Capehart Model 7 Coin Operated Phonograph Or Jukebox?

[startgroove]

This (jukebox or coin phonograph) has been in my collection for many years, but I just got around to restoring and getting it working. It has a date on the inside label of 1931, and is a home record player unit adapted for public use. It appears to be factory made, and another label inside references a model 5 and model 7, which I presume to be related models. The amplifer is amazingly simple, yet it pumps out plenty of volume, and sounds amazingly good playing Orthophonic records. Anyway, this machine presents some confusion. Namely, I think of a jukebox as being fully automatic, not needing any human intervention, other than making a selection and dropping a coin. This (and other similar machines, like the coin operated Victor 10-50 and others) requires the records be restacked periodically, and does not allow selections to be chosen on the fly. However, it does allow the user the option of programming the order of selections. Hence, could it be possible this was intended to be not only coin operated pre-programmed record player, but also a machine that did not necessarily vend music, but rather was rented, a nickel at a time, for playing records the users brought with them? I'd love to hear your take on this.

[Silvertone]

Your Capehart is identified in the catalog as a model 5. It was intended for small establishments by virtue of its size and low price ($395 list). It was also available without the coin mechanism as the model 6. Model 7 was a plain cabinet with the same components (no speaker) intended as a hideaway in the home or business. The model 15 was intended for the home and used the same equipment plus a radio. The cabinet for the model 15 was similar but had no window.

While it is easy to change records on this changer, I doubt that any commercial establishment expected their patrons to bring their own records.

[TinfoilPhono]

It's been 30 years since I was active in the jukebox hobby but my understanding has always been that these were simply non-selectable jukeboxes. Patrons paid a nickel and got music, but exactly which selection would play was up to chance. They still got something for their money. I believe it was around 1934 that Wurlitzer finally introduced a selectable jukebox (I could be off on the date).

Even as late as the 50s there were non-selectable jukeboxes, such as the Ristaucrat (made in both selectable and non-selectable versions). That one also required manual resetting the record stack once the last record played.

[startgroove]

Many years ago, I was exploring the upper Mid-West, looking for phonographs and jukeboxes. I wound up in Oak Creek, Wisconsin and met a guy who was a third generation music operator. His Grand-Dad was active during the tight economic times of the Great Depression. He showed me some of his Grand-Dad's machines which had been kept in storage up stairs for decades. He also shared several stories that his Grand-Dad had passed down to him. Looking around the area, a little machine caught my eye and as I looked it over closely, he told me this: "In some of the marginal income locations or new locations, we would install low cost equipment in order to optimize the intake, or to test the location intake. This Capehart was installed in a restaurant like that, and shortly after, the owner complained that it was too much of a diversion during lunch and diner hours, when things got very busy. It was also during this time that the demand for phonograph music was highest. Anyway, it would play the last record over and over, when enough nickels were inserted. The owner was simply too busy to re-stack the records every half hour. So, my Grand-Dad made up a sign that invited people to operate the phonograph themselves and bring in their own records to play on it." He added that the sign didn't increase the take much, but it made the owner happy and eventually, a Seeburg replaced the Capehart.
It seems ironic that a higher end home use automatic photograph would be considered a low cost alternative to a full jukebox.