Automatic Age

A u t o m a t ic A g e
14
September, 1931
THIS IS A 2000 YE A R OLD BUSINESS!!
By JOSEPH J. BETZ
The first coin controlled automatic mer­
chandiser was invented by a Greek more
than 2000 years ago! It was made by
Mr. Hero Ctesibius in the year 219 B.C.
The ancient history of Greece reveals
that Ctesibius (pronounced Se-tes ibius)
was a high priest and lord high muck-a-
muck of a great religious temple in
Alexandria on the shores of the very busy
Mediteranean Sea. His house of worship
was used mostly by the wealthy merchants
who made their money from the sea-faring
men whose ships anchored in the harbor.
In those times, even as now, the business
of saving souls was not over-profitable. It
probably irked Ctesibius greatly that he
could not wheedle from the merchants
more of their gold for the upkeep of the
temple. Passing the plate in a Greek
Temple was unheard of. The temple ex­
isted only by annual or semi-annual con­
tributions.
The kind of clergyman that Ctesibius
was, or just what manner of preparer of
souls for the hereafter he was, is not
stated, but evidently he was a shrewd busi­
ness man.
When the matter of getting more money
from the people became sufficiently bother­
some, Ctesibius invented his penny-in-thc
slot machine which was the great grand-
daddy of all coin-operated devices now
used the world over.
His contraption consisted of a tank of
sacred water which was used in the daily
rites of the ancient Greeks. The tank
was fitted with an ingenious tube, valve
and plug arrangement, the plug of which
was attached on the lower end o f a per­
pendicular rod. The upper end of this rod
was connected by a bolt to a horizontal
lever and vibrating beam. On the end of
the vibrating beam was a flat scoop so
placed as to receive everything dropped
through the slot. The beam when weighted
down worked very much like a pump han­
dle. Upon depositing in the slot five
Drachma (present value 19 cents) the beam
© International A rcad e Museum
would open the valve and the sacred water
would escape. Only a measured quantity
o f the liquid would flow out, for as the
beam became inclined, the scoop in which
rested the coins also was tipped and the
Drachmas would slide into the money box
and the valve closed. The apparatus would
then be ready for the next worshipper.
Ctesibius was more fortunate than
present day operators in that he did not
have to contend with the slug evil. While
five drachma was the stipulated price for
the water, the coin slot was capable of
taking gold and silver coins of greater
value. The customers would not dare drop
in stones or worthless pieces of metal for
it was a great sin to get the stuff with
slugs— if they understood that word.
Oddly enough this machine, despite its
hoary antiquity was patented in the
United States in 1884!
It is a long jump between 219 B.C. and
1800 when the next known contribution
to the automatic vending industry was
made. In 1829 an English tavern keeper
invented a box which vended a pipeful of
tobacco for a penny. A penny inserted in
the slot would open the lid into the box
where the smoker dipped his pipe. As
simple as this was, it was clever enough
to permit half-penny pieces to go through
the slot without permitting the would-be
cheat to get at the tobacco. Several of
these boxes are still in service in England,
two of them being on exhibition in the
British National Museum.
In 1890 the correspondent of a Paris
newspaper reported an application of the
nickel-in-the-slot principle which smacks
somewhat of present day racketeering. The
report is quoted as saying that in the city
of Boston there may be seen posts along
the sidewalks with the inscription, “ Drop
a nickel in the slot and I will hold your
horse.” As most of the Bostonians rode
from their homes to their offices on horse­
back, the steed holder was considered a
great convenience; but when the questrian
came back to his horse he was confronted
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