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.
14 responses so far ↓
1 TOBI BRASHER // Jul 21, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I HAVE A VENDORLATOR MODEL VMC 149, SERIAL # 149-13984. I AM LOOKING FOR ANY INFO YOU CAN GIVE OR DIRECT ME TO THE RIGHT PLACE TO GET IT. THANKS
2 MISSY // Sep 4, 2008 at 3:21 am
WHAT WOULD A 1941 WORKING MENT CONDITION COKE MACHINE WITH FULL COKE BOTTLES IN IT LOG OF MONEY TAKEN IN EACH YEAR KEYS ALL LIKE IT WAS MADE YESTERDAY BE WORTH
3 Darren // Nov 21, 2008 at 11:26 am
picking up a cola machine; vendo VT3, model F1100T. I am picking it up in the USA and bringing it back to Canada and need a value for the border people. Any sites I could track down such info?
Thanks
4 Boley Andrews // Nov 24, 2008 at 11:26 pm
How did you get the color pictures of the
production line in the No. 1 Vendo plant
Kansas City, MO? Do you have any of the
workers or engineers? I worked for Vendo.
My dad was the guy who invented much
of the Vendo systems and machines from
1939 to 1988.
5 Sally Meredith // Jan 1, 2009 at 9:46 pm
We purchased a Vendorlator soda vending machine, model VF56F-H, for our son who collects anything coca cola . We would like to restore it, but haven’t been able to find this model to get any further information, such as a year. Can anyone give us any information, or point us in the right direction?
6 Larry Turner // Jan 26, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Attn: Boley Andrews, I live about 6 blocks from the old KC plant. I worked there in 64, 65, dept 28. My dad also worked in the research dept. He had 25 years at Vendo. His name was Jim Turner.
7 tommy // Mar 7, 2009 at 9:00 pm
i got a old pepsi meachine looks like the vendo44 that works great would love to know the value of it thanks
8 Dave Rogers // Apr 26, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Larry or Boley, what all brands of these machines were actually produced? Since you know people who actually made them, I would love hear directly what companies the 81’s were actually made for.
9 Lori // May 2, 2009 at 11:02 pm
I am wondering what the year would be on the picture you have posted, I have one of the VMC 81 Pepsi machines and just wondered what the year would be. It is still in working condition and will only take old silver dimes to dispense the bottles. The light is still working on the door as well. Just curious.
Thanks
10 vintagevending // May 4, 2009 at 10:00 am
We aren’t able to give estimates on the value of an item. If you keep an eye on Ebay or maybe Craig’s List, your item is sure to be listed at some point. That may give you a rough idea of it’s value, and will provide more information on the specific model, and most likely the year it was produced. You can also contact fun-tronicsllc.com for more specific information on machines.
11 vintagevending // May 5, 2009 at 11:14 am
Lori,
The picture we posted of the Pepsi machine is from a restoration we did. It is from the mid to late 1950s, and there really is no way of knowing exactly what year it was made.
It sounds like you have a very nice machine!
12 John Avary // Jun 3, 2009 at 12:03 am
I just bought an Orange Crush VMC 81 completely restored. Is there any documentation that they did or did not build any of these? How can I tell if it is the real deal? Is there any documentation as to how many RC machines were built(VMC 81)? Thanks
13 Keith // Jun 3, 2009 at 3:12 pm
This Orange Crush soda machine and other alleged embossed VMC’s 81‘s made the rounds years ago at different collectors shows. They were always sold by the same dealer who claimed to have found a warehouse with all these never before seen embossed VMC machines. Now I suppose anything is possible but the dealer never would produce any evidence about the originality of these machine like unrestored photos. He also never produced photos of the insides of the doors when they had been taken apart which would have proved they were stamped from the factory.
At the time the hard core collectors and soda machine junkies were very skeptical to say the least. But like I said anything is possible.
The only way you will know if it is original is by taking the liner off the front door and removing all of the insulation. This will expose the back side of the embossing and if original you will see the reverse of what is stamped into the front of the machine. The area around the embossing should be nice and clean, you should also not see any indication that the embossing was added like welding lines, bondo or excessive sandblasting that might be trying to cover something up.
As far as your question on the RC 81’s I know of no actual documentation on how many were produced but it is widely accepted that very few were.
14 Dave Rogers // Jun 21, 2009 at 8:38 am
John, just curious if you bought the machine thinking it was “real” or if you bought it knowing it probably wasn’t. How was it represented to you? The dealer Keith is referring to is still making the rounds, and I have seen numerous other brands he is selling. Vernors, Barqs, Grapettes, and a few others. Still always has Crush also. These machines always have hefty price tags for not being able to prove that they are real. Did you buy the machine from this dealer ? or from someone else who probably did once upon a time?
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