Built between 1948 and 1951, these machines are relatively easy to find, since most were used indoors and did not suffer from exposure to the weather. It vends up to 27 6.5-ounce bottles and had the space to pre-cool an additional 10. The bottles are loaded into an interior drum which rotates to vend each bottle. These machines originally sold for $125. This is a soda machine we restored when we were in the business years ago.

Dimensions: 27”H x 24”W x 19”D (without stand)
Weight: 100 lbs.

Manufactured by:
The Vendorlator Manufacturing Co.
4000 Railroad Avenue
Fresno, California

This item is not for sale. We show restored items in this blog to encourage discussion, prompt questions and further the hobby of collecting and restoration. We also enjoy sharing the photos of the many items we have restored over the years.

This cooler would have been used in a store and placed on the countertop, probably near the cash register. The customer could simply lift the lid, take as many sodas as they wanted and then pay the cashier. There is a bottle opener and a drain spout for emptying out the water once the ice had melted.

If you have anything to add, we’d love to hear from you.

Vintage Cups, Glasses and Mugs

In our blogs, we’ve been featuring a different promotional or corporate restaurantware product made over the years. This is another in the group of cool retro cups, glasses or mugs from our large collection. Here we’ll be sharing what we’ve learned about it and we welcome your additional input and comments.

Pepsi-Cola was invented in 1893 by Caleb Bradham in New Bern, North Carolina. First known as Brad’s drink, it was officially named Pepsi-Cola when Bradham purchased the brand name in 1898. This cup is from the late 1950s to 1960 when the company introduced the slogan “Be sociable, have a Pepsi”.

This 10 ½ ounce paper cup was made by Dixie Cup, a division of the American Can Company of Easton, Pennsylvania. Dixie merged with the American Can Company in 1957. Invented in 1912, the Dixie Cup was first called the Health Kup. It was given the Dixie name in 1919. Today the Dixie Cup name and product line are owned by the paper and chemical manufacturer Georgia-Pacific.

Manufactured by:
Dixie Cup Division
American Can Co.
Easton, PA

This machine can vend up to 81 cold bottles of Pepsi-Cola and has room to pre-cool 17. There are nine shelves, so a machine restored for use today has the capability of vending up to nine different flavors, depending on your needs. The slant shelves can accommodate bottles ranging in size from 6 ½ ounces to 12 ounces, giving you even more flexibility. The vending door has a fluorescent light inside, to illuminate the soda bottles within, making it easy to see your selection.

The original Pepsi VMC 81s were painted a solid “Pepsi Blue”. We have restored this machine with a deeper blue, added the white top and changed the embossed lettering from white to red, creating much more of a contrast.

The resulting red, white and blue is very striking and would look great in any gameroom or office. Whereas Vendo only produced the 81 for the Coca-Cola Company, Vendorlator (or VMC, as they’re also called), produced soda machines for many soda companies. Despite the fact that the Pepsi VMCs had the second highest production rate (second only to Coke), these machines are not that easy to find today.

Dimensions: 58”H x 27”W x 16”D
Weight: 286 lbs.
Produced: 1955 to 1958

Manufactured by:
The Vendorlator Manufacturing Company
Fresno, California

This item is not for sale. We show restored items in this blog to encourage discussion, prompt questions and further the hobby of collecting and restoration. We also enjoy sharing the photos of the many items we have restored over the years.

I love these photos. These appear to be promotional photos distributed by the Vendorlator/VMC Manufacturing Company and they’re most likely from the 1950’s.

Photo number one is of the VMC 88, which is basically the same thing as two VMC 44’s built side-by-side. Although it’s rare, it’s not the most desirable machine. Yet it does have a great embossed Pepsi logo.

Photo number two is of the classic VMC Pepsi 81. Besides the Jacob’s 56 Light-Up, it’s probably the most sought-after and collectible Pepsi soda machine that was made.

Photo number three is of a VMC Pepsi 302. As we have said in the past, the model number of a machine indicates how many bottles it is capable of holding. This machine is a monster, especially for its time. Look how small the young lady looks standing next to it. This machine is not the least bit desirable to collectors. However, the plastic Pepsi disc on the front of the machine is pretty cool and does light up.

The last photo is of a VMC 72 Coca-Cola machine. It has been said that this machine has the largest embossed logo of any other Coca-Cola vending machine ever produced. I also believe it was the smallest dual chute machine ever manufactured.

To learn more about the Vendorlator Manufacturing Company check out our previous blog.
http://www.vintagevending.com/the-vendorlator-manufacturing-co-a-soda-machine-company

Here is a Vendo coin changer painted in Pepsi colors and fastened to a custom-made stand with custom graphics. Vendo put out the coin changer so you could get nickels in place of a quarter or a dime, primarily so you could buy a Coke from one of their soda machines. You would find them mostly painted in Coca-Cola red, but they could also be found in a generic color scheme. Not sure they were available in Pepsi colors, we just decided to paint one Pepsi blue for a change.

