Alotta Monkey Business

Pay Record Players

Written for "Invalid Item" , prompt: National Jukebox Day.

Growing up in the 60s and 70s, jukeboxes were a way of life. They had big ones, small ones, and even remote ones on the walls of the diner booths. I enjoyed plugging a dime in and watching the arm move, select the right 45, pull it out, and drop it on the turntable. Then the needle would drop and the music would blast. For a quarter I could play three songs as compared to one for a dime, so I often would plug in a buck's worth of quarters and pick all my favorites.

I switched schools in tenth grade and finished high school in a very small town. We had one school, grade school in the basement, middle school on the first floor and high school on the top floor. The gymnasium was attached to the rear of the building, and all our dances were held there. For music, there was an old jukebox that the senior class was responsible for updating records. It was on a flat cart with coaster wheels and for the dance it was rolled out and set up for our dancing pleasure. It took quarters but played five songs for a quarter, and the money raised was used for other school events.

Even after I was out of school, jukeboxes played an important role in most eating and drinking establishments. There was seldom a time that there wasn't something playing on the jukebox and there were no televisions in sight. Now, it seems jukeboxes have faded into the background but there are still a few around. About ten years ago, while traveling, my wife and I stopped by a bakery in a small town that had been frozen in time. Everything in the bakery was old-fashioned but still in use. In the front, there was a small diner-style eatery with an old-fashioned jukebox they had salvaged out of the town's bar.

They restored it but lacked much for 45 records. I had a bunch left from my high school days and donated them the next time we rolled through. I was happy to donate them thinking it would give younger kids a view into the past, but the owner was not going to let us escape without payment. As long as the bakery is open and under his ownership, we pay nothing to eat, grab a bit for the road, and listen to the old records on the jukebox.

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