save the last dance for me

[topaz]

When I was about two years old, my father bought a vintage Wurlitzer 1100 jukebox.

He had some work done on the mechanicals to make it work properly, so you could play records and didn't need to insert a coin.



It plays 78 RPM records. My father had about 3,000 78s. We still have about 300.

I grew up with this behemoth in our living room. I used to sit on the floor and watch the glowing lights slowly revolving in the front panels. I grew up listening to the Andrews Sisters singing "Hohokus, N.J." and the Crew Cuts doing "Carmen's Boogie" and my personal favorites, Slim and Slam's "Dunkin' Bagel" and Phil Harris's "The Thing."



As time went on, the other outrageous arcade gallery paraphernalia in our house slowly disappeared -- the pinball machine, the vintage Coke machine -- but the jukebox remained. Dad and I couldn't bear to part with it.



When we were getting ready to leave Brooklyn, Dad started talking about selling the jukebox. I put my foot down and informed him he was not allowed to sell it. I vouchsafed my own living arrangements against it. "I will take the jukebox as soon as I have my own apartment," I announced.

It took until I was 28, but I did bring it home.



I'm nearly 40 now. I live in a house that I'm delighted with, but which (by design) really doesn't have enough room for this monstrosity. It lives in storage, awaiting a final resolution. I'm writing to collectors to drum up interest in buying it. My son begs me tearfully not to sell it, and daily comes up with new clever plans by which we can bring the machine home.

If anyone knows of someone locally who might be interested in buying this crazy thing, please put them in touch with me.

Because as long as I'm selling it, it would be nice to keep it in the family. You know what I mean.

Comments

[pancua.livejournal.com]

Aww...you couldn't put it in the common house?

How sad to sell it.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

I had thought it would go to the common house, but once we were on site I brought it up for proposal and it turned out I was the only one in the group who still wanted it there. Alas!

[pancua.livejournal.com]

I would take it if I could until you had space but alas, I'm a bit out of the way. :(

[kimcob.livejournal.com]

It is not going to the common house?

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Once the common house was built, we revisited the question, and this time the answer was "no" -- everyone was very sympathetic, but feel that it's too big, too imposing, and not flexible enough (in one person's words, a "really funky iPod") to want to dedicate common house space to it. Very sad for me.

[kcatalyst.livejournal.com]

Clearly what you need here is an mp3 to 78 adaptor! Problem solved!

[sconstant.livejournal.com]

x26!

IMO

[sarahshevett.livejournal.com]

The Common House could use some funk..

Re: IMO

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

As I recall, you have a lot of strong ideas about what cohousing could and couldn't use, almost none of which I agree with. But thanks for amusing my day a little bit. :-)

Not sure...

[sarahshevett.livejournal.com]

but I really have no opinions on co housing. Not sure where you got that.
It was strictly a comment on the decor.

[agaran.livejournal.com]

What about the music room?

Common room?

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

Does Mosaic have a common room or a rec room that you could put it in?

Re: Common room?

[keyne.livejournal.com]

See above.

[liljackhorner.livejournal.com]

My first reaction is DO NOT SELL THIS, IT'S PRICELESS! The flipside argument is that if you call a few antique dealers (I know of at least 1) -- you make actually get a nice sum of cash for it. Call me and I'll put you in touch!

[points.livejournal.com]

I'd buy it.. but I think someone might kill me.

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

Oh wow. Honey, that's such a piece of HISTORY. I wonder if a local museum might want it? Then everyone could enjoy it.

I'm really sorry about the other stuff, though. Pinball machines and coke machines are part of our Heritage.

I do hope that you can keep it in the Family. ;-)

[crouchback.livejournal.com]

Oh man-I remember how much you loved that thing. *hugs*

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

If the common house has a big room with a piano in it then it could go next to the piano. If it doesn't have a big room with a piano then that's the problem, I guess.

[innerdoggie.livejournal.com]

Oh my mother loves the Phil Harrison song "the Thing", too.

I could probably find you somebody in Arkansas to take your jukebox, but I'm not sure how y'all would transport it there.

Would somebody setting up a funky coffeehouse or a bar with weird retro cocktails like it?

[cruiser.livejournal.com]

You need to open a bar.

[ceo]

Is there room enough in your basement to keep it there for another decade or two, until your son has a place to put it?

[unzeugmatic.livejournal.com]

I've been looking for the Andrews Sisters singing Hohokus for over 30 years. I heard it once -- once -- on a radio station out of NYC but have never found a recording or the sheet music. What I remember is "The fracas will be raucous when Hohokus meets Secaucus". That's all I remember.

Don't Sell It

[randomactsofpatriotism.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

Don't sell it. Just don't. If your son wants it, make room for it.

I speak from experience. My parents told me I could have the old wind up 78RPM record player after my paternal grandmother died. They stored it at my maternal grandmother's house. Every time we visited I would play with it, listen to old records, it reminded me of her.

One visit, without telling me, it was gone. I went out on the porch and it just wasn't there. It had been sold. That was over 40 years ago. I moved on, but I have never forgotten the sense of outrage and betrayal, and my fury at them when they would not understand why I was so upset.

This is much cooler, it has a great family history. Selling it will only be a source of deep regrets.