This is an Esso visible gas pump, called the G&B model 177, made in 1925. The manufacturer was Gilbert & Barker Manufacturing Company. The first gas pumps were “visible” gas pumps that drew the gasoline out of the ground and into a 5 to 10 gallon glass cylinder before it was released into the car. [...]

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Nicknamed by collectors as the “mailbox” or the “tabletop”, the Vendorlator 27 was the smallest soda machine made by Vendorlator. Being only 27 inches high and weighing about 100 lbs., this machine was designed to sit on a countertop or on an optional stand. Because of their small size, these vendors were very popular with [...]

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The Seeburg 100 Wall-O-Matic set shown here includes a remote song selector and two speakers. These components would have been connected to a central jukebox located elsewhere in the building. These worked with any jukebox in the Select-O-Matic series. The selector was designed to mount on a wall or it could also be placed on [...]

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The first stick gum machines were introduced in 1888, followed by the first gumball vending machines in 1907. Shortly after that, Ford Mason, a roofing salesman, was looking for a business to get involved in during the winter months, when sales were at a lull. He started by leasing about 100 gumball machines and placing [...]

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The Streak-O-Lite wagon was manufactured by Radio Steel & Manufacturing, a company that later became known as Radio Flyer, Inc. The company was founded by Antonio Pasin, a man who emigrated from Italy at the age of 16 and started his own toy wagon business in 1917 with little more than ingenuity and a lot [...]

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These photos are of a restored Universal Container built for a 7-bottle capacity. These were made between the 1940s and the 1950s. The soda bottles were cooled by being surrounded with crushed ice. These picnic coolers were painted a mint green by the manufacturer.

The Universal Cooler Corporation was a division of the International Detrola [...]

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