well- I ended up having to get the amplifier rebuilt. This was not an easy job, and back then the repair was kind of expensive (around $300). But it's worked flawlessly ever since.

We bought a fe accessories to go with it, a tableside wallbox:

This is not a "mini jukebox" as many people think- there are no records or speaker and it cannot play any music on it's own. It's really called a "remote selector", basically a remote control that lets you make a selection right from your table and then it transmits the selection over to the jukebox via a series of electric pulses over a wire.

A pair of stereo speakers.

The 1959 Seeburg model 220 (the technical name for my baby) was the first jukebox to offer stereo sound. In order to get the trus stereo effect you had to purchase these additional speakers. Although there are two individual speakers in the front of the cabinet, you don't get the felling of stereo that you get from the speakers in the corner of the room. The promotional literature recommended up to six speakers for a larger room to get the full stereo effect (and to increase sales, because that is what jukeboxes were all about.)

It's interesting to me to note that with digital downloads, people are beginning to go back to a single-driven form of music purchase. Pre-1960s, that was just about all people bought- 45 or 78 rpm singles of their favorite songs. Not until the advent of the 33 LP record in the mid-50s did the idea of an "album" mean anything in terms of sales and artist input.

Now the record industry is all in a dither about "the death of the album", which, if you look at it in historical terms, is not how most people bought music, except for the period from the 1960s-1990s. In fact, a single-driven music industry in the 1950s gave us all those great "one-hit wonder" and regional acts that would never have flourished on a national level. Many of the great 1950s rockabilly and R&B acts were primarily found on jukeboxes, and never got top 40 radio hits. They were strictly niche performers that relied on nickels being put into the coin slots in the areas that they were well-known. It doesn't sadden me at all to think that we might be returning to this type of music market.

So I will leave you with one of those R&B niche acts that hit it big, the Marcels. This is the B side of "Blue Moon", "Goodbye to Love". And it was one of those 45s that I wrote down on my list years ago.