How it all
began....
 My mother has a pretty nice collection of 45 rpm records
and has always told
me she wished someday she could have a jukebox to put her records in. We'll
her wish came true in the winter of 2001. While attending the December 2001
Super Auction in Mesquite I fell in love with the cute little Rock-ola 1462
that was to be auctioned off that afternoon. The 1462 is a 50
selection model and this one was in beautiful cosmetic condition, loaded
with oldie 45's and was working for the most part with the exception of
having trouble making selections. Low and behold, I took the plunge and
purchased the juke.
Since then I
have cleaned the pin selection bank, got the machine working properly and
have since sold the jukebox to my parents for what I had in it.
Although
shortly after the juke was gone from our house I noticed I was hooked! I
wanted my own! So the quest began to find a suitable jukebox for my families
household. Some of the specifics I was looking for was: visible mechanism,
at least 100 selections and I wanted it to be a Rock-ola since to me they
seem the easiest to work on.
In June of
2002, the quest was over!
 While searching through the Internet I met up with
a fellow in Canada that was selling his Rock-ola 1455-D(eluxe) Jukebox. We
negotiated on a price and I had the jukebox shipped to the (DFW) Pilot Air
Terminal.
About a week later the juke
arrived in Dallas and me and my friend Eric went to Pilot Air to pick it up
and bring it back to my house in Arlington.
Currently we have it loaded
primarily with hits from the 50's and 60's including The Beatles, Elvis
Presley, Ricky Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Crystals, Lou Christie, Dion and
the Belmonts, Buddy Holly, Petula
Clark, Steppenwolf, the Big Bopper and Patsy Cline to name a few.
The 1455-D
is a really nice juke in my opinion. It is one of Rock-ola's first Hi-Fidelity
jukeboxes and unlike the 1455-S it can play extended play records. Here is
a picture of the switch setting for changing selections from standard to
extended play (EP). Extended play records offered listeners three songs
per side as opposed to the the typical one single per side.
 The mech
area of this juke is really nice with lots of fancy gold foil, chrome,
nostalgic category titles and most importantly a visible record playing
and selecting mechanism. Although this jukebox is mono, I have upgraded
the jukebox with a stereo cartridge & needle, as recommended by Victory
Glass.
Click here
to see a movie of the mech in action!
 Wow! The sound
on this juke is impressive, clear, and could easily fill a band hall. As you
can see in this picture the grill is illuminated by a rainbow of colors
through a light diffuser. New grill cloth installed.
 Since the
1455-D can play 200 different selections there isn't enough room on the
front of the juke for that many title strips. So it has a rotating title
drum. Click the program button to the left of the selection window and the
drum rotates to show 40 different selections as well as illuminates one of
the 5 different music categories above it.
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Below are
a few more pictures of the Rock-ola 1455-D Jukebox |
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Click here
to see a movie of the title drum rotating!
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GENERAL
DATA |
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Manufacturer: |
Rock-ola Manufacturing
Corporation (RMC) |
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Model number: |
1455-D |
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Selections: |
200,
45 rpm (normal & EP) |
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Record Capacity: |
100,
45 rpm records |
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Year: |
1957 |
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Height: |
57
3/4 inches |
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Width: |
30
1/2 inches |
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Depth: |
27
1/4 inches |
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Weight: |
348
Lbs. |
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Production: |
6000 |
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Special Notes: |
The
1455 D was the first Rock-ola Jukebox to play both standard and EP
(extended play) records. |
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Here is the advertisement flyer for the Rock-ola
1455-D Jukebox.
Click on the thumbnails below for a larger view. |
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As
pictured below, the Rock-ola 1455 Jukebox was featured on the cover of
Chuck Berry's Capitol Records Album "New Jukebox Hits"
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