his fascinating collection of photographs showcases some of the world’s oldest and most peculiar vending machines, a testament to the long history of automated transactions. Today, vending machines can dispense almost anything, from snacks to electronics, but the concept of self-service purchases dates back much further than many realize, as these vintage images demonstrate.
Vending machines, defined as self-contained, coin-operated devices that dispense goods or provide services, have been around for centuries. The earliest known reference comes from Hero of Alexandria, an engineer and mathematician in first-century Roman Egypt. Hero designed a machine that dispensed holy water in exchange for a coin.
The mechanism was ingenious: when a coin was inserted, it landed on a pan attached to a lever. The lever opened a valve, allowing a measured amount of water to flow. As the coin’s weight tilted the pan, it eventually fell off, causing a counterweight to lift the lever and close the valve, stopping the water flow. Hero’s invention not only highlights the early use of automation but also shows that the convenience of vending machines has been a part of human innovation for centuries.
A machine selling air insurance at Newark Airport.
Coin-operated machines have a long history, with the earliest examples dating back to 1615 in the taverns of England, where portable brass machines were used to dispense tobacco. In 1822, English bookseller Richard Carlile developed a newspaper vending machine to distribute banned literature, pushing the boundaries of access to information. By 1867, Simon Denham had patented the first fully automatic vending machine, designed to dispense stamps, marking a significant step forward in automation.
The first modern coin-operated vending machines appeared in London in the early 1880s, dispensing postcards. Invented by Percival Everitt in 1883, these machines soon became common in railway stations and post offices, selling envelopes, notepaper, and postcards. The rise of automated retail prompted the founding of the Sweetmeat Automatic Delivery Company in 1887, the first business dedicated to the installation and upkeep of vending machines.
In Germany, by 1893, the chocolate manufacturer Stollwerck had installed 15,000 vending machines to sell its products. The company expanded its reach by manufacturing machines that dispensed not only chocolate but also cigarettes, matches, chewing gum, and soap.
In the U.S., the first vending machine was introduced in 1888 by the Thomas Adams Gum Company, selling gum on train platforms in New York City. A creative twist emerged in 1897 when the Pulver Manufacturing Company added small, moving figures to their gum machines, encouraging sales through entertainment. This innovation gave rise to “trade stimulators,” a new genre of vending devices that combined sales with games and fun, enhancing the user experience.
Book-o-mat.
Fresh Ark Pie.
This machine actually sold lit cigarettes for a penny.
A coin operated perfume dispenser.
A vending machine for airline trip insurance.
A music record vending machine.
A whole supermarket as a vending machine.
Amazing worms for the fishermen on the go.
Lemonade vending machines in Moscow.
Reader’s Digest vending machine.
Pantyhose on-the-go in France.
A machine dispensing lightbulbs.
A sandwich vending machine. 1940s.
A Macy’s vending machine that sold men’s shorts for only 97 cents.
Warm lunch vending machine at Zandvoort in the Netherlands.
Milk vending machine in London.
Coal machine distributor in England.
A fruit vending machine in London Tube. 1920s.
A woman buys fruit from a coin operated machine at Paddington Station in London. 1920s.
The Maiwarm Company, of Chicago, perfected the market a soda vending machine which works automatically and required no soda squirter.
A man uses the cafeteria vending machine called ‘Automat’. 1940s.
A coffee machine from 1947.
This sandwich dispenser was shown for the first time at the Chicago Exhibit. 1950s.
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.
Three women enjoy soup from a Campbell’s Soup vending machine in their office. 1950s.
A vending machine that allowed customers to buy stamps without having to queue.
A woman purchases a pair of nylon stockings from a machine.
Vending machines were already able to refrigerate and heat liquids but the ice cream vending machine ensured items were kept frozen. 1952.
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. 1959.
People purchase fresh eggs from local farms from the machines. 1960s.
Buying fresh eggs from the vending machine.
A woman is operating the first potato vending machine in Britain in Chelsea. 1962.
A woman in Berlin, Germany uses a coin-operated device to buy a clock. 1960s.
A woman buying a whisky from the vending machine.
Dispensing a pint of beer. 1960s.
Shoppers could pick up household essentials from this machine. 1960s.
This woman is now able to use a credit card to pay for one of a selection of coffees from this self-serve machine. 1960s.
