How the first vending machines were made from street lamps in Victorian England (3 photos)

And everything was going well until the scammers got involved.





In the 1890s, gas-fired street lamps were installed in London. backlight. They gave good light, and if you stand next to them, then warm. And one engineer named Robinson had an idea: to bring to the plumbing lights.



Prototype vending machine from the 1890s

The water began to heat up due to the combustion of gas, and the lantern turned into a full-fledged vending machine: with hot tea, coffee and even broth.

This invention was called the Pluto Lamp. And it was predecessor of modern vending machines. And the goods in it bought in much the same way as in vending: they threw coins and received drink or soup.



And here is a modern vending machine

Later, a telegraph was screwed to the lantern. It worked like this: it was necessary to select the desired letters, press the appropriate buttons and twist clock face. And send up to 15 words per minute.

Not fast, but definitely.

It is not known how far everything would have gone, but they intervened scammers. They learned to cheat the machine: instead of coins, they threw it into the slot pieces of flattened metal. It soon became ubiquitous and business had to cover.