cheryl
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The 2,000-Year-Old History of Vending Machines - Food 52
Dispensing everything from Sunchips to holy water, live crabs to cappuccinos.
There's little more frightening than watching a purchased bag of Sunchips get caught in a vending machine, and no greater joy than when three bags of Sunchips fall for the price of one.
We've all been there.
While vending machines have made great technological strides, they essentially still operate with the same basic contraption. The earliest known version offered the most extraordinary of snacks: water, well holy water, to be exact. As Kerry Segrave, author of Vending Machines: A Social History, found, the first vending machine was invented by Heron of Alexandria in first-century Roman Egypt because worshipers were taking more than their fair share of holy water at temple. The machine didn't have a Coke logo on it, but it did accept coins, and when deposited they hit a pan and pushed against a lever that let the blessed stuff flow out. Once the coin fell off, however, the valve shut and you'd have to move along. It was innovative and clunky at the same time, paving the way for much-needed improvements.
Dispensing everything from Sunchips to holy water, live crabs to cappuccinos.
There's little more frightening than watching a purchased bag of Sunchips get caught in a vending machine, and no greater joy than when three bags of Sunchips fall for the price of one.
We've all been there.
While vending machines have made great technological strides, they essentially still operate with the same basic contraption. The earliest known version offered the most extraordinary of snacks: water, well holy water, to be exact. As Kerry Segrave, author of Vending Machines: A Social History, found, the first vending machine was invented by Heron of Alexandria in first-century Roman Egypt because worshipers were taking more than their fair share of holy water at temple. The machine didn't have a Coke logo on it, but it did accept coins, and when deposited they hit a pan and pushed against a lever that let the blessed stuff flow out. Once the coin fell off, however, the valve shut and you'd have to move along. It was innovative and clunky at the same time, paving the way for much-needed improvements.