Rockola Jukebox

 

1/6/25 Rockola jukebox

When he moved to Seattle in the early ‘80s, Greg had it shipped here all the way from Minneapolis: a 1950s Rockola Jukebox that he’d owned since the ‘70s. Who could blame him? It was a vintage beauty back then and still is. Ever since, it has occupied a corner of the small room that will soon be my studio/office. It’s probably the only thing in the house that has never moved so much as an inch in 40 years – it’s too heavy and bulky to budge.

Every decade or so, he would talk about selling it, as we agreed it was taking up a lot of space in a house too small to display it properly. At some point, I know he began doing research to see what similar jukeboxes were going for. But as we are all guilty of, Greg had procrastinated, probably with some reluctance to let it go, and the Rockola remains in the same spot to this day.

Greg had handpicked the records inside (most songs I’ve never heard of); the selection buttons are labeled with his handwriting. He only played the jukebox for me once – back in the mid-‘80s shortly after we met. The translucent, colored panels in front can be illuminated from inside (though I think most of the bulbs were out when I got the demo). Presumably it still operates, but I don’t even know how to turn it on.

During my massive downsizing and decluttering the past six months, most of his junk was easy to get rid of. (The hard part was not feeling resentful: You should have dumped this crap decades ago! Why am I stuck with doing it for you?!) Some things were more difficult – all the tools in his workshop that he had used to build or finish much of our major home remodel in the ‘90s. Some things, like keepsakes from our travels together, were downright painful (somehow more so than getting rid of my own similar keepsakes).

The jukebox is among the last of his possessions to go. I almost talked myself into keeping it until I finally sell the house (still some years down the road, I hope). But I know that letting it go then will be no easier than now, and compounded with the pressure of putting the house on the market would only make it harder. The time to let it go is now.

I could probably get more money for it if I put it on eBay, but I’m not interested in the work and logistics that that would entail. I’ve decided to try selling it at Ballard Consignment, a wonderful store where we have purchased several used pieces of much higher quality than most new furniture being made these days. In addition to furniture, the store occasionally offers collectible centerpiece items (the last time I was there, a vintage Zoltar the Fortune Teller was talking to customers). When I had inquired about selling the Rockola recently, the manager expressed interest.

I’m kind of hoping it doesn’t sell too quickly . . . I’d like to visit the Rockola on display at the store – and sketch it there, too.