loading image

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.

Similar Instagram posts

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. This image was posted on August 14, 2018. #coinoperated #theautomaticage #coinop #vintage #antique #matches #slotmachine #slotmachines #vendingmachine
Coin-operated vendors did not require their owner-operator to be present for every sale. This image was posted on January 19, 2018. #coinoperated #theautomaticage #coinop #vintage #antique #matches #slotmachine #slotmachines #vendingmachine
Allwin games were produced in large numbers throughout Europe for more than half a century. This image was posted on March 23, 2018.
San Francisco-based machinists and inventors Theodore Holtz and Charles Fey were important pioneers in the development of early gambling devices. This image was posted on January 26, 2017. #sfhistory #charlesfey #theodoreholtz
At the saloon? This image was posted on June 01, 2018. #coinoperated #theautomaticage #coinop #vintage #antique #gamemachines #slotmachine #slotmachines #buttons #mensfashion
Prior to Prohibition and the Volstead Act of 1919, gambling was a mainstay of the saloon. This image was posted on January 08, 2018. #coinoperated #theautomaticage #coinop #vintage #antique #gamemachines #slotmachine #slotmachines
Pinball games trace their origins to bagatelle, a fashionable eighteenth-century French table game. This image was posted on January 16, 2018. #coinoperated #theautomaticage #coinop #vintage #antique #gamemachines #slotmachine #slotmachines #bagatelle #pinball #games #tablegame
Prior to the predominance of the three-reel, automatic-payout slot machine, early mechanical gambling devices employed a variety of clever actions to induce patrons to drop their coins and try their luck. This image was posted on January 30, 2017.

This post mentions the following things involved with the SFO Museum collection: