The Surprising History of Vending Machines

Americans spend nearly $7 billion a year in vending machines. Today the machines are mostly a matter of convenience, but vending machines have a surprisingly long history, stretching all the way back into antiquity. The History Guy recalls the history of vending machines. It deserves to be remembered.
This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Non censuram.
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Script by JCG
#history #thehistoryguy #vendingmachine

[@ddrhero]

I'm an arcade mechanic and i absolutely loved your video. Thank you. Coin operated machines have been a part of my life for over a decade now.

[@davida.4925]

This video did NOT suck.

[@dalekidd420]

The more I think about the history and concept of vending machines, and then reflect on the concept of e-commerce, the more I am convinced that I am, in fact, staring into a "vending machine" right now...

[@robinwells8879]

Dale Kidd a very clever observation. If only they all dispensed as satisfying a product as this! 😃

[@Spyrika]

Don't do this to me

[@Ndlanding]

Please insert coin!

[@therogueadmiral]

You just blew my mind. this is... mildly upsetting, and im not sure why...

[@travisdlucas]

Although I live all of THG videos, my favorites are these “history of the mundane” videos. There are so many things we see and use daily that we have no idea where they came from. Thanks THG for preserving the history of those items that allow modern life to thrive.

[@politicalvegan]

mundane? How about the history of how long the economy has been fake... This thing dominates the lives of hundreds of millions of people...

[@charlesbaldo]

@@politicalvegan What’s fake about reporting on economy? Everyone who pays attention knows we are 20 trillion in debt, the deficient about the same, we printed money called quantitative easing that tripled the cost of your grocery bill. Hold on to your chair because Biden is about to spend even more than Trump and Obama and make the middle class pay for it. Everyone knows at some point we will crash and reset,unless you believe that was precisely the idea behind Corona scamdemic

[@rosevillerod]

I just retired after a lifetime of involvement in the vending industry, beginning in 1974. I seriously HATED Polyvend glass fronts as, back then, the product hung from a weird plastic clamp that routinely broke. It had twenty “rails” that held about a dozen items each. Due to the heat being inside an enclosed space with a glass front, product would melt and drip out of the packaging onto the item and rail immediately below, causing all sorts of issues including jamming and cleanliness problems. Then they introduced a refrigerated version with a pull out section that routinely stole dimes. Just dimes. It would not be uncommon to find $15 or more upon opening the door. But that’s just the beginning as technology changed and pastry glassfronts were replaced with combination candy/pastry machines, some even selling cold canned soda, and now bottles too. It is a fascinating industry gradually going away in favor of “Micromarkets”, which was my speciality as a Project Manager for a major vending company for the past five years.

[@xarophti]

I remember going to NAMA conventions as a kid. We'd end up with bags full of sample snacks (vendors were pretty indulgent with the kids) but I loved seeing the new innovations. I remember the first pizza & french fry machines

[@jorawarsingh2595]

You sound awesome.

[@MB-st7be]

I honestly thought this might be a Commentiquette comment (_)_):::::::::::D~~

[@divarachelenvy]

yes I was involved in manufacture of vending machines so I empathise... nothing better than a fight with a coin selector and winning...

[@alex0589]

Yuck

[@JonWintersGold]

This is the kinda history you don’t get in class but we absolutely love.

[@sdrape4964]

Well stated. History that's hard to put a political spin on, and is very interesting to boot!

[@robinsattahip2376]

Most school history is indoctrination designed to make you a good flag waiving American.

[@thebigdog2295]

@@robinsattahip2376 it hasn't been about waving the flag for a long time. It's about training kids to be good little drones and do what they're told to by the government. After all the government has been pushing for people to wear masks that don't even provide protection from the beer bug, it only stops the big drops of saliva, the micro drops go through or out the sides and top. And there's a lot of micro droplets with it in them.

[@vooteimer1234]

Public education is trash and the root cause of most of the issues BLM blames on racism.

[@SuperScottCrawford]

Class? What's a class? Oh, that's right. I remember those.

[@chiconian49]

Mom and dad had gone to automats in New York City. They later moved to California. Once while visiting San Francisco mom took me to an automat in the financial district near Mission St. and told me it would close soon and she wanted me to experience what it was like before they were all gone. I remember holding her hand and pointing to a sandwich behind a little glass door. She put a coin in a slot, opened the door and retrieved the sandwich. We repeated the process for drinks and desert. The place was large, clean, but dehumanizing. I always loved the interaction between customers and waitresses. Later in life I would go to work repairing jukeboxes, arcade video games, pinballs, and vending machines in San Francisco. I did night calls when a juke box would break down in a bar. No music in a bar meant the customers would leave. It was usually caused by a coin which had been placed on a bar with beer spilled onto it. The dimes are very light and more likely to jam the coin mechanism especially when sticky from beer. I would remove the dime and other coins trapped behind it and take the coin mechanism into the bathroom and wash it with Windex and hot water. I also washed the sticky coins. That would fix it. I would then add about a dozen free plays on the juke box for people who lost their money. This was in the 70's and 80's. All the coin mechanisms had a magnet to catch slugs. When the person hit the coin return button the slug would fall though the slot to the coin box so they couldn't get it back. It was a very simple system. I remember how upset venders were when California outlawed cigarette vending machines. Too many kids were getting cigarettes from them. Remember the coin operated vibrating beds in motels? You could get a 25 cent massage. Great upload History Guy!

[@seka1986]

Lance Boil what kind of sandwich was it?

[@totalynotcatherine]

Cool job!

[@williamharris8367]

I never got to experience an Automat (though as a teenager my Mother ate at one while visiting NYC in the late-1950s), but I do remember cigarette vending machines -- they lasted into the early-1990s back home. As for the vibrating bed in a motel, I only encountered this once as a child (ca. 1977). We put the quarter in, but nothing happened. It turned out that the machine was just unplugged. It ran all night long until we unplugged it the next morning.

[@thatfeeble-mindedboy]

What a great story... thank you for sharing that with us. An interesting characteristic of baby boomers is how so many of us caught the tail end of things that had been in place for a long time, sometimes multiple decades, sometimes even across generations. In your case, it would be hard to find anyone much younger than you that had anywhere near the amount of exposure to, or experience with, the world of coin-operated-mechanical-things that functioned without the assistance of a computer chip. If you add to that list the knowledge of the inner workings of such things acquired from years, probably decades, of experience repairing and maintaining these things, well, I don’t know, but that puts you in a pretty small fraternity- at least; and you may be close to ‘last of the Mohicans’ status ... lol. If most people today could see what a monstrosity an old mechanical ‘stepper switch’ found in telephone offices looked and sounded like, they would wonder how such a thing could function properly for more than a few days...

[@Lethgar_Smith]

When I was 12 we used to buy our cigarettes at the vending machine in the vestibule of the Sambo's restaurant near our bus stop. They were 50 cents then and I remember when it went up to 75 cents we almost had the balls to go in and complain to the manager but quickly figured that wouldn't get us anywhere. We were pissed about that price hike. I remember that.

[@greggbaker7120]

Bowling alley cigarette machines..where many a young boy, bought his first pack of smokes..

[@occamsrazor1285]

When I was seventeeeeen, I drank some very good beer. I drank some very good beer, I purchased, with a fake IDDDD. My name was Brian McGee. I stayed up listening to Queen, when I was seventeen

[@davidsigalow7349]

I heard a "Dragnet" radio episode recently where they stopped to buy a soda from a vending machine. Office Frank Smith was marveling at the machine's abilities as we could hear the sound of the cup drop into the slot and then be filled with seltzer. It brought back memories of those cool machines and also made one appreciate how hard radio sound-effects engineers used to work at their craft.

[@schlirf]

Remember going to the "Automat" in NYC back in the late 60s. Thought it was the coolest thing I've ever seen. 😎

[@jeanettegraham9440]

Let’s not forget the jukebox dispensing music. My parents owned a cafe in the 1950’s and had a jukebox and a Coca Cola machine. I remember watching the vendor remove the coins and count them. He was super fast counting and rolling the coins.

[@breth8159]

History guy I have been in this business for 40 years have loved talking to the old-timers... one of my mentors was 104 in the 1980s when I would work for him for 5 hours a week he explained to me that a new jukebox in 1949 would buy a new Cadillac for him every year and only cost of the price of one stripped Chevy ! That was the year the Seeburg 45 player came out and they were able to go from a nickel to a dime a song . Love your videos they are amazingly entertaining and informative

[@brentgranger7856]

I lived in Japan for 3.5 years, and I was amazed at what was sold in vending machines and that I didn't lose a single yen in all the times I used one to buy a cold or hot drink.

[@620john620]

Brent Granger now you just wave your smart phone. Food, drinks, train tickets, etc.

[@brentgranger7856]

@@620john620 The Japanese always seem to be one step ahead of America in that category!

[@bassinbillRC5300]

On a trip to Japan landing in Narita airport and then being shuttled via a Toyota with street by Street and turned by turn navigation, we arrived at our hotel in Saitama city. On the fourth floor we exited the elevator and I looked across to the alcove on the opposite side of the hallway and there were two vending machines. One vending machine served hot drinks the other vending machine serves cold drinks. The hot drinks I tried a few of those coffee lattes and the high caffeine espresso drinks really delicious.except for one choice the cold vending machine so nothing but beer! First time out of the United States looking at a vending machine that sold Sapporo draft and asahi super dry beer! Oh that was a heaven at that time!

[@davegreenlaw5654]

I remember on my trip to Japan in '07 always using vending machines. One day at Harijuku JR Station, I wanted to use one but only had a 10,000 Yen note. I went into the little convenience store there to try and get smaller bills. The assistant was kind enough to show me that the machines would indeed give me back change. I was quite amazed.

[@DTD110865]

Is it true what BHG said about machines that sold live puppies? I pity the puppies if it is.

[@alloria]

When I was at university, we had a vending machine that contained Blank CDs, Zip Disks (remember those?) floppy disks and headphones.

[@deanacollins3508]

The computer lab at my community college had a small vending machine that sold floppy disks & that was 25 years ago.

[@BELCAN57]

The ten cent Coke that you had to drink right there at the Service Station. Ah, memories!

[@dbmail545]

Yep. You got charged for the bottle if you took it with you.

[@engleharddinglefester4285]

Yep 10 cents and if you took the bottle with you, you had to give the guy a nickel deposit. Back then tonics (sodas were called tonics in New England back then) had real sugar in them, not corn syrup blecch.

[@TheOtherBill]

To this day I swear Coke tastes better drank out of one of those cold little green bottles than any other way.

[@robinwells8879]

I recall, in the seventies, my father routinely using a petrol pump somewhere in Ayrshire, Scotland, in the wee small hours of our red eye family holiday journeys from Belfast to near Oban in Argyll. It dispensed fuel in return for bank notes inserted in a slot. I always wondered how it differentiated between denominations. This was especially tricky as Scottish banks had and still have, the rights to issue their own unique notes. Lovely episode as ever. Many thanks.

[@davea6314]

Were there any vending machines in Scotland that dispensed stinky haggis, kilts, bagpipes, woad, claymore swords, golf equipment, and horny female sheep? Lol 😜

[@alexhermida4961]

I was fascinated by vending machines when I was a kid I’m talking about the year 1971-1972.. I found them magical in a sort of way..✨

[@keithburch8582]

Bring back the automat, dangit! There were still a few around in the early 70’s when I was a kid and I loved em!

[@gj8683]

Went with two other "foreign" guys to a supermarket in Japan. While two of us were waiting past the checkouts for the third, this enormous pop corn vending machine with a face on it we were near started crowing, in English, about the delicious pop corn. Everyone stopped and looked at us. We were embarrassed because they probably thought we were being too loud.

[@charliesimpson2974]

Re: cigarette vending machines--When I was in high school, I was a delivery driver for a chicken restaurant in Detroit which had a small dining area with a cigarette machine inside. One afternoon before the dinner rush, I noticed the manager talking with some guy, they seemed to reach an agreement on something. The manager unlocked the the cigarette machine and the stranger filled it with cigarettes. I asked what was going on and the manager told me that the cigarettes were from North Carolina and had no state tax, thus were about half the cost, and that he would sell them for the same price and make a lot more money.

[@Splatterpunk_OldNewYork]

A lot more. Trucks that move skids of cigarettes are unmarked for a reason.

