The future of shopping is in automated retail. Paradoxically, Amazon, a company that killed many physical stores, is jumping on the bandwagon, with Amazon Go promising a new kind of corner store. Even so, vending machines will likely remain the face of automated commerce long into the future.

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Vending machines birthed automated commerce. Over the years, we’ve seen vending machines selling simple items such as cigarettes to making and serving hot pizza. However coffee vending machines and other modern vending machines are a long way from the functionality of the first vending machine. What did the first vending machine dispense? In this post, we will take you through the history of vending machines and explore what they’ve been able to vend over the years.

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First Mention of a Vending Machine

If you’ve ever taken a geometry class, you likely have calculated the area of a triangle using the formula ½ (a + b + c). This formula you probably don't recall ever using is called Hero’s formula or Heron’s formula. The individual who gifted the world this formula was the Hero of Alexandria, a mathematician who was active in Alexandria, Egypt, during the Roman era. Interestingly, this mathematician also developed the first known vending machine.

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The Hero of Alexandria developed the first known vending machine that dispensed holy water in first-century Roman Egypt. The "automated machine" accepted coins and offered holy water in exchange. A customer would begin their purchase by dropping a coin in these coin-operated machines. The coin fell on a pan affixed to a lever, which would then open a valve to let water flow out. The coin's weight facilitated this process as it would tilt the lever with the coin sliding on the pan until it fell off. When the coin fell off, a counterweight would restore the lever to equilibrium, seal the valve, and holy water would stop pouring.

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Newspapers Vending Machines or Were They?

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In the 1600s, coin-operated vending machines dispensing cigarettes and newspapers began to appear in Taverns in England. The machines dispensed tobacco in the black box machines. Under the watchful gaze of the landlord, users could insert a penny - yes even underaged buyers - into these uncomplicated contraptions to open the box, enabling them to fill their pipe before securely closing it once more.

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By the 1800s, the idea had already taken hold, and Richard Carlile, an English bookseller, developed a vending machine in 1822 to disseminate works banned under England’s seditious libel laws. Publishing or distributing works that might encourage citizens to hate the government was an offense. Richard Carlile developed not a newspaper dispensing machine, but a book vending machine to circumvent these laws.

Richard Carlile’s book machine allowed customers to buy banned works without interacting with him or his employees. Customers would turn a dial to the book title they wanted and insert a coin. The requested publication would then drop down in front of the customer. 

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The machine was not fully automatic as book vending machines are today. It was in front of Carlile’s shop, and one of his assistants would put the requested book title into the machine. The idea was that since the buyer did not know who exactly provided the book, Carlile and his assistants could avoid prosecution. The scheme did not go as planned as one of Carlile’s employees eventually faced prosecution for disseminating ‘blasphemous’ works.

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What Did the Very First Vending Machines Dispense in Modern Times

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The first fully automatic vending machine was a stamp dispensing machine. The British government granted Simon Denham Patent No. 706 for the machine in 1867. Upon coin insertion, the machine would cut a stamp from a roll and deliver it automatically to the customer. While the machine was mechanically sound, it did not see commercial success as it was never mass-produced.

In the years that followed, automated vending machines took off in England. They were typically installed in post offices, subway stations, and inns, selling envelopes, postcards, and stationery. 

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Naturally, as automatic vending machines became popular, entrepreneurs started looking for ways to scale the business. An inventor and entrepreneur named Percival Everitt would play a critical role in commercializing vending machines. In 1883, Everitt and his business partner, John Sandeman, started selling postcards in London for a penny each using a cast-iron vending machine. They would later develop a more sophisticated version of the machine and place more than 100 of them around London.

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While the postcard machines were a great success, Everitt’s next business move would usher in a new era of vending machines as a scalable business. In 1887, Everitt established the Sweatmeat Automatic Delivery Company (SADC). SADC operated vending machines dispensing items such as chocolate, chewing gums, cigarettes, matches, and perfumes, among other products. With 1,500 machines in London alone, the company snowballed and started opening branches in other cities. By 1901, Sweatmeat had at least one machine in all of the more than 7,000 railway stations across Britain on top of the machines it operated in hotels, shops, and other public establishments.

Britain exported its fully automated vending machines to other countries, including the United States. Most of the first coin-operated vending machines in the United States were British-made or modeled after British brands. Everitt was one of the first major players in the industry in the United States. He started in New York City by registering the Automatic Selling Machine Company to vend postcards.

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An American entrepreneur, Thomas Adams, came across Everitt’s machines in New York and immediately spotted a business opportunity. He secured the American patent rights to the machines and adapted them to vend chewing gum. Adams, Sons, and Company became the catalyst for the improvement of designs of dime-operated vending machines and their rapid expansion in the United States. 1897 was the year vending machines were first gamified by Pulver Manufacturing Company. They introduced miniature figurines that would come dance and waver whenever someone purchased a chewing gum.

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What Are Vending Machines Selling Today

The vending machine industry has grown to become a formidable sector. Grand View Research estimated the size of the global retail vending market at 51.91 billion in 2021. The industry is growing steadily, with new types of vending machines hitting the market every year. Today, you can find smart vending machines using credit card scanners and selling:

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• Ice-cold soda, including popular brands such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola
• Hot coffee vending machines (Check how to kickstart a successful coffee vending machine business)
• Snacks such as potato chips and chocolate bars
• Candy bars
• Sandwich in offices, college campuses and schools, and airports
• A variety of drinks, such as iced coffee, tea, energy drinks, and hydration drinks for gyms
• Burgers in Japan and South Korea
• Hot pizza
• Ice cream
• Ramen, especially on campuses
• Sushi in Japan
• Ice and water (Check out the best ice vending machine locations)
• Laundry detergent and other cleaning supplies
• Tools in industrial complexes
• Books in schools
• Cosmetics, artificial nails, and hair care products
• Feminine hygiene products
• Pet food vending machines
• Baby food fending machines
• Condoms and other contraceptives
• CBD products
• Auto parts and accessories
• Disposable masks
• Live fishing bait

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With custom vending machines, you can sell any small product using a vending machine. That said, the most popular vending machines in the world are snacks and drinks vending machines.