In the days before streaming music, mp3s, TouchTunes and CD jukeboxes, if you wanted to hear music in your favorite bar or pool hall this is how it was done.

From the 50s through most of the 80s, you could walk into most any bar, arcade or popular local hangout and find jukeboxes that were full of 45 records constantly stocked with the latest hits. I saw one working perfectly at The Sanctum, a pinball club in Meriden Connecticut this weekend and it was on free play.

These were amazing pieces of machinery. Everything was mechanical from physical push buttons to select your song, to the carousel that holds the records to grab your selection. It's the closest thing we had to a robot in the day.

This particular jukebox had a lot of Elvis, Johnny Cash and spanned genres from 80s Top 40 to modern rock and all on 45 records. The best part though is watching it change records and clearly the designers knew this. They built this one with a little window that you can watch the process through and it's fascinating. Watch here as it changes records to put on 'Like a Virgin' by Madonna.

 

 

 

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