Vending Machines Sell It All!
By Art Gib
Okay, this is wild. I was thinking about vending machines as a way to make some extra money and teach my children about business, and on a lark, decided to check into the history of that industry. I knew it had been around for a while, because my grandparents had small corn nuts vending machines back during World War II, but I had no idea how old or how extensive the industry really is.
The first known vending machine was invented by a man called Hero of Alexandra. That was his name, not his job, and he invented a machine that would dispense holy water. The customer would drop a coin into the machine where it would land on a balanced pan. The weight of the coin would open a valve that would dispense the water, and when the pan lowered to the right angle, the coin would fall off, causing the counter balance to bring the valve to a close. This was all done in the first century of the common era, making the vending machine concept about 2000 years old. That predates my grandparents by quite a bit.
The machines came into their own during the Industrial Age, with one being built in England in the 1880's to dispense post cards and one being built in the United States a little later to vend chewing gum. Since that time, they have been created to sell all kinds of things, and the ones I saw when I lived in Japan were absolutely amazing. They sold everything from food to film to magazines. They even had ones that sold beer, sake, and pornography.
For all of those, they tried to put the coin slot high enough that it would be out of the reach of children, but I saw a lot of junior high students that could easily reach it if they wanted to purchase vice, right on their own street corners. My favorite ones were the ones that sold ice cream or soda and then had an internal roulette wheel that would sometimes award the lucky customer with a complimentary product.
I don't know how vending machines are in Toronto, but I can't imagine that Canada would be too different from the rest of the world with regard to vending machines. I think they are a good way to make money, and will make a fine first business for my children.
About the author
Serving the Greater Toronto Area, we supply vending machines in Toronto to many clients. For more info visit Canadian Vending Machine Rentals. Art Gib is a freelance writer.Distributed by Content Crooner from http://www.FreeArticlesAndContent.com
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