History of vending
The first vending machine on record was designed in Egypt by "Heron of Alexandria" in the 1st century BC. The first vending product that the device dispensed was holy water in the temples of Thebes and Upper Egypt.
This device had a mechanism that, by inserting a 5 drachma coin, provided water for washing the face and hands, and was located at the entrance of the temple.
The weight of the coin caused one side of a scale inside the machine to go down and the other to go up, freeing a valve through which water escaped. The coin ends up falling completely and the scale returned to its original position, closing the valve. Clever right?
Of course, a lot of time has passed and much progress has been made in this type of trade, but the original basic idea of Heron still endures today, a machine that is strategically located, that offers products or goods appropriate to its location and that automatically charges a coin before to dispatch it.
Modern vending machines, as we know them, originated not so many years ago, they emerged in London during the Industrial Revolution, in the early 1880s.
Although shortly before in 1857 Simeon Denham had already patented his first machine for selling stamps, with a performance that left much to be desired. In 1883 Percival Everitt released his first vending machine for selling postcards, they were machines of considerable dimensions and with a mechanism that rarely gave rise to problems, surely both their good performance and their enormous size were two of the reasons why they quickly became a very popular machine, reaching more than 100 units installed throughout London. Imagine how well thought out the mechanism was that it even blocked the entry of the coin once the merchandise ran out, thus preventing anyone from paying for anything.
to the left Everitt machine plans. On the right image of Denham's machine.
Shortly after, in 1888, the chewing gum company "Thomas Adams Gum Company" was interested in the idea of Everitt's vending machine, so once they acquired the patent rights for America, they adapted Everitt's machine for sale. of chewing gum
These machines are installed on the platforms of the New York subway, being the first vending machines in operation in the United States.
