Monday, July 29, 2013
The Gum Ball Machine
Everyone remembers the gum ball or gumball machine. I've spelled the word or words in 2 ways as the Net spells it "gumball" compared with the auctioneers who spell it mostly in 2 words gum ball. I can remember when gum ball machines were everywhere. Back then in the 1950's and later, you could but a gum ball for a penny. Then a penny actually had value. Here in Canada our"smart" government did away with the "penny" in February 2013 to save money in minting, while at the same time can't account for $3,000,000,000.00 in their budget!
Up here in canada the main gum ball machine was the Beaver brand, and the machines were everywhere. I hardly saw any other brands, and the American brands, like most other things couldn't bother selling up here - the market was too small. a mere 15-18 million in the 1950's.
Eventually, the gumball machine broadened to include peanuts and jellybeans while the cost went up to a "nickel". Here in Canada we called a 5 cent piece a nickel as that's what the coin was made of. Sudbury, Ontario, Canada became internationally renowned when nickel was discovered there in the mid-later 1800's. Nowadays, our "nickel" is an alloy of some sort, since nickel is too costly to use for the coin. There are even rumours to eliminate the 5 cent coin!
I occasionally will buy a gumball , now the size of a golfball (spellcheck doesn't highlight the word golfball!), and the cost is now 25 cents.There's nothing like chewing a piece of gum to "chaw down" and exercise your facial muscles!
For those who may have wondered how I "stuck in" a post about gum balls, here's the answer. There were toy gumball machines that could be purchased, and there probably still are, but now, like everything else they come will lots of warnings, especially when children under 5 years of age are involved. This of course is to warn against accidental swallowing or choking. I always wanted and still want a parking meter for my computer room. But without the penny (I'll have to use American pennies - there's no budget constraint there!), I would have to buy a used penny-nickel-dime machine, and they're expensive. I'm still looking!
The machine above actually does other things besides dispensing a gumball.
Please read the description to see.
The more common machine.
I like the large lock on the machine to try and prevent thieves from stealing the "loot" inside!
I like the writing on the label - "Nutritious and Healthful"
The machine above is beautiful. It's made from cast aluminum and wooden and I've "dodged" the metallic parts to highlight the beautiful designs of the metal. "Dodge" is a photographic term meaning to hold back light in order to lighten an area. It was used in the darkroom (now an almost obsolete process and room). The term has carried over into Photoshop, and other photo-editing software.
I like the bright yellow of this machine. That certainly would attract children from a far distance!
This last pair of machines most closely resemble the Canadian Beaver brand of machine.
The difference is that on the metal cover when the gumball drops, there is an impression of our national animal - the beaver!
Thanks for dropping by,
and as always,
have a great part of the day,
wherever you my be.
Stacey
(toysearcher@gmail.com)
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