The Jacobs 56 Pepsi-Cola Vending Machine

The Jacobs 56 Pepsi-Cola Vending Machine is one of the most sought-after Pepsi machines ever made. Serious collectors consider it the “Holy Grail” of all soda machines. Having been manufactured for only two years, between 1952 and 1953, makes this a very rare machine. We are proud to have restored several of these machines, and you can see one of them in our Retro Museum at Retroplanet.com.

Collectors know this vendor as the “Pepsi Light-Up”. This is because the Pepsi “cap”, or logo on the front lights up, by way of two bulbs located behind it. Above the cap, to either side, are a red and blue (or sometimes green) lens. The red lens indicates when the machine is empty, and the blue reads “nickels only”. This machine vends 56 bottles of Pepsi and can vend bottle sizes from 10 to 12 ounces. It also has the capacity to pre-cool 37 bottles. This model, unlike the Jacobs Coca-Cola machines, uses slant-shelves to vend the sodas.

The shape of the machine is typical of Jacobs soda machines. They have a rounded top, resembling a mailbox. This makes for a very unique and appealing appearance. So in addition to its rarity, these machines are also very desirable for their style. It can be difficult to find an original Jacobs 56 that has the Pepsi “cap” intact and in good condition which can complicate the restoration of one of these models.

Every soda machine we restored at Vintage Vending followed the same process. First the machine was completely disassembled and all painted parts were sandblasted. All other parts were re-chromed, powder-coated, repainted or cleaned. The coin mechanism was re-plated and rebuilt. Automotive bodywork was performed on all of the sandblasted parts. The machine was painted with PPG automotive paint. Then the machine was reassembled with a new refrigeration compressor and all electrical was replaced.

Dimensions: 61” high x 27” wide x 21 ½” deep
Weight: 280 lbs.

Manufactured by:

F. L. Jacobs

Traverse City, Michigan

This item is not for sale. We show restored items in this blog to encourage discussion, prompt questions and further the hobby.

To view more pictures of the completed restoration visit the RetroPlanet.com Museum.

Pepsi-Cola Mexican Mini Cooler

Here is a very interesting Pepsi cooler. Because it is a double-dot we know it is from the 40’s. We also think it is from Mexico because of the decals on the side of the original. It looks like more of a mini-fridge icebox than a cooler, and is definitely an original because it is embossed. We restored this many years ago and it is in the home of a private collector. We are showing the before and after but for additional photos, please visit the Retroplanet Museum at Retroplanet.com. If you have any information about this piece’s origin please blog-in and let us know.

It is a fairly small piece measuring 33”H X 18.5”W X 15″D

Paint code PPG DCC 18431 Light Blue
A sign painter applied all the other colors by hand.

This item is not for sale. We show restored items in this blog to encourage discussion, prompt questions and further the hobby.

The Evolution of Soft Drink Dispensing

Recently, while doing descriptions for the soda fountain dispensers in the Retroplanet Museum, I was struck by how little I knew about how these IN-dispensable drinks evolved. Drinks like Coca-Cola and Pepsi have become such a staple in the American diet that I think many of us take them for granted.

The first attempts at making a carbonated drink date back as far as the early 1770’s, when it was believed that natural mineral waters had curative powers. People flocked to spas where mineral water bubbled naturally out of the earth. Early scientists tried to replicate these bubbly drinks with health benefits for everyone to enjoy. In the early 1770’s a Swedish chemist and an English scientist invented equipment that combined water and carbon dioxide. This bubbly water was called soda water. In 1806 a Yale chemistry professor, Benjamin Silliman, purchased an apparatus and began selling mineral water (unflavored then) in New Haven, Connecticut. Sometimes Dr. Silliman added wine and sugar to his bottled mineral water, but it was Eugene Roussel of Philadelphia that is credited with making flavored soda water popular. In the late 1830’s he added a “soda counter” to his perfume shop where he offered soda water flavored with orange, cherry, lemon, teaberry, ginger, peach or root beer syrup. His success can be measured by the fact that he had nearly 50 competitors in his city within a very short time.

By the end of the Civil War, soda fountains were a common sight, and flavored soft drinks were commonly dispensed in drugstores at the soda fountain counter. These locations became even more important when the US government passed Temperance Laws forbidding the consumption of alcohol. Soda fountains allowed people to continue to gather and socialize, but without the presence of alcohol. The problem was that the drinks could vary greatly from one to the next, as there was not really a standard method of concocting them. After a pump or two of the syrup, the pharmacist would fill the glass up to the fill-line with ice-chilled carbonated water. This was then stirred and served to the customer.

