April, 1930.
Three
AND AUTOMATIC WORLD
The
Automatic World
)
Th is Department is Devoted to the Coin Controlled Device Industry, ot America
The Coin operated Musical Instrument
By LEE S. JONES
Mr. Jones is Ge n eral Sales Mana ger f or t he .1. P. Seebu rg Cor porati on, o f C hicago,
USIC FOR public places is almost as old as music
itself. Weare told that in Italy-the home and
birthplace of music-as early as the sixteenth century,
there appeared certain musical devices in public places
which were operated by means of a crude windlass ar-
rangement. This was probably the forerunner of the
present-day coin operated musical instrument.
Since
those early days of the sixteenth century music and
musical instruments have gone far, and it may be said
that now both have reached a state of practical per-
fectio n .
To trace the history of the coin operated musical
instrument in this country is relatively easy, as it does
not go back very far. About thirty-five years ago, ther'~
appeared on the market the first coin operated music
boxes. These were run by means of a cylinder having
a little spoke-like arrangement which passed over steel
teeth, bringing forth a rather pleas-
ing musical effect. Soon after that,
another type of music box followed,
which played from a large steel disc.
Then came the coin operated piano,
naturally somewhat crude at first,
but rapidly developing into a fine
musical instrument.
The piano enjoyed twenty-five
years of popularity. Piano merchants
and operators of all classes of ma-
chines rapidly saw the money-making
possibilities and placed them in great
numbers. Many large fortunes were
made by piano operators and there
are today several of these men re-
tired and living in luxury in Califor-
nia, Florida, and eve n abroad.
The modern coin operated auto-
matic piano is in all respects a fine,
artistic, and beautiful instrument.
It may seem exaggerated, but I know
of small ch urches who have, and per-
haps still do, u se a coin operated
piano. Of co urse, they do not u se
LEE S.
M
Ill i noi ~.
the slot arrangement, but run it from a push-button con-
trol, the idea being to get the benefit of the automatic
music.
The phonograph-coin operated-has been on the
market for a number of years, but with the advent I)f
modern electrical amplification, the coin operated instru-
ment became more popular than ever, in fact, the present
amplified phonograph is the greatest operating musical
instrument ever devised. The phonograph is far more
popular in public places than in the home being just
the reverse to the conditions of a few years ago. The
radio has replaced the phonograph as a home instrument,
but in turn the phonograph has replaced the radio as
a public instrument. Very likely this is due to the
amplification.
The main reason why the phonograph is so popular
today, in public places particularly, is because it opens
up the entire music library of the
world. The listener may hear the
great opera stars, the world's best
orchestras, or the modern jazz kings.
at will. The coin operated piano, as
a comparison, could never give the
listener the personality of the artist
as the phonograph record does. The
piano, of necessity, was confined to
that class of music which was simply
piano composition, whereas, the pho-
nograph runs the whole gamut of
musical composition.
JONES
Manufacturers producing the
best coin operated musical instru-
me nts have gone a step further, and
added radio to the amplified phono-
graph, making a combination so that
the public may, upon depositing a
coin, select either the program on
the air via the radio, or the record
via the phonograph. These present-
day coin operated musical instru-
ments are far beyond anything ever