A Vending machine is an automatic slot machine that dispenses food or drink or other items.
The first vending machine was invented 2000 years ago in Roman Egypt by 1st century Greek engineer Hero of Alexandria. He designed a holy-water dispenser called a pneumatica, for temple worshippers to cleanse their hands. This first ever coin-operated vending machine required a five-drachma piece to operate. When the coin was deposited, it fell upon a pan attached to a lever which let some water flow out. A counterweight snapped the lever up and turned off the valve once the coin was tilted off the pan.
Portable brass coin-operated machines that dispensed tobacco were being operated as early as 1615 in English taverns.
The first patent issued for a fully automatic selling device went to Simeon Denham of Wakefield in Yorkshire, England. He was awarded British Patent no. 706 for his postage stamp dispensing machine in 1867. Denham's "Self-Acting Machine for the Delivery of Postage Receipt Stamps" was designed to sell a stamp for a penny from a strip of postage stamps contained within it. It was a crude device which seems not to have moved beyond the ideas stage.
The first modern day coin-operated vending machines were introduced in London in the early 1880s, dispensing postcards. Percival Everitt received a UK patent in 1883 for a postcard vender. Two years later he got a patent for an improved version of the machine. Everitt's device soon became a common feature at railway stations and post offices, dispensing envelopes, notepaper and postcards.
W.H. Fruen of Minneapolis patented the liquid-dispensing vending machine in America in 1884. Fruen's "Automatic Drawing (of liquids) Device" bore a resemblance to Hero's machine, but was never produced in quantity.
The first practical vending machine in the United States was introduced in 1888 by the Thomas Adams Gum Company. They sold their Tutti-Frutti brand of chewing gum on an elevated platform in a New York subway station.
In the late 1800s, you could buy legal divorce papers from a vending machine in Corinne, Utah, for $2.50.
In 1907 Lawrence Luellen, a lawyer in Boston, Massachusetts who was concerned about the lack of hygiene at the communal supplies of drinking water, developed a water-vending machine with disposable paper cups. With another Bostonian, Hugh Moore, he embarked on a public-education campaign encouraging people to use his paper cups rather than the publicly shared dippers, which spread germs so easily.
As nickel was a strategic war material during World War II, nickels coined from 1942 to 1945 were struck in a copper-silver-manganese alloy which would not require adjustment to vending machines.
Omar Kneclik of Coffeyville, Kansas invented The ICEE machine, the first frozen carbonated drink machine in 1961.
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| 1952 snack food vending machine. By Minnesota Historical Society |
HISTORY
The first vending machine was invented 2000 years ago in Roman Egypt by 1st century Greek engineer Hero of Alexandria. He designed a holy-water dispenser called a pneumatica, for temple worshippers to cleanse their hands. This first ever coin-operated vending machine required a five-drachma piece to operate. When the coin was deposited, it fell upon a pan attached to a lever which let some water flow out. A counterweight snapped the lever up and turned off the valve once the coin was tilted off the pan.
Portable brass coin-operated machines that dispensed tobacco were being operated as early as 1615 in English taverns.
The first patent issued for a fully automatic selling device went to Simeon Denham of Wakefield in Yorkshire, England. He was awarded British Patent no. 706 for his postage stamp dispensing machine in 1867. Denham's "Self-Acting Machine for the Delivery of Postage Receipt Stamps" was designed to sell a stamp for a penny from a strip of postage stamps contained within it. It was a crude device which seems not to have moved beyond the ideas stage.
The first modern day coin-operated vending machines were introduced in London in the early 1880s, dispensing postcards. Percival Everitt received a UK patent in 1883 for a postcard vender. Two years later he got a patent for an improved version of the machine. Everitt's device soon became a common feature at railway stations and post offices, dispensing envelopes, notepaper and postcards.
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| An automatic stamp and postcard vending machine, early 20th century, Japan. By Momotarou2012 |
W.H. Fruen of Minneapolis patented the liquid-dispensing vending machine in America in 1884. Fruen's "Automatic Drawing (of liquids) Device" bore a resemblance to Hero's machine, but was never produced in quantity.
The first practical vending machine in the United States was introduced in 1888 by the Thomas Adams Gum Company. They sold their Tutti-Frutti brand of chewing gum on an elevated platform in a New York subway station.
In the late 1800s, you could buy legal divorce papers from a vending machine in Corinne, Utah, for $2.50.
In 1907 Lawrence Luellen, a lawyer in Boston, Massachusetts who was concerned about the lack of hygiene at the communal supplies of drinking water, developed a water-vending machine with disposable paper cups. With another Bostonian, Hugh Moore, he embarked on a public-education campaign encouraging people to use his paper cups rather than the publicly shared dippers, which spread germs so easily.
As nickel was a strategic war material during World War II, nickels coined from 1942 to 1945 were struck in a copper-silver-manganese alloy which would not require adjustment to vending machines.
Omar Kneclik of Coffeyville, Kansas invented The ICEE machine, the first frozen carbonated drink machine in 1961.
In the 1960's cigarette vending machines had a problem. They would accept two quarters (50 cents) but cigarettes only cost .47 cents. The solution was to package the cigarettes with three pennies right in the cellophane wrapping. Product and change came out together.
In 1999 Coca Cola invented a vending machine that could adjust its prices based on the temperature, allowing it to hike up the price of a Coke on a hot summer day. Customers denounced the idea, while even Pepsi accused Coke of exploitation.
FUN VENDING MACHINE FACTS
Coca-Cola created a campaign to promote unity between India and Pakistan by using high-end vending machines which allowed people in both countries to communicate with each other in real-time.
Vending machines kill four times more people each year than sharks. Between 1978 and 1995, 37 people were killed shaking vending machines trying to get free food.
Japan has over five million operating vending machines within the country. That is one vending machine per 23 people, making it the country with the most vending machines per capita in the entire world.
In Japan you can find fresh eggs, crepes, batteries, umbrellas, floral arrangements and even used women's underwear in their vending machines.
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| Umbrella vending machine, Ochanomizu2 | by eyeonjapan.com |
Japan banned beer vending machines from public sidewalks, not to prevent public drunkenness or sales to minors but because liquor store owners didn't like the competition.
Japan has specialized vending machines that have a backup battery and dispense free drinks and food in the event of a major emergency.
Japanese vending machines are operated to dispense drinking water free of charge when the water supply gets cut off during a disaster.
In Nashville, Tennessee, there is a five-story, fully automated vending machine that dispenses real motor cars.
There is a pecan pie vending machine in Cedar Creek, Texas. The machine is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, is stocked daily, and contains full-sized pies and other sweet pecan treats.
Art-o-mat machines are specialized vending machines that dispense art, specifically the artwork of local artists. As of July 2018, there were over 100 machines around the world, and over 400 artists involved.
Source Vending Machines: An American Social History By Kerry Segrave
There is a pecan pie vending machine in Cedar Creek, Texas. The machine is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, is stocked daily, and contains full-sized pies and other sweet pecan treats.
Art-o-mat machines are specialized vending machines that dispense art, specifically the artwork of local artists. As of July 2018, there were over 100 machines around the world, and over 400 artists involved.
Source Vending Machines: An American Social History By Kerry Segrave
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