“Put another nickel in…the nickel-in-the-slot”

March 15, 2022 6:23 AM

In 1890, Mssrs. Louis Glass and William S. Arnold patented the "Coin Actuated Attachment for Phonographs," which took a nickel and played a wax cylinder into headphone-like "listening tubes" that patrons would stick in their ears. They were the first jukeboxes. Glass installed one at the Palais Royale Saloon, 303 Sutter Street, San Francisco. (The building was destroyed by fire after the 1906 earthquake; the landmark Hammersmith Building now sits at that address.) It was immediately popular, and over the next six months Glass placed several more around San Francisco (from the link: in the first six months of operation, “the first 15 coin-op machines in San Francisco had brought in $4,019” in 1890 money, or about $120,000 today. That’s a lot of nickels!)

Contemporaneous terms for the devices were "nickel-in-the-slot phonographs," “autophones,” and “automatic entertainers.” (link to amazing .pdf) Similar devices that created live music from instruments or pipes were orchestrions. (Orchestrions previously and previouslier.) The term "jukebox" was not coined until 1939, and the “juke joints” they sat in were named after the machine (not the other way around).

Many people today imagine that these early devices were called “nickelodeons,” based on the 1949 song "Music! Music! Music!," which features the line "put another nickel in // in the nickelodeon." While similar player piano devices were called that (and maybe jukeboxes sometimes were too), the more common usage and history of “nickelodeon” referred to a very early form of movie theater that was popular in the 1900s and 1910s, typically a converted storefront that played short films in a loop for a 5 cent admission. The first Nickelodeon opened in Pittsburg(h) in 1905; it played movies on a loop from 8 am to midnight. Popularity of nickelodeons (and their reputation as low quality, uncomfortable places) paved the way for the growth of the motion picture industry and the birth of lavish "movie palaces" in the 1920s.

(Nickelodeons in the movie sense got their name from taking "nickel" (of course) and "odeon," the ancient Greek word for theaters with roofs. The Odéon is also the name of a famous theater in Paris from the early 1800s, and in the early 20th century the name had become synonymous with fancy performance spaces. So a "nickel Odéon" was a sort of apt wordplay for a cheap show.)

[Note: this is not a double and it's not even doubles time but given the topic I'd be foolish not to relink Rhaomi's incredible Nickelodeon (the other Nickelodeon) post from last month]

posted by AgentRocket (5 comments total)

"Prices for the [Edison Standard] phonographs...diminished from its early days of $150 (in 1891) down to $20 for the Standard model and $7.50 for a model known as the Gem, introduced in 1899."
posted by BWA at 7:04 AM on March 15, 2022

When I was in elementary music class, the teacher gave us the greatest hits of the 1940s and before. We had to sing “Music, Music, Music,” which is how I learned what a nickelodeon really was (after a fashion). I like the first Nick bumpers with the guy using one, but they are very seventies — shades of that Gay Nineties fad that came and went then.
posted by Countess Elena at 8:10 AM on March 15, 2022

The term "jukebox" was not coined until 1939, and the “juke joints” they sat in were named after the machine (not the other way around

Not according to this etymological dictionary

I wish Musée Mécanique had some of these original players. Or maybe they do have one and I just haven’t noticed it? They certainly have plenty of other non-interactive coin-operated amusements, like “put in a coin and look at a short motion picture of ladies in swimsuits” or “put in a coin and watch a real puppet get hanged” or other such unsavory things.
posted by aubilenon at 9:47 AM on March 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

As part of the deal with the saloons, he had added an announcement at the end of each cylinder that told patrons "to go over to the bar and get a drink."

Bumper ads have always been with us.
posted by zamboni at 10:34 AM on March 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Excellent post, AgentRocket, as always. I'm a huge sucker for coin-operated gizmos and amusements.

One thing to note is that two of the largest companies mentioned here, Wurlitzer and Seeburg, pivoted multiple times, going from the manufacture of musical instruments and pianos into orchestrions and then into jukeboxes. Seeburg also went further, making one of the first background music systems (the predecessor to Muzak over FM radio), since it was just a jukebox on infinite repeat.

You also can't forget that these machines generated avalanches of cash and the competition to look new and shiny was just as competitive as the auto business.

Now for some really out-there trivia: In the late 1960s, Seeburg was generating so much cash that they were acquired by a relatively new company called Commonwealth United Corporation. Commonwealth used the cashflow from the jukebox business to fund other projects including a number of TV and film productions.

One of the biggest productions was the film The Magic Christian, starring Ringo Starr and Peter Sellers. This project was the one that forced the Beatles to hurry up and move out of Twickenham Studios in early 1969 as documented in the Get Back miniseries.
posted by mookoz at 11:47 AM on March 15, 2022 [3 favorites]