In 1888 Jacob Baur started the Liquid Carbonic Co. that manufactured carbon dioxide in tanks. This led to the manufacture and sale of Liquid Carbonic soda fountains in the early 1900’s. This made it possible for pharmacists to make their own carbonated water, rather than having to buy it from a supplier. This arrangement still required mixing syrup and water by the pharmacist and therefore, room for variation.

The first automatic soda fountain dispenser that mixed the syrup and the carbonated water together was made in 1933 by Dole and was introduced at the Chicago World’s Fair. This model was the Dole Master Dispenser. Simply by pulling the handle, the syrup and carbonated water were mixed together. In order to cool the drink, ice could be packed into the dispenser.

Dole then released the Dole Junior in 1936. This was a much smaller, 1-gallon capacity dispenser. It could duplicate the same flavor in each ice-cold drink, much faster than was previously possible. The next major development in dispensers came in 1949 in the shape of the “Outboard Motor” design dispensers, like the Selmix Fountain Dispenser. Designed by the famous industrial designer Raymond Loewy, this dispenser was capable of dispensing a continuous flow of mixed carbonated water and syrup with only one pull of the handle. They were then followed by “Super” models that could dispense two types of soda, and in 1955 the Multiplex Faucet Company introduced the Red Barrel dispenser, the first multiple-drink Coca-Cola dispenser that was designed for use at places like movie theaters and drive-ins.

A very drastic change to dispenser design occurred in June of 1958 when the Dole Citation model was released. It was square and constructed mainly of plastic. It had a totally new and modern look. By 1962 dispensers were available as ice-cooled models or with mechanical refrigeration. These dispensers evolved into the 12- to 16-head self-serve dispensers seen in fast food restaurants we see today.

1940’s Pepsi-Cola Soda Cooler

This is a brochure for a rare Pepsi-Cola machine made by the Universal Cooler Corporation of Marion, Ohio. They were manufactured from the early to mid-1940’s as an automatic coin-operated vending machine. This electric cooler has a 66-bottle capacity with room for 50-chilled bottles and an additional 16 pre-cooled bottles. The profile of the cooler was intended to be smaller than earlier models, to take up less floor space.

Universal Cooler Corporation

Marion, Ohio

Have you seen one of these machines? Blog-in and let us know.

The Vendo V-81’s and VMC-81 Soda Machines, Similarities & Differences

The Vendo Company eventually merged with its rival, the Vendorlator Manufacturing Company in 1956, but originally they were two separate entities building some very similar soda machines. In the mid 1950’s the Vendo Company was manufacturing the Vendo 81 exclusively for The Coca-Cola Company, and the Vendorlator Manufacturing Co. was making VMC-81’s for competing brands like Pepsi, 7-Up, Dr. Pepper and Royal Crown. Once the two companies merged, they continued to make machines under the two product names as before, making The Vendo Company the primary supplier to of the soft drink market.

There were three V-81 models manufactured by the Vendo Company from the mid to the late 1950’s. There was the Vendo V-81A, V-81B and V-81D. Up until 1956, Coca-Cola machines were painted a solid red, like the Vendo V-81A. Beginning in 1956 with the V-81B, The Coca-Cola company painted their machines red and white to emphasize Coke’s “clean and refreshing” image. The “Coca-Cola” logo that had been smaller and positioned closer to the bottle door was repositioned to be centered on the space to the right of the bottle door and the logo was enlarged. The logo was also made more prominent by being embossed in red on a white background, instead of in white on a red background.

The Vendorlator Manufacturing Company’s competing soda machine was the VMC 81. The Vendo 81 and the VMC-81 both held a total of 81 bottles for vending. Space inside the machine allowed for the pre-cooling of 17 additional bottles. Both machines had nine interior shelves, allowing them to vend up to nine different soda flavors. They used “slant shelves” that could be adjusted to accommodate different bottle sizes ranging from 6 ½ to 12 ounces. That flexibility makes these machines very popular today, since you are able to fill them with almost any soda, beer or wine coolers. These soda machines have the classic upright, “round-cornered” cabinet design of the 1950’s. Both the V-81A and V-81B are referred to as “small door” models, and the V-81D is called the “large door” model. This came about because the V-81D had a different coin mechanism that necessitated a larger door. The coin mechanism was redesigned to give change back, where previously the coin boxes only took nickels. The bottle doors in both the Vendo and VMC-81’s had lights placed within them to illuminate the bottles.

