Vigo County Historical Society

Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week - July 15, 1984
By Richard Tuttle
Vigo County Historical Society

Early juke box transformed simple room into dance hall

The juke box existed long before Glenn Miller's "Juke Box Saturday Night" swing version.

The early model of the famous juke box that transformed drug stores, taverns, ice cream shops and small dance halls into performance halls for the great bands of any era is displayed in the Hulman Room of the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley. It has space for 12 records (of the 78 rpm variety), and plays on one side only. Later models played both sides of the 78rpm or 45 rpm records.

This is a Mills Automatic Phonograph, manufactured by the Mills Novelty Co., Chicago, the leading manufacturer of juke boxes, pin ball games and slot machines for decades. The machine was patented in 1916 in the United States and 1928 in France. The speaker is at the bottom, and the small electric motor is inside at the side of the large ferris wheel-type carrier of the record turntables (one for each record). Selections were made center front, and the nickel inserted at the left.

For more than two generations the juke box had provided entertainment for the young and the old.

The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open Sunday-Friday from 1-4 p.m.