So there you have it. Thanks to the perseverance of
Tom, this single example has been brought back to
life. According to its paper under the pins, it is dis-
tributed by "Seacoast Vending Machine Company
of Asbery Park, New Jersey," a company no one has
ever heard of as per my inquiries. I believe
"Seacoast Vending" was probably the distributor or
What followed was a year of frustration. The Zeno a jobber rather than a manufacturer. Perhaps it was
mechanism is spring-powered and no doubt the age a proto-type that never got put on the market. In any
and concept of the TRADER dictated a similar event, a photo is enclosed, and I thank and salute
spring-powered mechanism. I tried in vain to con- my friend, Tom, whose persistence paid off!
ceptualize how this could be designed and finally
gave up and had a battery powered mechanism
installed. I took the machine to Chicago for a Footnote from Jack Freund: I purchased THE
C.O.C.A. "show and tell" at one of the meetings and AUTOMATIC TRADER almost 25 years ago at the
with the help of my faithful assistant Jackie Kane County fairgrounds monthly flea market. I
Durham, was able to create the stick of gum flying didn't have the ability to create a mechanism for it
into one of my awaiting "seedy" hands after she and eventually sold it to another collector ( I can't
dropped the coin, and the crowd cheered.
remember who). We, as collectors, are eternal opti-
mists and think we can fix something that the previ-
But over time and a lot of money, I felt something ous person could not. I would not be surprised if
was wrong. The battery device was crude, and I felt THE AUTOMATIC TRADER changed hands many
that the awkward insides made the machine less times before it finally ended up in the hands of
than what I believed the AUTOMATIC TRADER someone who did have the ability and expertise to
was created to be. So I quit, threw in the sponge and complete this machine. That is what makes this
convinced Tom Gustwiller to buy it and carry on the hobby so much fun ...... We keep trying until we get
fight to originality.
it right.
I was able to acquire this machine for three basic
reasons. First, my friend Tom Gustwiller didn't
know it was there. Second, my friends Paul and
Jack were kind enough to agree to " go away."
Third, the internal mechanism was missing, so that
the cost of the machine at auction was minimal.
When I visited Tom some nme months later he
pointed to the machine as he handed me a penny
with a sly smile, the AUTOMATIC TRADER was
reborn. It looked and operated as its unique auto-
matic stored energy mechanism was designed. After
painful negotiations, my friend took pity on me as
he is sometimes prone to do, and the AUTOMATIC
TRADER was on its way back to Akron.
11
Please submit YOUR tale to: Jack Freund,
PO Box 4, Springfield WI 53176 or
email to jbgum@msn.com.
In the meantime .... PRAY FOR MORE STUFF!!