![mighty wurlitzer organ mighty wurlitzer organ](https://editorial01.shutterstock.com/wm-preview-1500/1435464a/9524a300/tony-moss-with-the-mighty-wurlitzer-organ-which-once-thrilled-cinema-audiences-at-the-trocadero-elephant-castle-south-london-shutterstock-editorial-1435464a.jpg)
The same principle would later apply to jukeboxes.Īs he wrote in a company catalogue, "The possibilities of this instrument are simply marvelous. In 1899, he built the first coin-operated piano in the world, the tonophone, a self-playing piano using punched paper rolls that people could set into motion by inserting a coin. He experimented with the newly developed method of coding by means of punched tape - a method that could also be used to "program" musical instruments. But with his keen eye for a deal, he also watched the latest trends in instrument building - particularly the rising popularity of automated musical instruments. In 1880, Wurlitzer started producing his own pianos. In the same year, the entrepreneurial immigrant founded the Wurlitzer Company, opening up sales branches in all of the big American cities. In 1856, Wurlitzer sent his family 700 dollars, asking that they deliver instruments to America for him. Wurlitzer marveled at how expensive the instruments were and decided to take a chance. The 22-year-old initially worked in a grocery store in New Jersey that was located close to a music store. Against his father's will, he emigrated to the US in 1853. Rudolph Wurlitzer, born on Januas the son of an instrument maker in the Saxon town of Schöneck, came to typify the American dream. In the years 1955 to 1960, the number of jukeboxes in West Germany increased tenfold to approximately 50,000.
![mighty wurlitzer organ mighty wurlitzer organ](https://www.imago-images.de/bild/st/0100509972/w.jpg)
Bill Haley and Elvis Presley were the reigning kings of the charts. Young people who had neither radios nor record players at home could use them to hear their favorite music. Toss in a coin, select a song and watch as the record slides over and starts to play: for young people in the 1950s, jukeboxes were a main attraction at any number of diners, bars and ice cream shops.Īmerican GIs brought the music machines produced by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company after World War II to Germany, where they quickly got popular.