I recently read an article about ‘jukeboxes.’ It brought back a lot of memories. Dayna and I actually used to have one. I know several area cafes used to have one. In the ‘good ole’ days you could play one song for a nickel or 6 for 25 cents. Where did the jukebox journey begin?

Let’s go back to the Palais Royal Saloon in San Francisco. The year was 1889, and the group of working-class revelers

The year was 1889, and the group of working-class revelers had never seen anything like the wooden-and-metal device that was causing such a commotion.

The newfangled machine had four coin slots and four flexible listening tubes.

By dropping a nickel into one of the slots and listening through one of the tubes, one could hear music and a real human voice singing.

It was the first time that most of the bar patrons had ever heard a recorded human voice.

This machine that caused such a stir nearly 100 years ago was a converted Edison electronic phonograph—the world’s first jukebox.

The phonograph had been invented 12 years earlier by Thomas Edison, but it had been used mainly until then as a dictation machine by the wealthy.

Louis Glass, owner of the Palais Royal, called his new money maker the ‘Nickel in the Slot’ machine.

In its first five months of operation, the machine took in about $1,025— around $200 a month—an incredible amount of money for that time.

When news of Glass’ success got around, other businessmen jumped on the bandwagon. “Phonograph parlours,” with about 10 machines each, were opened, which allowed everyone to enjoy the miracle of sound recording.

The coin-operated devices were still called “Nickel in the Slot” machines until about 1920. As the novelty faded, folks no longer were attracted to phonograph parlours.

In the ‘20s, “Nickel in the Slot” machines could be found almost exclusively in dance halls, saloons, and houses of ill repute.

The latter locale provided a name for the machine that eventually stuck and lent a bit of checkered history to that nostalgic piece of Americana known as the jukebox.

Brothels and gambling houses in the ‘20s were sometimes called ‘jook joints,’ ‘jook’ being slang for tip-off or scam. Thus, the coin operated boxes that provided music for the evening’s entertainment became known as ‘jook boxes.’

The top 40 jukebox hits of all time are

1. Hound Dog/Don’t be Cruel—Elvis Presley 1956

2. Crazy—Patsy Cline 1961

3. Rock Around the Clock—Bill Haley & the Comets 1955

4. the Dock of the Bay—Otis Redding 1968

5. I Heard It Through the grapevine—Marvin Gaye 1968

6. Mack the Knife—Bobby Darin 1959

7. Light My Fire—The Doors 1967

8. Blueberry Hill—fats domino 1956

9. Old Time Rock ‘n Roll—Bob Seger 1979

10. My Girl—The Temptations 1965

11. Walk on the Wild Side—Lou Reed 1973

12. Honky Tonk Women—The Rolling Stones 1969

13. Can’t Buy Me Love—The Beatles 1964

14. New York, New York—Frank Sinatra 1980

15. Born to be Wild—Steppenwolf 1968

16. Louie, Louie—The Kingsmen 1963

17. Maybellene—Chuck Berry 1955

18. Hey Jude—The Beatles 1968

19. Good Vibrations—Beach Boys 1966

20. Respect—Aretha Franklin 1967

21. Stand By Your Man—Tammy Wynette 1968

22. House of the Rising Sun—The Animals 1964

23. In the Mood—The Glenn Miller Orchestra 1939

24. satisfaction—The Rolling Stones 1965

25. Take Me to the River—Talking Heads 1978

26. Proud Mary—Creedence Clearwater Revival 1969

27. Bad Moon Rising—Creedence Clearwater Revival 1969

28. Jailhouse Rock—Elvis Presley 1969

29. For the Good times—Ray Price 1970

30. Great Balls of Fire—Jerry Lee Lewis 1957

31. I Fall to Pieces—Patsy Cline 1961

32. Johnny B. Goode—Chuck Berry 1955

33. Bad to the Bone—George Thorogood 1982

34. That’ll Be the Day—Buddy Holly 1957

35. The Twist—Chubby Checker 1955

36. All Shook Up—Elvis Presley 1957

37. Peggy Sue—Buddy Holly 1957 38. Heart of Gold—Neil Young 1972

38. Heart of Gold—Neil Young 1972

39. When a Man Loves a Woman—Percy Sledge 1968

40. Star Dust—Artie Shaw 1942

Speaking of old times . . . Our family did not have a washer until the late 1950s. My grandparents never had a automatic washer. When they passed away, they were still using an old wringer type.

One of our readers recently shared an old “washing clothes recipe” with us. This is an exact copy as found in an old scrapbook—with spelling errors and all.

WASHING CLOTHES

Build fire in backyard to heat kettle of rain water. Set tubs so smoke wont blow in eyes if wind is pert. Shave one hole cake of lie soap in bolin water.

Sort things, make 3 piles

1 pile white,

1 pile colored.

1 pile work britches and rags.

To make starch, stir flour in cool water to smooth, then thin down with boiling water.

Take white things, rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, and boil, then rub colored don’t boil just wrench and starch. Take things out of kettle with broom stick handle, then wrench, and

Take things out of kettle with broom stick handle, then wrench, and starch.

Hang old rags on fence.

Spread tea towels on grass.

Pore wench water in flower bed. Scrub porch with hot soapy water. Turn tubs upside down.

Go put on clean dress, smooth hair with hair combs. Brew cup of tea, sit and rock a spell and count your blessings.

Paste this over your washer and dryer. Next time when you think things are bleak, read it again, kiss that washing machine and dryer, and give thanks. First thing each morning you should run and hug your washer and dryer, also your toilet—those two-holers used to get mighty cold!

And last of all . . .

If I ever go missing, I hope Dayna will not be like the following lady . . .

There was a woman came running into a police precinct station in New York late one night. “Help!” she shouted. “I need to report that my husband is missing!!”

“Try to remain calm,” said the desk sergeant. “Take a deep breath and get composed. Now, will you please give us a description of your husband, and when did you discover he was missing?”

“Well,” she began, “He’s 57; he’s not very tall’ he’s overweight; and he’s completely bald. Come to think of it, forget it!”