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Origin of Name "Jukebox"
By Tom Lear

Lee Munsick wrote. "...I searched in vain for an explanation of
the derivation of the word 'jukebox'."

Lee, it's derivative of one type of establishment where the box
was first in use.  See 'Politically Incorrect' definition below from
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary 1960:

  juke, or jook joint  [Appar. of West African Origin]
  Orig. southern U.S. Orig., an out-of-the-way shack used by Negro
  turpentine workers as a drinking and dancing resort; hence any
  roadhouse or dancehall or like resort for drinking and dancing
  esp. to the music of an automatic player of phonograph records that
  plays one record on deposit of a coin in the slot, called a jukebox
  or juke.

Tom Lear
San Francisco, CA


(Message sent Wed 18 Dec 2002, 12:03:41 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.)

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