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Coin-operated vendors did not require their owner-operator to be present for every sale. When placed in the appropriate location, these robust machines only had to be filled, maintained, and protected from theft to be profitable. Vending machines were offered with various designs and mechanisms to suit operators and their clientele. During the early twentieth century, these compact and simple, coin-operated vendors were placed atop the counters of stores, restaurants, and bars across the United States. Countertop vending machines dispensed small products that were best suited to sales of a single item. Postage and postcard machines conveniently vended items for mail correspondence outside of the post office, such as the Duplex stamp vendor, which fed one- and two-cent stamps from rolls behind glass sides. Jackson Vending’s safety match vendors, popular in cigar stores, public houses, and saloons, dispensed a box of safety matches from a rotating carousel housed under a glass dome. All objects courtesy of Joe Welch American Antique Museum. "The Automatic Age: Coin-Operated Machines" is on display, pre-security, in the International Terminal. http://bit.ly/CoinOperated This image was posted on January 19, 2018.

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