C.O.C.A. Times

garding certain policies and proposed changes to his
machine. Schermack left that year to pursue the vend-
ing machine business. The first of his stamp vending
machines did not start showing up until the l 920's;
however, he went on to dominate that market ti11 the
1960's. The 1920's also saw a few of the Schermack
razor vending machines appear. But what happened
to Joseph Sschermack during those years surround-
ing World War I? It seems possible he developed this
set of scales as a way of using his stamp dispenser
mechanism in a vending machine without competing
with his former company in the postage business. He
could market these to the banking industry to promote
savings by their younger patrons and let a reasonable
period of time pass before jumping back into the
stamp business.
The children, who
were being taught
the importance of
.
.
savrng, were given
savings club book-
lets to collect these
stamp receipts. As
you can see from
these 25-cent and
dollar stamps, it
was promoted as
an
"Automatic
Christmas Club."
In
the
next
photo,
children
are lined up to
use a very similar
version of Scher-
mack's machine, possibly a prototype that had not yet
added to it the extra appeal of the scales. The six way
coin head suggests to me that it was for penny through
silver dollar domination coins. Upon the deposit of a
coin, the kids were given a receipt for their booklets.
But I imagine these kids just couldn't stay enthused
about a counter top machine that took your money and
a11 you got in return was one of Schermack's stamps. I
guess that would explain why he added the scales and
his decision to create a "Health and Prosperity Club."
How far he got with this marketing venture is question-
able. You see, the serial number on this scale is only
number 2; and the bank lobby it was used in, the Ypsi-
lanti Savings Bank, was only about 25 miles down the
road from Schermack's factory.
The extreme rarity of many items which regularly ap-
pear at every Opportunities Auction has earned owner,
Preston Evans, the reputation of having the auction
"Where Rare Is Common." This motto will continue to
hold true at his next sale which is scheduled for Labor
Day Weekend. He will once again be putting two ex-
tremely rare items on the block for the bidding pleasure
of his patrons.
Article submitted by Scott Skillman
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