1958 was the last year of production for round-cornered soda machines made by The Vendo Company, with the exception of the Vendo 44. All of the Coca-Cola Company Vendo 81’s and the various brands of VMC-81’s are very collectible today. The Vendo 81’s are the most desirable of all the different models of Coke machines manufactured throughout the 1950’s. Fewer VMC-81’s were produced than Vendo 81’s, and of all the brands embossed on the VMC-81’s, Royal Crown soda machines are the most rare and collectible with the 7-Up machines close behind. Any of these soda machines would be quite a statement in any gameroom, den or office.

Dimensions: 53.75 in. high x 25 in. wide x 17.5 in. deep
Weight: 286 lbs.

Please blog in and tell us about your soda machine collection. We’d love to hear about your acquisition and restoration stories. If you have questions about your restoration, blog in and ask us as we’ve done many ourselves and would enjoy being of help to you.

The Vendo Company History

The Vendo Company is known worldwide as having been a leader in the manufacture of vending machines for more than 50 years. Vendo was founded as a small company in 1937 in Kansas City, Missouri as a manufacturer of bottled soft drink vending machines. Prior to this, early vendors had not been coin operated machines, but rather self-serve coolers packed with ice. This system relied on the customers’ honesty.

The first coin-operated vending machines appeared in the early 1880’s. They were first used to dispense postcards and books. These early models did not work well, often jamming. They also did not have the necessary safeguards and could not distinguish between a coin and a slug.

In the late 1930’s, two brothers named Elmer and John Pierson saw a need for improvement to the earlier designs and took out a patent for a vending lid that could be added to existing coolers. This lid called “The Red Top”, was simple, reliable and inexpensive. The lid was locked on top of the cooler and could be opened after a coin was inserted. The lid rotated to the next available bottle, eliminating the need to dig through the ice. At first the lids were added to Frigidaire and Westinghouse coolers that were already in use. Vendo then began buying coolers from Westinghouse and outfitting them with The Red Top and selling the resulting vending machines under the Vendo name. Early examples of this were the Vendo Junior and the Vendo Master (both from the late 30’s to early 40’s). In the 40’s, a compressor was added to soft drink bottle coolers, eliminating the need for ice altogether.

Red Top lids went to war during WWII, after the US War Department declared that soft drinks were necessary to the morale of military personnel. 5,000 Red Tops were made to be placed in military training camps and wartime factories. Vendo also manufactured radar detection systems which aided in the war effort. After the war, Vendo went back to designing soda vending machines, and produced the V-83 in 1946. The V-83 was Vendo’s first mass-produced upright coin-operated machine. A nickel was inserted, and then you simply had to lift the small door to get your bottle of Coke. This model’s great success was followed in 1949 by another highly successful vendor—the V-39.

In the 1950’s Vendo diversified its product line and produced machines that could vend other items like hot food, ice cream and milk. They also experimented with fully automated restaurants, convenience stores and drive-ins that were served only by vending machines. Vendo merged with its competitor, Vendorlator in 1956. They had, like Vendo, been founded in 1937. But where Vendo worked mainly with Coca-Cola, Vendorlator had been working with both Pepsi-Cola and Royal Crown. The merger of these two companies made Vendo the primary supplier to the soft drink market. Vendo also went public in 1956 and their stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1961 and continued to for the next 20 years. Vendo also expanded internationally, working with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan starting in 1962, where they manufactured Vendo beverage coolers. They also licensed operations in England and Mexico. In 1964 they opened new facilities and contracted out to Belgium, Australia, Italy, Germany, France and Canada. The 60’s also brought Vendo’s introduction of the canned soft drink dispensers.

In the 1970’s, due to the energy crisis, vending machines were determined to be nonessential and the vending industry began to suffer. Vendo left Kansas City and sold its snack vendor division. In 1988 Vendo was bought by the Sanden Corporation of Japan. This infused new life into the Vendo company, and led to many innovations in vending machine design. These include programmable electronic vending machines, high-capacity vendors that can hold plastic bottles in many shapes and sizes, and machines that will take a debit card. Today Vendo is expanding into territories like Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Not only has Vendo produced many highly collectible vendors in their past, but they also continue to be a significant presence in the manufacturing marketplace.

Blog in to add to the information presented here. We’d love to hear from Vendo machine collectors or anyone who remembers using them.

1939 Pepsi-Cola Brochure PDFs at Retroplanet.com

We’ve added scans of a 1939 Pepsi-Cola brochure to our RetroPlanet PDF Library. This brochure was distributed by the Pepsi-Cola Company to celebrate more than 30 years in business. There is beautiful artwork done of their factories, including illustrations showing the soft drink production process. While you’re there, take a look at all of the Great Retro Pepsi items that we offer at Retroplanet.com.