Chewing gum machine
A chewing gum machine is a vending machine with the original purpose of selling chewing gum . The chewing gum is usually hard balls about one centimeter in diameter , which together with the saliva in the mouth become a chewable mass.
History and description
The gumball machine arrived in the post-war period with the chewing gum to Germany . The Association of Automaten-Fachaufsteller (VAFA) estimates the number of machines installed in Germany at 500,000 to 800,000 (as of 2017).
The typical chewing gum machine is a purely mechanical construction. A coin is thrown in, which, when the rotary handle is operated, triggers a mechanism that drops the coin into the collecting container and releases the goods , which are usually located in a plexiglass container above the machine, and lets them fall into the output compartment.
Later, small items such as plastic earrings , key rings or tiny pocket knives were added to the machines as additional gimmicks , so that they can also be seen as forerunners of the toy machines. Such machines are now also used in libraries to sell earplugs .
In their heyday, chewing gum machines were not only to be found on bar counters and in cinemas , etc., but were also hung in modified form on house walls in the whole of West Germany (often on school paths) and thus shaped the appearance of many towns and communities. These are mostly automatic batteries , which in principle combine two to four automatic machines in a metal cube with sides about meter-long, which is painted in bright colors (mostly red and white).
Each individual machine normally has a viewing window that enables the customer to see its contents, the well-known coin insertion / rotating mechanism with a rotating handle and each with its own goods issue compartment.
Nowadays you can also use various toys on almost all devices, such as B. Buy googly animals, rubber balls or other trendy items. The chewing gum is also constantly being updated with new flavors.
hygiene
Since the machines from the outside are often z. B. are soiled with graffiti , many people have hygienic concerns before using it. This is usually unfounded, as there are fewer and fewer, but all the larger, machine installation companies that change the magazines at least every 3–4 months.
Wall-mounted chewing gum machine ( left) next to a cigarette machine (right)
Wall-mounted chewing gum machine with two dispensers
Chewing gum machine in Dusslingen , where you can still pay with 50 pfennig pieces today
Chewing gum and PEZ machine in Wiernsheim- Iptingen
Toy and chewing gum machine in Mannheim, 2012
Functional toy and chewing gum machine in Hamburg-Wandsbek, 2018
Chewing gum machine in Nuremberg, 2016
Mobile chewing gum machines, 2005
literature
- Michael Meinhard: Neglected centers of early consumption (The chewing gum machine book), illustrated book, ISBN 978-3-00-062704-0 .
Web links
- Interview: Chewing gum machines: is the business still profitable? Wiener Zeitung , September 3, 2012.
- Online guide to chewing gum machines in Bochum
Individual evidence
- ↑ Robert Maus: Chewing gum machine: When turning, the tension increases. In: faz.net . October 21, 2017. Retrieved October 21, 2017 .
- ↑ Konstanz University Library ( Memento of the original from October 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 16, 2010.
- ↑ Adrienne Bilitza: Gerhard Jahn from Kammeltal is the "chewing gum man" . Report on a gumball machine stand. June 20, 2013, accessed May 14, 2015.
