Automatic Age

T he A
u t o m a t ic
Sanitary Napkin
Vender
The N orth w estern C orporation o f
M orris, 111., put out a full line o f
vending m achines, the peanut m a­
chine bein g featured in this issue.
One o f th eir unique m achines is a
sanitary napkin vender w hich w e
have never seen advertised b efore.
E v ery ladies’ retirin g room should
be equipped w ith a vending machine
selling these E m erg en cy Sanitary
N apkins— th ey are indispensable and
pay distinct dividends— not on ly in
profit on the napkins sold, but also
in popu lar approval.
Selling these napkins at a dime
each, means nearly a hundred per
cent profit. A num ber o f these m a­
chines placed in different locations
w ould brin g in a nice revenue to an
operator.
T h ey are sim ple and p e rfe ct in
operation with no springs or com ­
plicated
m echanism to g et out o f
order. H eigh t 10 in ch es; w eigh t 16
pounds packed.
These m achines are now bein g in­
stalled in all o f the large m ercantile
establishm ents in the country.
Inventor of Machines
R obt. D. Sim pson, head o f the
R obt. D. Sim pson Com pany, at C o­
lumbus, O hio, is looked upon as the
T h om as A . E dison o f the V en din g
M achine Industry. He is responsible
fo r w ork in g up m any o f the m odern
im provem ents on coin operated m a­
chinery and did m ost o f the prelim i­
nary w ork on the W rig ley P. K. Gum
Vender. A ssociated w ith Mr. Sim p­
son is the jov ia l
Mr. M cG uire, a
form er marine en gineer and now an
expert autom atic engineer.
© International Arcade Museum
A ge
21
A Typical Complaint
From
the “ Letters
F rom
the
P eop le” colum n o f the C h icago T ri­
bune w e take the fo llo w in g letter,
which is typical o f the feelin gs o f
thousands o f vending machine pa­
trons :
W hile w aitin g fo r the “ L ” a few
evenings a g o I spied one o f the com ­
pany’s peanut vending machines. I
dropped in a copper, turned the crank,
and the on ly response w as a flock o f
pigeon s w ho fluttered dow n fo r the
“ leavin gs.”
W ell, thinks I, perhaps
the coin stuck, so I tried again, and
a baker’s dozen o f w aitin g pigeons
and I looked on in disappointm ent.
I decided to w ait and see how m any
m ore voya gers “ fe ll” fo r the captive
peanuts.
In fifteen minutes fou r
m ore added their offerin g to the
coffers o f the elevated lines and in
return received only the flopping o f
gray w ings and the click in g o f the
crank as an oth er penny is ground into
the stron g box.
W illiam Anderson.
A Comb Vender
Com b venders are seen around
m en’s w ashroom s in railroad stations
and oth er places.
T h ey are dime
players but som e operators think they
w ould do better at a nickel. The
com b can be bou ght fo r a penny.
Fruit Cake Vender
A n ovel m achine ju st com in g on
the market is a machine built on the
style o f a fru it cake and painted to
resem ble one. It has a g roov e about
the size o f a slice o f cake out o f which
the
candy frosted
fru it cake is
vended at 10c a play.
The com pany is carryin g on a b ig
stock -sellin g cam paign and seem m ore
bent on selling stock than machines.
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