The story
First use appears c. 1939, from juke (“roadside café”) + box, replacing older collocational terms such as nickel-in-a-slot phonograph, coin-in-the-slot phonograph, and coin-operated phonograph.
First known use, by meaning
- from 1939 A coin-operated machine that plays recorded music, with push-buttons to make selections.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.