Music as a Metaphor for Leucadia

Music as a metaphor,

A 1946 Seeburg “Trashcan”

A large percentage of the population would look at this music appliance (they were appliances to be heavily used and then discarded) and say “it’s time to throw this junk away.”

Is it to far off to view Leucadia in a similar light to this picture?

Very unique, very funky, worn and abused, not very functional in today’s world, a relic from yesteryear?

I really don’t blame folks who say its junky and want to throw it away. I can see their logical path and desire to discard this and go in a different direction. I don’t view their motive as evil.



So we progress in the music world and we change for the better, right? For better or worse and for a variety of reasons, today’s music appliances look like this.
I think most of us have one or two black rectangular generic boxes about 16 inches wide that music is generated from.

Sure they may have a different nameplate on the face of the box. Sure some of them produce better sound that others. They are ubiquitous and indistinguishable void of any character or uniqueness. Why are they all black? I’ve never been able to figure that one out. My guess is so they could not be seen, and we could hide the uglyness.
Is it to far off to view some modern commercial developments and housing developments in a similar light as this “modern music appliance?
There is another choice, and that choice is restoration.


When fully restored, this 1946 Seeburg “Trashcan” is a proud and prized collectors item. An American treasure that is loved by all who see and hear it. It is a conversation starter and a show stopper.

It is also about 50 times more valuable than the above generic black boxes. The reasons are fairly obvious.

As a personal comment, I have a Dolby digital theater setup that rocks, I have a Danish Bang & Olufsen system that is state of the art and an excellent example of modern art, and I have this 1946 jukebox restored by myself and my good friend and Jukebox hero Fred Caldwell.

We enjoy all the music systems but the jukebox is the only one that can bring a tear to your eye. I have seen friends tear up at its beauty and feel a strong desire to go over and touch and caress it, I call that behavior a “ jukebox hug.”
Of all three music systems in the house this is my favorite by a mile, it’s a tube amp mono speaker honey sounding music device from 1946. It will never be thrown away or discarded, it will always be maintained at a very high level and will only become more and more valuable as the years go by. It could care less about modern trends and fancy widgets.

Is it to far off to view Leucadia in a similar light to this picture?

Cheers
Peder Norby

Peder Norby is the Highway 101 Coordinator for the city of Encinitas