Day Trips

Smitty's Juke Box Museum in Pharr, Texas, lights up the world with neon lights and bubbles. With Elvis crooning from the turquoise-and-red Rock-Ola music box, it's hard to pick one of the jukeboxes as a favorite. They're all meticulously restored and beautiful.

The concept of coin-operated, refrigerator-sized music boxes began to take off in the 1920s, says Leo "Junior" Schmitt. His father started Smitty's Music & Amusement Co. right after World War II. The company places jukeboxes, pool tables, and games in bars and restaurants throughout the lower Rio Grande Valley. Leo "Senior" passed away in 2000.

During his life, Leo Sr. amassed a very impressive collection of vintage Wurlitzers, Seeburgs, and Rock-Olas. Some of them were retired from his business, others were saved from basements and garages, and a few were found in Mexico. In all, the exhibit displays more than 60 vintage machines of the 92 the company owns.

The oldest is a wooden Electramusic jukebox built in 1926 that was found in a church basement, Junior says. Each song cost a nickel and was selected by pushing buttons on a circular pad. The machine's eight 78-revolutions-per-minute platters rested on paddles on a Ferris-wheel-like contraption inside the cabinet.

Junior started working in his dad's shop while in high school. One time, when he opened a jukebox to find out why it wouldn't work, a snake crawled out. It's not unusual for mice to get caught inside the machine. "This is one fine mousetrap," he says with a laugh while patting the lighted, cut-glass crown of a 1939 Ami Singing Towers jukebox.

After more than 40 years in the business, Junior has seen a tremendous shift in jukeboxes. Music has gone from 45s to LPs to CDs. As you might imagine, he has a tremendous collection of old records. Today, jukeboxes are computers holding thousands of songs. "I can change the songs on a jukebox a hundred miles away from my office," he says.

They don't make jukeboxes like these anymore: In the corner is a rare 1942 Wurlitzer Satyr. Its finely carved wooden body reflects its flashing lights. It is one of less than 150 of that model still in existence.

Smitty's Juke Box Museum is located at 116 W. State St. in Pharr on the north side of the railroad tracks at the intersection of Cage Boulevard and Highway 83-B. Junior Schmitt welcomes visitors between 9am and 5:30pm. There is no charge to take a walk down memory lane, but remember that he has a business to run, so there isn't always someone available to give a guided tour. If he does have time to share some of his stories, Junior can keep you entertained for hours. For more information, call 956/787-0131.

905th in a series. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of "Day Trips" 101-200, is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 33284, South Austin, TX 78704.