[@michaelb3363]

Vending machine companies were favorite investments of organized crime. The store owner who refused to have a gang's machines installed on their premises were regularly beaten severely and even killed if they didn't come around. The machine companies were big money-laundering operations for the old Mafia, and probably still are today in many places...

[@stephendimen8765]

@@michaelb3363 x⁸

[@rdizzy1]

@The Raisin They had cigarette machines for a long, long time. I'm only 36 and they still had a few kicking around that were in service in late elementary school (early to mid 1990s).

[@rdizzy1]

@@dr.floridaman4805 Nice, doesn't surprise me at all in florida. Do you need to scan your ID or something?

[@Faythe98]

I feel like selling life insurance at an airport really isn’t good marketing for the safety of their planes 😂

[@DawnOldham]

Yes, that one would make me think about canceling my trip! 🤣😂🤣

[@sillyone52062]

There once were, some years back, vending machines that sold flight insurance at every airport. They went away after a man bought a large policy, then blew his plane up.

[@rodchallis8031]

I remember watching my Uncle buy vending machine life insurance for my Aunt, when she, my Mom, Dad and my cousin flew out of Toronto (Was it called Pearson in '73?) Airport. My Aunt made a joke about him putting a bomb on the plane, in reference to the Graham case. I thought it was pretty funny until I realized we were all on the same flight.

[@ewhartiii]

At one point in time, regular life insurance policies had a clause which voided the policy if you died in a plane crash, the airport vendors' policies did not have that waiver. That's why people would buy the policies. Also at the time air travel had become safe enough that insurance companies felt confident of making a profit (i.e. a fortune) from those sales.

[@ewhartiii]

@@sillyone52062 they were still around in the late 60s to early 70s, THG said that incident occurred in the 50s. I think what killed the policies off was the fact that conventional life insurance started covering air travel.

[@anthonyC214]

One of my fondest memories of my mother was when she would take me to the H&H automat in NYC. I loved their cream spinach and bake macaroni. Love to see the doors swing open. The coffee dispenser were brass lion figures. I also remember the penny chewing gum on the steel support columns in the subways but I always found the piece to be very hard. My mother and grandmother would not permit me to buy gum balls as they both worked at a time for the American Chicket Company and the scraps of the cut gums would be all tossed into a vate and used for gum balls. They said they were not fit to be chewed.

[@cosmicrider5898]

Did they eat hot dogs?

[@anthonyC214]

@@cosmicrider5898 funny you would say this. My grandmother was actually German and she would go to the German butchers to get hot dogs that were made by them from the finest meats. As for the national brands like Oscar Meyer or Ballpark, no way my grandmother or mother would allow that garbage in our house

[@RickaramaTrama-lc1ys]

As a young boy in the 50's one of my favorite memories is getting a cold Coke in the little thick bottle and would make your eyes water cause it was so strong tasting but very delicious and the Coke Machine had just one small door at the top left and after you put in the coin (can't remember if it was a dime or a quarter) you had to have the strength to lift up the door that had an arm connected to it that moved the Coke into the round slot so you could pull it straight out and the door would fall and lock for the next customer. I always begged my Mom for one of those cokes=which she would help me drink~! Thanks History Guy for bringing back all these memories of better times when life seem simple and new~!

[@LaikaLycanthrope]

Yes, Coke had a real bite to it that it doesn't have now, especially when it came ice-cold in those little 6 ounce bottles. Those were hard to find even in the 70s.

[@williamwuinn6601]

I lived in Atlanta Ga. In the 50's also .near where the Braves stadium was and at the Pure gas station. At That time, the 6 and half oz. cost a nickel coin, till one Saturday it went up to 6 cents

[@goodun2974]

@@LaikaLycanthrope , While probably less common then the plethora of micro brew beer pubs that have sprung up to sell their own homemade product, small soda-bottling shops have come back into vogue to some extent. We have one in my town, theyve been in business for nearly a 100 years, and they still use cane sugar, and no corn syrup. They make a Ginger "beer" that is like Ginger Ale on steroids, you can pour it into a huge glass of ice and it will still retain significant bite and punch. It makes a great Dark and Stormy mixed drink with rum and a squeeze of lime. The various Root beers and their variants ( Birch beer, Sarsaparilla etc) are also excellent, makes for refreshing root beer floats. Look around online, maybe there's a craft/artisinal soda-bottler near you somewhere.

[@LaikaLycanthrope]

@@goodun2974 I'm looking for a good Spruce Beer, but can't find it for the life of me. The only time I ever saw it was from the Pop Shoppe, sold from _one_ Pinto station near Ottawa, Ontario, almost 40 years ago.

[@MikeBrown-ii3pt]

As a child of the 70s, I'm old enough to remember when actual service stations had similar Coke machines. They served 16oz returnable bottles for a quarter. I miss REAL Coca Cola!

[@goodun2974]

Missing from the discussion was the fact that Vending machine companies, especially those dealing in cigarettes, were often run by mobsters. Any kind of machine that accepts cash, or makes change, would allow opportunities for money laundering and tax evasion. Vending machines would also be a good place to dispense stolen or otherwise bootlegged cigarettes, and avoiding the state and federal taxes.

[@dbmail545]

In the 80's I worked for a vending company that had cigarette machines, juke boxes, coin-operated pool tables, video games and bill-changers. And, yeah. The owner was as crooked as a dog's hind leg.

[@xarophti]

@@dbmail545 yea, but they didn't MAKE the machines. They bought them from the manufacturers, put them out & filled/serviced them

[@lorenzoboyd6889]

My uncle worked at various aerospace firms in SoCal in the 1950's - 1980's. He said that it was common knowledge that the 'mob' ran all the vending machines in the aerospace facilities.

[@sincerelyyours7538]

About 25 years ago, give or take, someone noticed that a Korean 500 Wan coin (worth about 50 cents US) was close in size to a Japanese 500 Yen coin (worth about five dollars US). A little filing and many older Japanese vending machines couldn't tell the difference. Using such a coin one could get four 100 Yen coins as change for a 100 Yen purchase. Someone else noticed that if you squirted soapy water into the coin slot you could short out the mechanism and make it release all the coins in its change buffer. This became really popular with low-level criminals and caused the vending manufacturers to redesign and upgrade their machines to prevent that from occurring. Today they're quite robust and well protected, but the fact that they had to do it severely tested the Japanese belief that their population was above that kind of mischief.

