Vending machines have come a long way from selling simply cans of Coke, chocolate bars and packets of crisps. Almost anything imaginable can now be purchased from the dispensaries, there is little that can’t be found in the self-service devices.
Below is a collection of vintage photographs, which date from the 1920s to the late 1960s, showcases some of the world’s oldest and oddest vending machines.
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| A woman in London is able to continue her grocery shop thanks to a vending machine which says it dispenses fruit but seems to offer kitchen cupboard essentials such as Oxo cubes, tins of food, matches and Colgate products, 1920. |
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| A woman buys fruit from a coin operated machine at Paddington Station in London, ca. 1920s. |
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| A woman uses The Maiwarm Company soda machine in 1928. It was the first of its kind not to require a soda squirter. |
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| Mid adult couple purchasing ice cream from a vending machine, ca. 1930s. |
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| A man uses the cafeteria vending machine called ‘Automat’, ca. 1940s. |
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| This coffee machine was released by the National Automatic Merchandising Association at the World’s Fair Of Vending Machines, 1947. |
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| The sandwich dispenser was shown for the first time at the Chicago Exhibit, ca. 1950s. |
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| A woman demonstrates a multi functional vending machine that dispenses both cold drinks including Coca Cola, Canada Dry and orange juice along with hot soup, ca. 1950s. |
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| Three women enjoy soup from a Campbell’s Soup vending machine in their office, one of the woman opens a can of soup using another nifty gadget, a floor-mounted can opener, ca. 1950s. |
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| A vending machine at the Post Office allowed customers to buy stamps without having to queue, ca. 1950s. |
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| A woman also purchases a pair of nylon stockings from a machine, ca. 1950s. |
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| Vending machines were already able to refrigerate and heat liquids but the ice cream vending machine ensured items were kept frozen, 1952. |
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| The market for vending machines was beginning to expand. This couple have a choice of sandwiches, hot soup or hot chocolate, coffee, cold drinks, fresh milk and chilled fruit from a series of automated vendors – arranged under a natty striped awning, 1959. |
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| A woman purchases fresh eggs from the machine in Derbyshire, 1963. |
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| A man purchases fresh eggs from the machine in Surrey, 1963. |
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| A woman is operating the first potato vending machine in Britain in Chelsea, 1962. |
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| A woman in Berlin, Germany uses a coin-operated device to buy a clock, ca. 1960s. |
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| The Sixties saw the rise of self-service booze, a woman buying a whisky, ca. 1960s. |
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| A woman buying a soda and another dispensing a pint of beer, ca. 1960s. |
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| Shoppers could pick up household essentials from this machine. Goods available include Heinz Spaghetti and vegetable soup, Tetley tea, Sugar Puffs, Fray Bentos, Oxo Cubes, soup, light bulbs, mayonnaise and cocoa – all of which could be placed in housewives’ own bags, ca. 1960s. |
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| This woman is now able to use a credit card to pay for one of a selection of coffees from this self-serve machine, ca. 1960s. |
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| Coffee is one thing but creepy crawlies? This temperature-controlled machine sells worms to be used as bait for fishing at 50 cents a tub, 1965. |