Jukebox: A Lancaster project finale, celebrated at Blackpool Winter Gardens

The Jukebox project, led by Lancaster-based arts and heritage charity Mirador, as well as the library, has been celebrated at Blackpool Winter Gardens.

The project, which took place over the last year, aimed to remember and celebrate the teenage culture from the rock ‘n’ roll era of the 1950s and 1960s.

Lancashire is significant for this because factories in Blackpool and Lytham St Annes produced the first jukeboxes in Britain.

The Jukebox project included reminiscence sessions with people who were teenagers in the 1950s and 1960s so experienced the culture first-hand. Other events were a film show, and visits to the Jukebox Museum in St Annes.  

The project was supported by a range of national organisations including The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, the Granada Foundation and Garfield Weston Foundation.

Last week, Blackpool’s Winter Gardens transported visitors back in time to the 1950s and 60s as the theatre transformed itself to commemorate the finale of the project. Nearly one hundred senior guests attended and enjoyed a fun day of memories and music from the 1950s and 60s. 

The celebration featured a chance to dance to the music of the rock ‘n’ roll era as well as three art installations. The installations had been specially created for Jukebox: Teenage Revolution and inspired by the 50s and 60s. These included a virtual reality experience, a “choose your own adventure game”, and a hair salon. The celebration was reportedly joyous and really did justice to the living cultural heritage in Lancashire. 

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Currently, Lancaster University students are collaborating to record these memories for a special archive at the university’s library. This is in order to create an enduring legacy for Jukebox: The Teenage Revolution. Lancaster University also notably has an archive dedicated to Jack Hylton, the famous band leader, composer, pianist and impresario, who played a key role in introducing the jukebox to Britain. 

Jukebox: Teenage Revolution also introduced maps of Blackpool coffee shops where jukeboxes were a particularly popular attraction.

Free copies are now available for visitors at both Blackpool Central Library and Stanley Park Visitor Centre.