Vending machine: Difference between revisions

The earliest known reference to a vending machine is in the work of [[Hero of Alexandria]], an engineer, and mathematician in first-century [[Roman Egypt]]. His machine accepted a coin and then dispensed [[wine]]<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nugent |first1=Addison |title=Why Heron's Aeolipile Is One of History's Greatest Forgotten Machines |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a34554479/heron-aeolipile/ |access-date=September 13, 2023 |publisher=Popular Mechanics |date=November 29, 2020 |ref=He invented the world’s first coin-operated machine used to distribute wine in temples}}</ref> or [[holy water]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/old-world-high-tech-141284744/|title=Old World, High Tech" (World's First Vending Machine, scroll down to read|last=Jaffe|first=Eric|date=Dec 2006|website=Smithsonian.com|access-date=4 April 2017}}</ref> When the coin was deposited, it fell upon a pan attached to a lever. The lever opened a valve which let some water flow out. The pan continued to tilt with the weight of the coin until it fell off, at which point a counterweight snapped the lever up and turned off the valve.

The first modern coin-operated vending machines were introduced in [[London]], [[England]] in the early 1880s, dispensing [[postcard]]s. The machine was invented by Percival Everitt in 1883 and soon became a widespread feature at railway stations and post offices, dispensing [[envelopes]], [[postcard]]s, and [[notepaper]]. The Sweetmeat Automatic Delivery Company was founded in 1887 in England as the first company to deal primarily with the installationinstalling and maintenance ofmaintaining vending machines. Also at about that time in England, Dixon Henry Davies and inventor John Mensy Tourtel patented a coin-operated reading lamp for use on trains and founded the Railway Automatic Electric Light Syndicate, Ltd. The system ran off batteries and delivered 30 minutes of light for [[penny (British pre-decimal coin)|1d.]], but was not a long-term success. Tourtel also invented a similarly coin-operated [[fuel gas|gas]] meter.<ref>{{cite magazine|periodical=Underground News|publisher=London Underground Railway Society|issn=0306-8617|date=October 2022|issue=730|pages=605–617|title='Railway Automatic Electric Light Works', Bollo Lane|author=David Knights}}</ref> In 1893, [[Stollwerck]], a German chocolate manufacturer, was selling its chocolate in 15,000 vending machines. It set up separate companies in various territories to manufacture vending machines to sell not just chocolate, but cigarettes, matches, chewing gum, and soap products.<ref>{{cite book|last=Chandler|first=Alfred|title=Scale and scope: the dynamics of industrial capitalism|year=2004|publisher=Belknap Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0-674-78995-1|pages=398–402|edition=1. paperback ed., 7. print.}}</ref>

In November 2013, online auto retailer [[Carvana]] opened the first car vending machine in the U.S., located in [[Atlanta]] dispensing various models of [[used cars]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Carvana opens used car vending machine in Atlanta|url=httphttps://www.foxnews.com/auto/2013/12/02/carvana-opens-used-car-vending-machine-in-atlanta.html|publisher=FoxNews.com|access-date=29 April 2014}}</ref>