Wurlitzer Debutante Brings Record Price At Auction

For Immediate Release

March 31, 1999

"The rare jukeboxes are still in demand" said auctioneer Prestan Evans, after the sale of a very rare Wurlitzer Debutante, for a winning bid of $39,000 at an Opportunities Auction, held near Cumming, Georgia on June 27th.

After adding on a 10% buyers premium and the 7% Georgia sales tax, the new owner ended up writing a check for $45,903.00 for the Debutante.

"That has to be a record price for a jukebox," said Rick Botts, publisher of Jukebox Collector. "In my 21 years of publishing a magazine for jukebox collectors I've never heard of a jukebox that changed hands for that kind of money before. Up until now the most expensive model jukebox was considered to be a
Wurlitzer 950. The rumor is that one sold for around $42,000 a couple of years ago."

It seems everyone loves a contest so, Preston Evans, put up a sign inviting people to write down on a legal pad, placed near the jukebox, their name and their guess as to the final bid price of the Debutante.The person who came the closest to the winning bid would win $200.

I looked at the pad after the auction and saw guesses from as low as $3,500, up to 1 million dollars. Most of the people were guessing that the selling price would be from $15,000 to $35,000.

When the time came to put the Debutante up for sale, Preston took the mic and spent about 4 minutes giving the history of the jukebox to the crowd and finished it off by saying "I'm looking for $50,000."

The auctioneer Guerry Wise started his chant off by asking for $50,000." He got a bid for $10,000, then quickly another person bid $15,000. Guerry asked for $20,000 and couldn't get it so he dropped back and started asking for $16,000.

After a brief lull, Virginia from California bid $16,000 and it quickly went up $1,000 a bid till it reached $27,000.

From where I was sitting, it looked to me like only two people were biddingon the Debutante after the $16,000 bid.

After a lull at $27,000 it then quickly ran up to $37,000. Bidding stalled at $37,000 so the auctioneer spent some time cajoling the low bidder. When Virginia bumped it up to $38,000 a gasp came from the crowd. The anticipation was almost too much to bear.

Her opponent quickly came back with $39,000. The auctioneer asked for $40,000 but Virginia shook here head no. It was over.

The auctioneer looked at the winning bidder and said, "Bless your heart young man, ...sold $39,000." There was a spontaneous round of applause for the two bidders, for it was an exciting contest that most of us will never forget.

This article was excerpted from Jukebox Collector, August 1998, story by Rick Botts.