Copyright 1998 by Arthur A. Reblitz.  All rights reserved
    for future publication by the author.

The first commercially-produced Seeburg jukebox was called the
"Autophone," introduced in May 1928, at the same time as the new
"Greyhound" piano with "whippet race" mechanism.  In July 1928 they
changed their name from the "J. P. Seeburg Piano Co." to the "J. P.
Seeburg Company."

The Autophone has a vacuum pump similar to the rotary pump in the
style L coin piano.  Each of eight records has its own turntable, and
the turntables are mounted in Ferris wheel fashion with their shafts
radial to a center hub.  A knob on the front is connected to half of a
channeled drum, and the Ferris wheel is connected to the other half.

The patron turns the knob to the desired selection and deposits a
coin, the pump starts, and a pneumatic engages the Ferris wheel until
the appropriate turntable is up, whereupon channels in the selector
drum cause it to disengage.  Other pneumatics manipulate the tone arm.
The earliest Autophones also had pneumatic coin accumulating mechanisms
like the ones used in Seeburg pianos.

The Autophone had an electronic amplifier and loudspeaker.  In
September 1929, Seeburg introduced the "Audiophone," a coin operated
phonograph-radio combination with a similar pneumatic mechanism.
Seeburg's subsidiary, the Western Electric Piano Company, also produced
a similar model.

The mechanism was designed by Russell Wilcox, who had designed the
tune selectors for the Marquette Cremona and Western Electric Selectra,
and the new dog race / horse race mechanism for the Seeburg Greyhound/
Western Electric Derby.

In 1934-35, Seeburg made the tiny "Selectophone" with separate turn-
tables stacked on a common vertical spindle.  This mechanism was also
designed by Wilcox, but with no pneumatic parts.  The next generation
of Seeburg jukeboxes, made for about 10 years after 1944, used the
12-selection "Freborg" mechanism with sliding trays.  According to the
late Dick Bueschel, Wilcox went on to design the Simplex and other
mechanisms used by Capehart and Wurlitzer.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who knows more about Russell
Wilcox.

Art Reblitz
orchestrion@juno.com