(Photograph courtesy of John Perschbacher.)

An idealized illustration of the National/AMI factory, circa 1930. This beautified illustration comes from the back page of the 1930 booklet, History, Organization and Personnel of the Automatic Musical Instrument Company. The main entrance doors to the factory offices and manufacturing areas were on the western side of the building complex, facing Union Avenue, which in this picture is along the right-hand side of the factory complex. The more central door led to the office reception area. Union Avenue ran north and south, and was a very long street that was interrupted by the railroad tracks running along the north side of the factory. And so the automobile roadway is briefly cut at the railroad tracks; it does not go over the tracks, but on the other side of the tracks it continues on again. Thus, the section of Union Avenue in front of the National factory ends in a cul-de-sac at the edge of the railroad grade.

(Photograph courtesy of John Perschbacher.)

Winter at the National/AMI factory. This southward looking photograph shows a non-idealized view of the aging factory buildings from the northern railway access side. The buildings are three stories high, with the bottom floor hidden by the relatively high railroad grade. The powerhouse, with its tall smokestack, is at the left. Public and employee access to the company offices and other areas faced Union Avenue, which is on the right-hand side of the factory complex (and not visible in this photograph). Date of the photograph is unknown, but because of the "Automatic Musical Instrument Co." signs displayed prominently across the top of the factory buildings the date would be after the reorganization of the two National companies into the new Automatic Musical Instrument Company (AMI) in 1925.

Along the side of the left factory wing, facing the power house, there are still visible traces of signage for the building's earlier occupant, the Grand Rapids Motor Hearse Company, which was owned by Walter Ioor, also a principle in the National companies. In 1922, when the National companies moved into a portion of the factory complex, the other part was still occupied by the Grand Rapids Motor Hearse Company. However, by 1925 when the National companies were reorganized into AMI, the Hearse Company had more or less gone out of business, leaving behind the unpleasant noise and odors associated with the hearse and motor manufacturing business.

(Photograph courtesy of John Perschbacher.)

A section of the Final Assembly Dept. for the National Piano Mfg. Co. This rare glimpse inside the National factory shows three pianos in the isle at picture left with each of three workmen busily putting the finishing touches on a National automatic coin piano. The room is jammed full of pianos, maybe as many as ten or more. The first man standing in the foreground is tuning the foremost piano, using a portable keyboard with the back side resting on top of the pneumatic stack. On the front of the keyboard are two dowel-like support legs resting on the front of the "keybed" area of the piano. The second or elderly man behind him is working on the next piano, and is sitting on a wheeled box-like seat. Next to him is a large wooden tool carrier jammed full of all kinds of hand tools. He looks to be adjusting some components in the area of the tracker bar and/or the Rewind/Play camshaft mechanism. The third man, toward the rear of the isle, appears to be standing in front of another piano with his left hand on the piano lid, but seemingly doing nothing more than observing the second or seated gentleman to his front, watching him regulate the mechanical mechanisms. At phonograph center and at the right side are visible the heads of two other men, but what they might be doing cannot be seen.

Hanging from a concrete ceiling beam midway back is a sign that appears to read: "Sec. B Room 20." On the work bench at picture left are two electric hot-glue pots, along with an assortment of tools. Underneath the work bench is a box of metal roll spools, and beyond the bench a floor mounted drill press is clearly visible. The supporting beams and wooden floor planks for the next floor make up the ceiling. Crisscrossing the ceiling area is the water piping for fire sprinklers. This workshop area is a corner room, with heavy curtains on the left side windows, for which the loose end has been hoisted up toward the ceiling. This suggests that these windows faced either east or west, with the curtains used to block out the hot sun when needed.

Although this photograph is not dated, but inscribed "Section of Final Assembly Dept., National Piano Mfg. Co.," it was likely taken prior to the reorganization of the two National companies into the Automatic Musical Instrument Company (AMI) in 1925. Moreover, the foremost piano (at right of center) has a "Property of; National Automatic Music Co.; Grand Rapids, Mich." decal on the "keybed" area cover, substantiating the notion that this photograph was snapped sometime before the year 1925. And while, due to the picture quality, it is difficult to count the mid-section piano notes, the foremost piano seems to have a 30-note mid-section. This suggests that the pianos being finalized have National built stacks and are probably therefore in the 6,000 or early 7,000 serial number range.

(Photograph courtesy of John Perschbacher.)

The Top Flight model juke-box introduced in 1936. It utilized a newly developed bass reflex loud-speaker system. The selection system allowed a patron to place a nickel in the individual numbered coin slot to listen to the desired song. The machine held ten 78-rpm records, playing both sides. Thus, there were twenty musical selections available and twenty waiting coin slots.

(Photograph courtesy of John Perschbacher.)

The Model A juke-box introduced in 1946. This model was affectionately known as the "Mother of Plastic," because it introduced the use of opalescent plastics and colored gemstones to attract attention. It held twenty 78-rpm records, twice the number of earlier models, offering patrons 40 musical selections.

(Photograph courtesy of John Perschbacher.)

The model D juke-box introduced in 1951..It was the first AMI juke-box to play both 78 and 45-rpm records, and it was available in two models: The D-40 was available in September of 1951, and the D-80 followed in October. Both models featured a new sound system with separate manual bass and treble controls. As a convenience, the title strips were moved to eye level. And the internal lights were fluorescent tubes instead of the conventional incandescent bulbs to reduce heat,

(Photograph courtesy of John Perschbacher.)

The model H juke-box introduced in 1957..It held 45-rpm records and the mechanism could be adjusted to play 100, 120, or 200 musical selections. It featured a 22 Watt amplifier, ample for almost any commercial application.

(Photograph courtesy of John Perschbacher.)

The Continental 2-200 model juke-box introduced in 1962. It featured "Stereo — Round" sound, and played both 45 and 33-rpm discs. It offered 200 musical selections from 100 discs. Its predecessor, "The Continental," introduced in 1961, and the Continental 2 shown above were nicknamed "Sputnik," due to their "out of this world" appearance.

(Photograph courtesy of John Perschbacher.)

The RI-1 Heritage model juke-box introduced in 1973. This model plays both 45 and 33-rpm records, with 120 musical selections.

(Photograph courtesy of John Perschbacher.)

The R-85 Starlight model juke-box introduced in 1981. This model plays both 45 and 33-rpm records, with 200 musical selections.

(Photograph courtesy of John Perschbacher.)

The Laser Star American 100C model juke-box introduced in 1993. This machine holds 100 compact discs.

(Photograph courtesy of John Perschbacher.)

The NiteStar™ Digital Internet-Access model juke-box introduced in 2006. The company's Internet-enabled devices were able to operate over a variety of broadband connections. AMI Entertainment—a wholly owned subsidiary of Rowe International Corp.—provided digital music content and Web-based management services for the Rowe Internet-access juke-boxes over the AMI Entertainment Network. The NiteStar™ allowed music patrons to search and purchase music by song, artist, album title or genre from a vast music library licensed by AMI Entertainment. This is the last model juke-box manufactured by Rowe/AMI in the old Union Avenue S.E factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Production was shifted to Mexico and the old factory buildings were razed, signaling an end of a long and once prosperous manufacturing era.