[@deltavee2]

Life is just full of two-edged swords. Keeps being human interesting.

[@chachadodds5860]

I was surprised not to see the ubiquitous, kiddie rides of the 50's and 60's, represented in this category. Fond memories from those days of childhood entertainment, on grandpa's payday, when he would treat each of us to a ride on our choice of funny, circus-like animal, or vehicle to drive. Then, we each visited the gumball machines, to choose our desired flavor. My mouth is watering, just reminiscing about my favorite. As we grew older, it was the Coke machines, with those thirst-quenching, cold, glass bottles. We always felt special, and genuinely appreciated the extra expense it cost my grandparents, when times were hard, and there were many mouths to feed. Ahhhhhh, how things have changed.

[@juliestevens6931]

I vaguely remember eating at an automat as a child (maybe 5?), thinking it was the neatest thing. I think it was probably New York as we may have been coming back from France after my dad's tour of duty ended. My dad held me up so I could pick out what I wanted. I don't remember what I got, but I remember seeing sandwiches and hot food - like mashed potatoes and gravy, whole fruits and fruit salads, pies and cakes and boxes of cereal and cartons of milk. All manner of good looking food. It was amazing.

[@haydenbritt1237]

My machinist instructor used to make slugs in his high school shop class, then all the other guys in the class started follow suit and eventually the cia or secret service traced the counterfeiting back to them, as they were still under age they basically got away with it, but got quite the chewing out haha

[@jefferyepstein9210]

I remember an old coke machine that held glass bottles in chilled water and after you put your change in you worked the bottle through a maze to the end and lift it out. Damn I’m old 😂.

[@dbmail545]

I remember them. Frosty root beer was still made with cane sugar in those days.

[@t5o7m]

shared memory! (... we probably "went to different schools together" :) ... ( so far, 70 trips around the sun for me :)

[@harleyray5183]

The small town I spent the first 10 years of my life in had one of those pop machines too. The drinks in glass bottles would be really icy cold. That was in the very early 60s so like you I'm old too !

[@alitlweird]

“I want to get a vending machine, with fun sized candy bars, and the glass in front is a magnifying glass. You'll be mad, but it will be too late.” -Mitch Hedberg

[@seka1986]

alitlweird Fun Size 😁

[@ImSquiggs]

I love that Mitch has two relevant vending machine jokes in this comment section, and no one has even mentioned his "I never learned my A A B B C C's, God God Dammit Dammit" one yet. What a prolific vending machine based comedian

[@gregb3443]

Fascinating. Who would have thought this idea will go back as far as antiquity spirit

[@tenhirankei]

I'd heard of Heron's device before. Wasn't there a second one that opened the doors to the temple one worshipper at a time?

[@BatCaveOz]

Febo, in the Netherlands is a super popular automat. (Especially after a night of bar hopping) They sell burgers. hot chips, fried chicken, etc. from venues with solid walls of vending machines.

[@davidheafield1436]

Yeah ,I used to go to Utrecht for the record fair and in the area leading from the train station there were always huge banks of fast food for a euro or two , that was as much of the Holland experience as the record fair itself

[@obelic71]

big gas stations besides the motor ways also have the same automat vending machines where you can obtain hot snacks in the Netherlands. Those hot or even cold snack automat drawer type vending machines you see rarly outside the Netherlands. Uit de muur eten (Eating out of the wall) uit de muur trekken (pulling out of the wall) are those drawer type of vending machines often called overhere.

[@henryrollins9177]

Damn...plastic food?

[@obelic71]

@wargent99 hot snacks and fresh sandwiches are served in vending machines at busy places in cities, gasstations and railway stations. The food is not bad we don't have time and shop space is limited. A fast high volume snack you get from the vending machine and other stuff you order at the counter.

[@obelic71]

@@henryrollins9177 Hot snacks are fresh and not wrapped in plastic. Its like a mini oven.

[@WarHawk-]

When I was a kid, most gas stations had chest type soda machines. After depositing your coin you opened the lid and slid your bottle of soda along a slot to the end where you could pull it out. It was not uncommon to open that lid and see several of the bottles, cap popped off, and a straw sticking out of the empty bottle still sitting in the slot LOL.

[@rickyusa1000]

When I was in college 40 years ago the vending machines in the dorms were very particular about the $1 bills they would accept. Bent corners and too many wrinkles would keep you from getting Snickers or a tuna sandwich. To this day I still flatten out the corners of any bills I get before I put them in my wallet to smash them back into the correct shape even though I haven't used a vending machine in many years.

[@kcgunesq]

Personally, the vending machine that will always stick out the most to me was one in our college dorm circa 1993 or so. It dispensed rental VHS tapes, nearly 25 years before Redbox. The dorm had tv lounges on every floor. If not already in use, a resident could ask for the video to be played by the main office and it would show up in each lounge if an A/B input selector was moved to "B". I don't think I ever saw one anywhere else though I'm sure they were in use elsewhere.

[@williamharris8367]

I encountered one of those in a hotel in Maine(?) in about 1987 -- the guest rooms all had VCRs. It was very complex, and we were unable to get it to work properly.

[@Noah_E]

My dad used to own an auto body shop next to a school and had a vending machine out front. People would routinely use it while at baseball or other sports events because it was cheaper than the onsite concession stands. I remember checking it because someone complained it wasn't working properly after a particularly hot weekend. It wasn't working because the coin box, along with the path that leads to the coin slot was completely full.

[@franciscampagna2711]

I remember a sign: "Win a Coke, 25 cents a chance".

[@sdrape4964]

I like that. It still allows the chance for the machine to take your money but not give you any product.

[@7curiogeo]

Haha how few get this. The dumbing down of America has been way to successful.

[@crimesforkibble6912]

Being a winner never tasted so sweet

[@lostintime8651]

@@7curiogeo *too. I guess you are dumb too!

[@sdrape4964]

@@lostintime8651 Never make assumptions. That could've been a test to see who'd catch it.

[@CalTxDude]

It is always a great pleasure to watch your videos. You've an Infectious eagerness that engages the viewer! You are the Robert Osborne of History that deserves to be remembered! Keep doing what you're doing and I will always keep watching!

