The always interesting Present /&/ Correct (do check out their sundries), directs our an auction catalogue of antique vending and gum-ball machines (see also). 
Though such coin-op delivery systems, and the logistical network to keep them stocked has been supplanted to some extent in many markets, there still are notable hold-outs and arguably a renaissance of such retail modes in delivery robots and roving cornershops. The modern introduction of automats for bottled beverages, newspapers and convenient snacks that began in the 1880s, proliferating into all sectors, is a revival itself that is rooted in some very ancient engineering with Hero of Alexandria credited with inventing the first vending machine in the second century A.D. with a contraption of weighs and counter-balances that dispensed a measure of wine—or perhaps holy water—in exchange for a coin. The second-wave rediscovery saw its earliest prototypes in selling tobacco and stamps with first recognisable machines for envelopes, postcards and other stationary items.
synchronoptica
one year ago: 1924’s first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade (with synchronopticรฆ), assorted links to revisit, the fabulous Miss Raquel Welch plus impoundment of appropriated funds
thirteen years ago: Spectropia
fourteen years ago: Black Friday goes international
