Automatic purchases from a vending machine are not a new thing. While it’s possible to purchase a wide range of items from vending machines, it was a more comprehensive range of possibilities in the early 1900s.
In this piece, we share a fantastic collection of the bizarre vending machines you could bet didn’t exist. As early as 1615, vending machines dispensed tobacco in pubs in England. These machines were mobile and mostly made of brass.
In 1867, Simon Denham was awarded British Patent no. 706 for his stamp dispensing machine’s first fully automatic vending machine. The early 1800s saw the introduction of modern coin-operated vending machines dispensing postcards in London, England. The first company to deal primarily with the installation and maintenance of vending machines, The Sweetmeat Automatic Delivery Company, was founded in 1887 in England.
In 1888, the Thomas Adams Gum Company, selling gum on New York City train platforms, built the first vending machine in the U.S.
A vending machine that sold fresh eggs.