[@Dionaea_floridensis]

I went to Tokyo last year, the vending machines were very convenient and cool!

[@johnslaughter5475]

In 1969, after my first cruise to Vietnam, my ship went to Hunter's Point for routine maintenance. They set up several of the Automat machines on the fantail and brought in tables and chairs. So, instead of having to wait for the mess decks to be opened for meals, we could go to the fantail any time of the day. They had a pretty good selection of canned hot foods, like Pork & Beans, sandwiches, drinks. Funny, but I don't remember any vending machines in Japan. I was there 3 times.

[@BlueBaron3339]

I remember being one *dazzled* five-year-old when my mother took me to an automat in NYC. It was her dream that she'd live to see "a push-button world." Fifty years later she lamented that it was becoming increasingly unlikely she'd ever get it 😂 🤣

[@alainarchambault2331]

Well, we got ATM's now, and that's a convenience.

[@MrWATCHthisWAY]

BlueBaron3339 - and then she pushes the buttons on her phone and connect to the world! I’m not so sure she didn’t see the rise of a pushbutton world. 👁 👁

[@datasailor8132]

My grandmother took me at age 10 in 1955 when I'd come up from Alabama to NYC for a summer visit.

[@BlueBaron3339]

@@MrWATCHthisWAY Yes, but buttons were, as she discovered, the smallest part of it, John. As technology advances, the world changes. She no longer felt a part of that world 😉

[@MrWATCHthisWAY]

BlueBaron3339 - that I can understand. As I get older I try and stay up with technologies and advance as much as I can. Today it’s Arduino motor control creations with some light code writing (more like changing variables) and tomorrow it will be my Raspberry Pi 4B Pi-Hole to block advertising and the crap feeds into my modem. I have no idea what Friday will bring but I’m sure it will be fixing one of my new technologies??? Lol. The future looks like fun as long as I’m trying to stay engaged with it. But sometimes it can feel overwhelming..

[@IRgEEK]

@the history guy I am only sorry my Pops passed away before your channel was live. Much to my Mother's sometimes dismay, my Pops and I watched history shows all the time. Even after I was married and moved away, each visit home meant marathon history show sessions that became more and more difficult as so called 'History' channels turned to anything but that. If Pops was still with us, he would be pouring through every tasty tidbit you have to offer. Now my own Daughter and I are doing the same. To have my 20+ Daughter come by and ask, "Can we watch a couple from the History Guy?" warms my heart, as I am sure my Pops heart as well. Thank you so incredibly much for what you do!

[@aregularperson7573]

YOU HAVE TAUGHT ME MORE ABOUT HISTORY THAN MY HISTORY TEACHERS EVER HAVE AND I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL FOR THAT

[@gertvanpeet3120]

In Zeeland, in the Netherlands, you can fill your dive tank with 220 bar air! With 50ct or 1 euro pieces! Clever, with dive shop closing on sundays....

[@alex0589]

Smart for a country that's underwater! Stay dry, my tall friends ;)

[@lukeo5908]

"I'm gonna get your money for you, but if you don't get the president of the United States on that phone -- you're gonna have to answer to the Coca Cola Company" - Col. Bat Guano

[@oddforestcritter]

A classic line from a classic film

[@sillyone52062]

Three shots from the colonel's M-1 carbine netted coins and a strong spray of soda.

[@gregh7400]

One of my favorite movies ever.

[@AndrewVelonis]

The way I remember it is, Peter Sellers tells the Colonel to shoot the vending machine to get coins so he can call the president (also played by Sellers) The colonel is reluctant, so Sellers yells "If you don't do as I say, you'll have to answer to the President of the United States!" To which the Colonel replies "okay, but if this is some kind of a commie trick, you're going to have to answer to the Coca-Cola company"

[@janetbell78]

When I was in Philadelphia in the 60’s, my grandmother took me to an automat for lunch. I was fascinated. Thanks, History Guy!

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

"Don't take any Wooden nickels "

[@victorlowry844]

..."from Indians"...

[@jamesarmenti3738]

"People would insert orange peels, paper and other rubbish" Yep. Sounds like people.

[@WorgenGrrl]

No matter what kind of system people create, there is always "That Guy (or Gal)" that wants to beat that system.

[@jliller]

No matter what someone creates, there is always someone else who wants to break it just because they can.

[@ATINKERER]

This must have been in New York City.

[@mad_max21]

Sounds like non-Japanese really.

[@TheGalacticWest]

@@jliller we really do hate these types of people but without those that like to break things we wouldn’t be as thorough and successful engineers.

[@crankychris2]

nice flashback. For a young fella you really have done some neat old stuff accurately.

[@alitlweird]

“I want to make a vending machine that sells vending machines. It would have to be real [expletive] big.” -Mitch Hedberg

[@imouse3246]

Mitch was on another plane of existence.

[@QqJcrsStbt]

My patent is for the vending machine vending machine machine. I will have to quote your prior art.

[@FortunaZKat]

@@QqJcrsStbt Technology is already here. Just use a car vending machine to vend an automat type machine with bigger openings that vend soda, snacks, toy, candy, condom, etc. machines. Simple.

[@georgecurtis6463]

I remember as a kid in the 50s when the family visited New York city and we went in to a huge place that had wall to wall machines. I was just stunned. Still one of these amazing things that I still remember clearly. We had basically traveled half way around the world to get there so you can imagine what a wonder that was.

[@kyleglenn2434]

I remember a beer vending machine in Japan that said " Domo Arigato". My brother was so fascinated by it , he spent his allowance and gave away the beer.😁

[@Jivolt]

This channel should be called Things You Didn’t Know You Even Wanted To Know. And can we get a History Guy / Tom Scott collab?

[@stenbak88]

Japan’s vending machines are so amazing

[@grandcatsmama3421]

I remember going into Philadelphia as a child and going to the Automats, we loved those, I don't know why they can't bring them back. The food was good. Not junk food. Miss going to them.

[@J-1410]

North Dakota: it's everywhere from vending machines to roll film. It is interesting hearing about all the inventions and patents that came out of ND, and how they seem to go unnoticed here...

[@captainskippy6622]

This brought back memories! In the 60’s in the town I grew up in an Automat opened up for food items. The lines were long with people wanting to experience the robot like experience...all the while with the machines stocked by humans behind them. I also remember going to a rest room at the beach that charged a whopping 10 cents for access to the toilet. We were in bathing suits had no change. As I was young, my mother told me to crawl under the door and open it. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!

[@IJustWantToUseMyName]

I never got to see a true AutoMat in person. I am always fascinated by them when I see them in old movies. I do remember miniature versions at hospitals where you could grab a cold sandwich, some fruit, or a dessert.

[@PaulDeCamp]

#suggestion: history of automated musical instruments. There are entire organizations dedicated to collecting (AMICA) automated musical instruments and numerous museums and private collections to restore, preserve and display them.

[@HendrikTheThird]

You should check out this channel called Wintergatan, though I expect you may already be aware of its existence.

[@wrightmf]

I'm old enough to remember the pay toilets, I simply crawled under the door. I also remembered you can mail order from ad in National Lampoon magazine a full size print of one of those pay toilet boxes, "it looks so real but it ain't so cheap." [something like $5]. Then later in 1970s the pay toilets disappeared. Story goes many places installed pay toilet boxes to collect revenue to help offsite maintenance costs. However the maintenance of these coin boxes exceeded what they collected. The downfall of the pay toilet was lawsuit brought on by women saying it forces them to pay to go pee when men can still use a urinal for free.

[@t5o7m]

THAT brought back a memory ... as a kid, walking home from the Saturday matinee move, stopping at the bus station and crawling under the door to use the toilet ... seeing graffiti like; "Here I sit, all broken hearted, paid a dime, and only __" :)

[@williamharris8367]

There was a popular restaurant near where I grew up that used pay toilets for a while. I vaguely recall a local shopping center retaining them into the 1980s.

[@christopheralthouse6378]

@@williamharris8367 We actually had a laundromat in Plant City, FL which used a variation of the pay toilet model up until about a couple of years ago (ca. 2018-2019). With theirs, the bathroom had a solid door so no crawling under it...it was $0.25 to unlock from outside and get in. Wasn't sure why the owner finally decided to take it out though...I had always thought he had it as more of a deterrent against vandalism as opposed to trying to actually make money from people using the bathroom but alas...😞

[@454k30]

I was fortunate enough to have the privilege of living in Japan for three years. The proliferation of vending machines in that country can not be overstated, they are literally everywhere. For a majority of them the dispensed items are drinks of various styles. Many of the machines feature hot and cold options. Most foreigners are startled by their first experience of purchasing a can of coffee when the grasp it and find it is quite warm indeed. The more exotic ones like the machines that sell foods cooked to order, clothing, or the puppies (mentioned in the video) are quite rare and usually a novelty or advertising item for a physical store. All that said, upon my return to the USA I found myself missing those hot beverage machines. I used to purchase a Boss coffee each morning as I waited for my train. The purchase was made using my Pasmo card, the same card which I used to pay my train fare.

[@almostfm]

Back in the 80s, my college astronomy class took a field trip to the Goldstone Deep Space Network tracking station, which was run by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory out of Pasadena. Outside the control room was a Coke vending machine that charged $.10 a can. Every other place I'd seen them, the Cokes cost a quarter, so I asked. Here's what the guy explained: The vending company was based in Pasadena, which is about a three-hour drive (traffic permitting) from Goldstone. So they'd have to send (and pay for) a tech to drive up there, change the mechanism, and then drive back. It didn't make financial sense to have a tech burn a day to get the price changed when he could be working on local machines that needed repairs, so they just took a loss of $.15 per can.

[@MmntechCa]

Seems like automats could be due for a comeback now that everyone wants "contactless" service. Get your #22 Lengua without having to go near anyone.

[@c.d.ruppert9560]

Basically it is back at Little Caesar's. Order and pay online and they give you a three digit number. There's a big hot box in the lobby with a keypad. Just type in your number and take your order.

[@charliebuckley6572]

My thoughts exactly C.D.

[@oldmech619]

I remember the automats. Real clunky. Hard to see in the window too.

[@hoodagooboy5981]

"Get your #22 Lengua". I had to look that up. "Beef tongue" is what I came up with, but I guess "number 22" means an item on a menu? Who even sells beef tongue?

[@oldmech619]

Hooda Gooboy I haven’t seen beef tongue on a menu in a long time. It’s Real Good.

[@williamsanders5066]

When I was in Yokosuka Japan in 1986 there were vending machines on street corners that dispensed beer.

[@llongone2]

Still are...and even some that sell nihonshu (sake) and shochu.

[@MrWATCHthisWAY]

William Sanders - I was there too!! Loved the late night vending machine attack after a night of drinking and partying with our Japanese friends. But the Yakisoba stands we’re still open and it was a tough decision on which ones we would devour... ok more beer! Ahhhh to be young again and in Japan... Bonsai!! Bonsai!! Bonsai!

[@robertewalt7789]

William Sanders, in the 1970’s also.

[@andymac5959]

I remember buying a hot hamburger from a vending machine near Roppongi one late night/morning. It was delicious...

[@MonteCarlotta]

In 1971, my U.S. Army barracks had a 50-cent beer vending machine at the front door.

[@jamesbrown4092]

Many years ago I saw a clip from a movie that was probably 1940's vintage. It involved a man who was somehow transported into a far-future 'world of tomorrow'. Someone of that future era was showing him around when they happened upon a couple who were putting coins into a vending machine and received a baby! The time traveler turned to his guide and said, "I prefer the old-fashioned way."

[@jackkircher1755]

It's very interesting that vending machines go back 150+ years! Never dreamed! We used to travel a lot and rest areas had a long row of machines where you could get sandwiches, fruit, drinks and candy. Sone full service gas stations had some sort of machine right at the pump.

[@joshuavetting4148]

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet but there is a movement in the local art community where the 1960's /70's cigarette machines have been renovated and put into service as art galleries. For a nominal fee you can purchased art packaged in something roughly the size of a pack of cigarettes. It's called an Artomat.

[@clockworkkirlia7475]

That's so fascinating and cool! Thank you!

[@DawnOldham]

When we made our 10 hour treks to and from my grandparent’s homes, one of the fun parts was getting to buy snacks at the rest stop’s vending machines! (And we had to stop more often after drinking our vending machine sodas! Lol)

[@Dan4CW]

I'm a staff accountant. I'm the contact person for the vending machines at our building. When the vending machines are half empty, I have to call the vendor to restock the machines. If you don't get the product or don't get your proper change from the vending machine, I'm the one people see to get reimbursed. Thanks for this history of the vending machine. It's my job!

