Why Is The Jukebox So Popular In The 1920's

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The 1920’s era was a hugely prosperous time. This new idea of mass media was becoming more popular, allowing new technology to be heard of and bought. Americans wanted to be in the loop with all the latest gadgets and inventions. With lots of companies gaining lots of money they began inviting new products to sell. Products such as the radio and radio stations, drive in restaurants, cars and the jukebox with its many different songs. All five of these inventions shaped and paved the way to the America we know today.
The radio was a huge deal to many Americans. These magic boxes allowed Americans from all different parts of American to hear the same exact thing that they were. This idea of mass media started to emerge with this invention. Radios …show more content…

They played a little invention from the 1870s time period called records. 1920’s was considered the Jazz Age of America and people were loving it. Jukeboxes could be found at coffee shops, local dinners, bars and clubs. Some parents didn’t think this way though. The jukebox was caught in a lot of controversy. “Parents, concerned by the popularity of swing and Jazz music, thought the machines were a bad influence on their children. The association of the jukebox with bars gave it a somewhat seedy reputation—the term juke joint used to refer to a dive or a low-class bar. The questionable reputation of the jukebox got even blacker when scandal erupted in the New York area after it was discovered that the Mafia controlled the operation of jukeboxes throughout the area. Nevertheless, jukebox listening continued to provide entertainment through the war years.” (“Jukebox”). Black jazz players such as Louis Armstrong, King Oliver and Duke Ellington dominated during this time period. Many of their songs could be heard and danced to around America. Artists did not make much money from this. “Thus, when a jukebox operator purchased a record and placed it in a jukebox, the only royalties received by the composer were those that came from the sale of the record itself, two cents per side.” (York,

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