Rock-ola Jukebox
By Todd Augsburger
> "Right around 1940, I believe, a new jukebox name appeared: Rock-o-la.
I beg to differ: I don't know the derivation of Mr. Rockola's name, but I understand the correct spelling for the jukebox is hyphenated, as in "Rock-ola", and the pronunciation is with an accented 1st syllable, as in "ROCK-o-la". (This is also confirmed by the information in a past thread in alt\antiques\radio&phono.)
The name appears at the bottom of an "instruction" plate inside the front glass: "PRODUCT OF ROCK-OLA MFG. CORP., CHICAGO, ILL. U.S.A."
There are also several identification plates on the back which include model number, patents (1923 through 1936), warnings, etc. which most always list "ROCK-OLA MFG. CORP.", and on one paper notice, simply "ROCK-OLA MFG." This machine is the massive (heavy) wood case, amplifier in base, and plays 16 different 78's by pushbutton, 5c per play: nickles, dimes, or quarters.
As far as the date is concerned, what about my ca. 1938 jukebox (series "B", Type RM16) model? The _last_ of several patent dates on the machine is Mar 31, 1936, so the company was certainly well-established prior to the suggested date of 1940. If someone knows more, chime in here!
Todd Augsburger
allmax@kenton.com |
(Message sent Sun 12 Jan 1997, 18:37:12 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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