[@BeoZard]

I saw my one and only Automat in a 1964 trip to New York City. I work in the vending industry for twenty years as a technician and repaired every thing from mechanical gumball machines to touchscreen multiproduct vendors.

[@deadfreightwest5956]

12:12 - That reminds me of the pop vending machine at our gas station when I was a kid. You'd put the coin in, open the glass door, grab the bottle by the neck, and there'd be a slight reluctance by the machine to release it, then it was in your hand. They was even a cap opener on the machine. Pop sweetened with sugar in ice-cold glass bottles. Never better.

[@weirdshibainu]

Vending machines:"We're going to replace unimaginative workers in stores" Amazon:" Watch and take notes."

[@brokenarrow7871]

Absolutely! That’s exactly what I was thinking Amazon the 21st century vending machine, delivers right to your door No face mask required LOL

[@TermiteUSA]

amazon also cheats you with the fine print every chance it gets

[@blueorchid9455]

@@TermiteUSA how?

[@rayoflight62]

Have my compliments for these videos on the history of objects and items. It is a genius idea, and the more you make, the more people will watch. I have a problem that KZbin stopped sending recommendations for your videos awhile ago, this is why I'm watching them two years late. Greetings from the UK, Anthony P.S.: Shoe string, matches, pens and pencils, flashlights, toasters, can openers, light bulbs... There are dozens of common items and devices we use daily, without knowing their history...

[@rayoflight62]

Also, what about science history. The very first video I would like to see, is about setting the record straight regarding Steinmetz. I can't understand why the Internet idolised Tesla, while Steinmetz was the true scientist who wrote the math formulas that allowed the industry to build motors, generators and transformers; while Tesla was the one that opposed Science and proposed bizzarre ideas to his financer PP Morgan&C. Both were immigrants to New York. I can't understand why Internet can get it so wrong...

[@jamesmiller4184]

@@rayoflight62 Well, Ray, it was because Tesla theorized and designed independently the 60hz poly-phase system build by Westinghouse. (Demonstrated to great acclaim at the 1893 Colombian World Exposition. They kicked Edison's ass good, as the cheating, egomaniac curmudgeon well deserved.) So HE, Tesla, gets credit for THE electrical design that was to establish great world industry, not midget Steinmetz who merely later refined it. Must we have anything else from you?

[@1fanger888]

I remember going to New York City with my dad in the 70`s. He brought me to the old H&H, the Horn & Hardart. I remember going to the local Italian food market and buying a gallon of milk in a vending machine. Coffee, cigarette, soft drink, sandwich, candy bar, snacks like potato chips and hot chocolate machines were all over the place in those days.

[@thisisnev]

In WWII the Molins Machine Co. applied their expertise in manufacturing cigarette vending machines to create the 'Molins Gun', a 6-pounder cannon with an auto-loader containing 21 57mm shells, which was mounted in the RAF's Mosquito Mk.XVIII and used against enemy submarines. It could 'dispense' rounds at a rate of 55 per minute. Alas, history does not record whether the aircrew needed the correct change to fire it!

[@lynnwood7205]

An old man in the 1980' s told of his childhood jaunts with his playmates through Savage MN in the 1920's. They would always swing by the candy vending store where grown men would buy candy for hours with store tokens from the machines, discarding most of the wrapped candy into padded waste baskets alongside the machines. Occasionally a fellow would be dispensed a candy wrapped with a different color wrapper which would not be thrown into the waste basket but would be held in hand as the purchaser went to token purchase and exchange booth in the back of the store to get tokens or money. They, the boys, were almost always stopped at the door and made to show their money and allowed only to buy from one machine. If they were lucky they could grab candy from the wastebaskets if the customers were too distracted to notice them, sometimes they were but managed to escape candy in hand. And that is how gambling on machines was done in broad daylight. And today, one of those machines intact is worth thousands, some even tens of thousands of dollars and a whole minor industry and hobby exists in the restoration, trading and collecting of those vending, pinball and slot machines.

[@CeeJayThe13th]

I don't suppose you'd know how to get into contact with any of those people? I got a jukebox I'd love to offload.

[@XMattingly]

The most interesting Japanese vending machine I’ve heard of is one that serves home cooked meals. It’s located practically in the middle of nowhere, and serviced and operated by a little old man who spends all day preparing meals and replenishing the machine; which if I remember correctly serves 50-80 customers a day.

[@dennis8445]

I like listening to you while I eat. The best history teacher in the world. Making history with history. Imagine that. I appreciate your time.

[@richardw3470]

Years ago I worked in a "temporary" bldg in DC. There were machines on the first floor which dispensed coffee, cocoa, tea, etc. (right outside of some kind of an unemployment, welfare office). One day we heard a scream and the name "Sally" coming up the stairway which sent our men running for the stairs. Soon there was laughter, which slowed them down, followed by another "Oh!" of disgust. Sally had started drinking her cocoa and discovered half a cockroach floating in it. The second exclamation came from the other female--she found the other half. I quit drinking from there.

[@bionicman6969]

Getting two pieces of gum for the price of one was such an obvious threat to morality,, so happy we have progressed so much since.

[@barbarastrayhorn4667]

Right. It's such a better, safer world now. Dodged that bullet.

[@farajaraf]

Is it weird that I dance the entire time you talk ? I just love history that deserves to be remembered soooo much.

[@johnzappulla8023]

My favorite weekends in NYC with the family was a trip to a museum and then food at the Automat. I remember being held so I could put the coins in the slot and then pull open the little glass door. 60 years ago. Time flies.

[@geraldinefields1730]

Do you remember what the food was ? Was it good?

[@pamelamays4186]

Suggestions: The Forgotten History Of Cereal Box Back Panel Records. The Forgotten History Of Redeeming Box Tops For Toys, Books And Other Items. The Forgotten History Of Trading Stamps. And, specifically geared to The History Guy, The Forgotten History Of Bowties.

[@jerrymiller276]

@@robertlinscott1551 Gold Bond Trading Stamps.

