ROBOTS That Work For A Coin (Nov, 1938)
That is a really large ice machine.
ROBOTS That Work For A Coin
PUT a coin in the slot and get your shoes shined, see a movie, pay the installment on the washing machine or get a scalp massage. There is hardly an amusement nor a personal service rendered mechanically that hasn’t been put on a coin-in-the-slot basis. Coin-operated pool tables and even fly-casting pools with metered illumination for evening use are among the latest applications, a few of which are shown on this page.
I’ed think getting a decent shot going at speed would be impossible...
Its funny, no mention of food and drink, the kings of all modern coin-op
Comment by Sean — April 6, 2011 @ 8:56 am
Not funny at all, by the time this article came out food and drink vending machines were old news http://www.gumballs.com/history.html
Comment by John — April 6, 2011 @ 9:25 am
I guess, that ice boxes were still commonly used, despite electric refrigerators gaining.
Comment by Jari — April 6, 2011 @ 9:31 am
Ah for the days when you could get a gallon of gas for a quarter!
Comment by Hirudinea — April 6, 2011 @ 9:48 am
@Jari Iceboxes were big until ca. 1946. By 1953 all but a handful of ice companies had folded.
Comment by Charlene — April 6, 2011 @ 2:19 pm
@Hirudinea: A quarter in 1938 dollars would be worth about $3.92 today.
(source: Wolfram|Alpha)
Still, there was probably a significant markup for emergency service. Also: I bet the robots themselves never saw a penny of that money. Exploitation!
Comment by Chris Radcliff — April 7, 2011 @ 1:50 pm
@Chris Radcliff: Hey I just bought gas for $5.82 a gallon so $3.92 sounds like a fantastic deal to me! (Converted from Liters to Imperial Gallons and Canadian Dollars to American Dollars.
Comment by Hirudinea — April 7, 2011 @ 2:19 pm
How are these simple devices “robots”? They’re about as smart as my (mechanical) thermostat. I guess the bar was a lot lower those days…
Comment by Christoph — April 7, 2011 @ 11:36 pm
@Hirudinea, Chris Radcliff: ….$8.47 for a gallon….. (EUR->USD->Litre->USG)… “deep sigh”…. Thanks to the high fuel tax in here.
Comment by Jari — April 8, 2011 @ 10:11 am