The Juke Box and The Taco Story

I really enjoyed this lunch hour at Taco Jalisco's. I sat facing the juke box on purpose because I wanted to draw it. When I was a young girl in the 1950's my father had a business that serviced juke boxes. He had mostly Wurlitzer's and Seaburgs.



This is a Werlitzer taken from the web

 As a teen I had a job in his shop typing the record label strips for the larger machines like the one pictured above and the smaller models that were counter boxes that sat on tables or the soda fountain counters. They played 45 rpms. Those small plastic discs with the big fat holes in the middle. I liked singing stars like Fats Domino and Perry Como.



So sitting there drawing that juke box that was blaring Mexican music took me back a few years! (a few?) ;-) Quite a few. About 55 years!

The first wave of customers came and went and when there was a lull, Carlos, the owners son, who has become my art friend there came and sat down at my table to talk. He wanted to see the drawings in my art journal. He also brought me a recent drawing he had done to share with me.

And he told me a funny story. He was looking at the women in a drawing in my book and he said "I know those women! That one is Chicken Enchilada, and the other one is Beef Burrito!" I said, " You know people by what they order?" He said " Yes, when we just see your face in the door they start making your fish taco!" He said "You have only changed your order one time and that day I had to eat your taco!" I can't tell you how much I laughed hearing that!

The three people in the painting above were NOT sitting together. The woman on the right was sitting with her back to the juke box. But the woman and daughter were sitting at the table between hers and mine.  But my job at perspective was not so great so I wound up putting them together! I think they are getting along just fine! Never a dull moment at Taco Jalisco's!