[@paxhumana2015]

@Sam Bacon , Nationalism, Patriotism, Jingoism, Socialism, and Communism are all overrated.

[@d.e.b.b5788]

@@paxhumana2015 What the hell does that have to do with this topic?

[@timmmahhhh]

The single cup machine reminded me of a college trip to the Soviet Union in 1989 where soda vending machines existed but there was one glass everyone used. In the culture at the time everyone was expected to use that one glass, and if you brought your own you were considered a snob. I had read about it in a magazine prior before I saw it first hand. No idea if things have changed since then.

[@johnbeauvais3159]

There’s a KZbin channel called Ushanka Show that talked about this and he said that people would steal the glasses to use at home with a 500 ml bottle of vodka that he described as the perfect amount for two friends for an evening

[@Lyle-xc9pg]

Mmm, tasty syphilis and germs

[@IJustWantToUseMyName]

Lyle Cold sores for everyone!

[@_Scintill8tor]

@@IJustWantToUseMyName plus corona!

[@timmmahhhh]

@@johnbeauvais3159 sheesh that desperate for glasses, huh. Okay comrade, you want Pepsi you cup hands?

[@bellasmom3895]

I remember penny gum machines on the platforms of the New York City Subway in the 1960s. They dispensed a piece of paper wrapped gum. There were also soda machines that dispensed soda in paper cups.If you pressed the Coke and cherry buttons simultaneously you would get cherry Coke. There were also machines that dispensed red-shelled pistachios.

[@jerrymiller276]

I had a job with a vending company in the '70s servicing ice cream machines. Most of the machines were on one or another of the many navy bases in the Tidewater, VA area. I hated it because the coin acceptors would often jam and pissed off sailors would then unplug the machine. We called them, appropriately enough, meltdowns, and I could count on an average of two a day. I would have to clean up the mess, restart the machine and come back later the same day to refill it after it cooled down. Machines also had to be defrosted on a regular basis, which was also a pita because I had to unload whatever ice cream was in them, return them to the truck, then fill them back up after they defrosted and cooled back down. The ice cream was vended from a beltlike device that had slots for individual bars. If the machine got too frosted up, it would jam up to where it wouldn't be able to deliver the product. I'd come in in the morning, unplug the truck, which had been restocked overnight, and take off. When I got back at the end of the day, I'd plug the truck back in, and turn in the keys and bags of ice cold change that I'd collected and were stored in the well secured back with the ice cream. There was always pressure to get to more machines than I possibly could in a day. The up side was that I got to eat a lot of ice cream. Still, I didn't miss that job when I moved on.

[@elizabethsohler6516]

Consider this. I bet you made a lot of people happy.

[@alexbuss3377]

My mom and sister are talking about the debate so I’m gonna blast this video to help create a more positive vibe.

[@lectorserelith]

Thank you for this content Mr History!

[@beaumartinez8705]

I never would have thought there were vending machines that far back. I guess you do learn something new every day.

[@seatedliberty]

I am very glad that you routinely dispense informative and entertaining content on a regular basis and all for the cost of watching an occasional advertisement. Given your success here, perhaps your new motto could be Veni Vendi Vici.

[@stevef.m.2188]

That was so good, Thanks man

[@raymondevans205]

Another great one on something few give much thought. Please sir, I'd like some more.

[@AndrewVelonis]

Around 1964 my father brought me to New York City. We went to the American Museum of Natural History and then had lunch at Horn and Hardart. There was one spot where you put a coin in and chocolate milk poured out of the mouth of a silver Dragon. That was SO cool!

[@PeterSt1954]

I'm always impressed by how this channel goes off the beaten track to find its subjects. It must involve an awful lot of work.

[@fleghel]

We might not feel like we live in the future, but that changes when viewed in prospective... ...just look at the vending machines and how they been selling you things “you just can’t live without “ for thousands of years...

[@josephpicogna6348]

Another highly informative and entertaining program. Coming from a poor neighborhood, let’s just say I started working a long time before what would become the minimum age. There was no such thing as a locker a place to store a sandwich so I used to eat a banana on the subway to work and then the king of vending machines for lunch. I was a stock boy, literally, in a department store and across the street there was a Horn & Hardart I could get a half a sandwich for a quarter and once they came to know me they would give me a cup of water. After a while, if they had extra apples or oranges, I was in. I have always been an admirer of Horn & Hardart, the only place I could afford to eat.

[@roadie3124]

On my first trip to the USA in 1972, I encountered an automat, a wondrous thing that sold food. I'd read about them in American novels, probably Mike Hammer, so I had to try it. It was a wall of glass-fronted compartments containing food. You made your choice, put money through a slot, and took your choice - bowls of soup, freshly made sandwiches, apple pie with ice cream. An army of women on the other side of the wall refilled the compartments you'd just emptied. I wasn't expecting much as far as food quality went, but it was quite good. More than just OK.

[@cacambell72]

What! No segment covering the "Claw"! It's the most famous Ripoff vending machine of them all.

[@christophergolias3610]

Alright, early coffee break I got a video I need to watch.

[@DawnOldham]

Did you get your coffee from a vending machine? 😂🤣😂

[@james-p]

I remember a faulty vending machine at the Boys Club when I was a kid. It got around very quickly that if you put your dime in it, it would dispense a candy bar and return your dime. We were in Nestle Crunch heaven for about a half-hour until the machine ran out. Today, my laundry room has 4 vending machines: Two washers and two dryers. 6 quarters for a wash, 5 for a dry. They've never given out freebies tho.

[@riverraisin1]

That's a cheap coin laundry. The one I go to is $3 for a wash and $1.75 for a dryer.

[@james-p]

@@riverraisin1 I guess since it's in my apartment building they give us a break!

[@rdizzy1]

I've gotten freebies from a quarter dryer once. The dryers worked in such a way that for every quarter you put in, you'd get 8 minutes of drying time, but one time I went in and the "time left" was stuck at 99 minutes. Dried 6 loads of laundry for free that day.

[@marianbrittain4153]

@@james-p 2³²

[@comms9803]

I wish we had vending machine cafés today like they did in the 1930s.

[@robertheinkel6225]

I remember going to a laundromat, and putting a penny in the soap dispenser. It didn't like the penny, but would dispense a box of soap, and give back change, in addition to the penny. That was one confused vending machine.