Below is an article from the German publication Die Musikbox das magazin. originally printed in German language but we have translated into English using online translation, so please allow for any small translation differences. The article is a fantastic story about the rise of the Tonomat Jukebox and tells about It’s connection with Geoffrey Norman Ditchburn. Download a PDF version Here

22-09-19 How did the Tonomat Translation happen Below is a follow-up article from the above German publication Die Musikbox das magazin. they contacted me to say how happy they were with the translated article above and could we do a follow- up article regarding how this all came about, of course i was more than happy spread the Ditchburn word so below is the article and below the translation into English.

Photo Ref: DB446 Courtesy of Felix De Cuveland

It would not have happened without Rita's photos Cover story of our magazine published in the UK By Felix de Cuveland Without Rita's photos, and without her vivid memories, that would have never happened. We're talking about the report you see on the opposite page. Looks like our cover story " Tonomat: schneller Aufstieg, jähes Ende" from last fall, only the text is in English and was published by a British website under the title "Tonomat: Fast Rise, Sudden Fall". Full length and with all pictures. But how did this happen. Surprise on the front page During a visit to the world's largest jukebox museum "Terra Technica" in the Czech Republic, jukebox fan Karl Dawson picked up a copy of our jukebox magazine, Karl is particularly interested in boxes from the British company Ditchburn. The front page was printed in German and Karl could not understand German. Only one thing was clear: the name Norman Ditchburn appeared in the front-page text. Ditchburn in a German magazine! A surprise, because Ditchburn is quite unknown outside the British jukebox scene. Pictures from the 50s And it got even better: inside the book Karl Dawson discovered photos of the Ditchburn people and music machines from the 50s. The British had been a major customer of Tonomat. Photographs that we had reprinted with permission from being closely associated with Tonomat founder’s daughter Rita Dieffenhardt Schmitt. She also has the most information about the association between Tonomat and Ditchburn, Karl was electrified. The photos and the text, in which the name Ditchburn lit up several times, this made the difference, even without being able to understand the German text, He asked us for permission to translate this "amazing story" into English and to be able to publish it on the Ditchburn website, We had to say yes, and with several automatic translation programs, Karl Dawson managed to produce an English version in three days, he writes: "Before my eyes, this story unfolded gradually - and what a fascinating story it was!" Karl fitted the text and images exactly as our German music box magazine layout. Cross-border It was also fascinating for us to once again experience how internationally intertwined the jukebox scene is. A Brit who discovers a German magazine in the Czech Republic, translates the text into English and then places it on the Internet! Now that is fun.

Translation