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Coin Operated Machines - Older Than One Would Think

However coin machines for vending snuff, postcards and even a change machine didn't appeared until the late 18^th century, but coin machines did not become popular until a rash of patents in the 1880s for coin acceptor mechanisms that could distinguish genuine coins from fakes. Since then, an enormous variety of coin machines have been tried. 

The first commercial coin machines were introduced in London, England, in the early 1880s. The coin machines dispensed post cards. Richard Carlisle, an English publisher and bookshop owner, invented a coin machine for selling books, around the same time.

These coin machines that were invented in England, adopted in America in the 1880s, and most prolifically produced in Chicago, Illinois--have been a part of everyday life for over one hundred years. In 1888, the Thomas Adams Gum Company introduced the very first coin machine to the United States. The machines were installed on the elevated subway platforms in New York City and sold Tutti-Frutti gum. In 1897, the Pulver Manufacturing Company added animated figures to its' gum machines as an added attraction. The round candy coated gumball and gumball coin machines were introduced in 1907.

Coin machines soon offered everything including; cigars, postcards, stamps, etc. In Philadelphia, a completely coin machine restaurant called Horn & Hardart was opened in 1902 and stayed opened until 1962. In the early 1920's, the first automatic vending machines started dispensing sodas into cups. In 1926, an American inventor named William Rowe invented a cigarette coin machine. The coin machine industry rose to new heights and prominent makers such as Groetchen Tool, Buckley, Bally, Pierce Tool, and many others were kept busy until the 1960s

The perfect vintage collectible is one with a beginning and an end, and yet stills numerous enough to enable enthusiasts to build collections like coin machines.