The tension among enthusiasts, traders and collectors can be felt when the auction starts. Hundreds of rare and iconic jukeboxes, chewing gum balls and other candy machines go under the hammer on Saturday. The nostalgic devices are from four prestigious collections and are part of the world’s largest auction of its kind. Everything was auctioned in Tilburg, during an auction that lasted well into the night.
It is mainly men who marvel at all auction pieces. “It is just like a candy store, I can’t choose, but I hope to be able to get something today,” says a enthusiast from Tilburg. Harold from Zeeland has chosen a place in the front in the auction room; He hopes to be able to buy a jukebox. Between 150 and 200 potential buyers came to the auction hall on the Tilburg ring road and they are not the only bidders. Via the internet and telephone there are also hijackers on the coast for the hundreds of jukeboxes and slot machines.
“The Wurlitzer 2000 is super aliens; he has rotating booklets on which all the songs you can choose.”
“This is the auction’s showpiece: a jukebox from 1942, the Rock-Ola Commando, which will probably yield between 30,000 and 40,000 euros,” says a proud Mano Singh. While his father, auctioneer Richard Singh, is busy with the final preparations for the monster auction, Mano shows a few masterpieces. “The Rock-Ola Commando is completely made of glass and has a special glass ball on the top of the cupboard. I really like it. This Wurlitzer 2000 is super shaking; he has rotating booklets on which all the songs you can choose.”
Ben Frans has set his sights on a more modern jukebox. “This is the Sputnik, a 200-select,” he says, while his eyes start to shine. It is not the only thing he will offer; In the catalog he has overturned a large number of objects that he would like to buy. Ben has a store with fifty-fifty things in Scheveningen, which he once started with one jukebox. “With this, all the chrome has been renewed and that makes it worth more.” He doesn’t want to say how much Ben will offer for the Sputnik. “Then someone else will offer a little more, we don’t have that,” he shouts laughing.
“I am single, but this device in the room is just like a woman: all attention goes there”
“I want this empress from 1962,” says a fan from Ghent, Belgium. “I already have a jukebox at home, but it has been a dream for a long time to have it. He is beautiful purple-pink and that makes him unique,” he says, looking at the jukebox. “I am single, but this device in the room is just like a woman: there all the attention goes,” he says with a big grin. “Whether the dream really comes out depends on the other bidders here in the room. It could just cost 12,000 or 13,000 euros.”
“We are short of a lot of money,” a lover from Tilburg complains. “I did not think it would be so busy. That is not good for the prices that have to be paid. We already have a pinball machine, a jukebox, neon lighting and all kinds of other things, but I like everything from the sixties. It is youth sentiment, and if the prices are a bit to do, we will definitely do not bid.
