During a recent discussion with my ex-wife, I mentioned the trend of candy/gum/etc machines requiring you to put several quarters in, back to back. Shaking my head slightly, I reminisced about when I first saw that with penny gumball machines, both the back to back kind, and the ones that actually had two slots at an angle from each other.
My ex promptly informed me that I was full of it; such things were long gone by the time I would have been seeking candy.
My question… I was born in 1971; when did penny candy machines vanish? I could swear I saw them into the early 80s.
Anecdotal evidence in your support; I was born in 1969 and remember such devices at least into the mid/late '70s. Not sure what such machines do now - once the stuff inside them stopped being so damned important to possess, they stopped commanding my attention.
ETA I was talking specifically about the multi-quarter structure rather than penny candy machines in general. I don’t think they’ve vanished completely, since I remember seeing them in the Safeway next to where I lived in DC in 2006, and in Arlington VA when I lived there. The big ol’ grocery store down the street from me here outside Stockholm has a couple rows of 'em as well.
My barber kept an old penny gumball machine in his shop until just a couple of years ago. He would always give the little kids whose hair he cut a penny for the machine as a reward for good behavior in the chair.
I suspect the only reason he took it out is when he couldn’t get gumballs for a penny anymore.
I was born in 1976 and remember, at least until 1st grade, that there was a penny gum machine at the automotive shop we used when the car broke down. It would dispense two or three of those flat, square pieces of gum that come in different colors. After that was gone, there was a dime machine, then we switched auto shops.
That’s probably not it… Many businesses have a dish of candy sitting out completely free for customers. It’s not expected to be a source of profit (not directly, at least).
There’s a gumball machine at the courthouse, but I haven’t checked to see how much it costs per gumball.
As for being born in 1971 and using actual penny machines… I was born in '65, and full size candybars were a nickel when I was in first grade…which I think was 1971. Penny gum machines were definitley around at the time…and some of them dispensed Sweet Tarts or other candy instead of gum.
I vividly remember penny gumball machines being phased out and replaced with nickle machines in the early-mid 70s in Northern Virginia. (I was born in 1961.)