Thinking about getting a soda machine for the game room

RetroHacker

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Thinking about getting a soda machine for the game room

This is one of those things I've wanted to get for a long time. I've actually got one - but it's an ancient one from the 60's that vends only glass bottles. Cool, but not the time period I remember, or am after.

The machines I fondly remember had a flat front, and took coins (no bills). They dispensed cans. The front was mostly a large plexi graphic (Pepsi, Coke, RC, whatever), and the buttons were down the right side below the coin slot. The top button was much larger than the rest of them, and had the regular Coke or regular Pepsi selection. In the corner of each button was a little red lamp that would light up if that selection was sold out. This would have been the late 80's/early 90's.

I also remember some old machines with multiple slots that the soda came out of - and I think some of those had fake woodgrain on the lower part. They were probably 70's era. Haven't seen one in ages though.

Looking around, most of the machines I see for sale are either newer ones with the curved fronts, or really old ones like the one I've got already. Anyone know what kind of machine I'm thinking about? Was it a common model? Are machines from that era hard to come by, or is it just that I need to look in the right place?

-Ian
 
This is one I almost bought:

IMG_0410.jpg


I hear you on getting the right vintage. I remember the wood grain ones best, but the above one is another style I remember fondly. If I get one, I'll be looking for retro labels for Crush, Rondo, Pepsi Light and Bubble up.
 
Ooh, I remember a machine very similar to that at the bowling alley. Fondly remember that one as well. One thing I was always puzzled about was the little box on the front labelled "PULL RINGS". I never knew what that meant, since I saw no rings in that box that could be pulled. Of course, later I found out that older soda cans didn't have the "fixed" pull tab, but rather a ring you pulled off the can...

Also, remember back when soda cans had a much larger top (the diameter of the top was very nearly the same as the rest of the can, not reduced like it is now), and the opening you got when you cracked it open was much smaller? I think it was Mountain Dew that I first saw with the "Wide Gulp" opening.

-Ian
 
Ooh, I remember a machine very similar to that at the bowling alley. Fondly remember that one as well. One thing I was always puzzled about was the little box on the front labelled "PULL RINGS". I never knew what that meant, since I saw no rings in that box that could be pulled. Of course, later I found out that older soda cans didn't have the "fixed" pull tab, but rather a ring you pulled off the can...

Also, remember back when soda cans had a much larger top (the diameter of the top was very nearly the same as the rest of the can, not reduced like it is now), and the opening you got when you cracked it open was much smaller? I think it was Mountain Dew that I first saw with the "Wide Gulp" opening.

-Ian

Yep, MD for me too. Mountain Dew was also the first aluminum can I saw, and the first one with the tapered top. Remember when the cans were tin? The soda cans with the smaller peel back pull tabs were my favorite. I remember Mark IV soda, Elf soda, Holiday Polka Dot Soda and various store brand sodas had those peel back tabs. You could get them in any flavor, Cola, Root Beer, Creme Soda (the can for Cream Soda was always light blue for some reason), Lemon Lime, Grape and Orange, later Strawberry and Black Cherry.
 
I remember that Pepsi products always came in the "tin" cans - actually some kind of steel. So did A&W Root Beer. The cans were heavier and they stuck to a magnet. I think Coke came in aluminum cans. Wasn't long before all of them went to the aluminum cans. And much later they went to the reduced diameter, larger opening kind. None of the sodas I remember drinking ever came with the peel-back tabs, there weren't really any store-brand sodas around back then that I remember. I think it depends on the part of the country, and what the area bottlers made. I lived in a pretty small town - and the only sodas I remember were Pepsi, Coke, and RC products.

I also remember the first 20oz plastic bottles I saw. I think it was Coke that had them first - they called them the "Big Slam", if I remember correctly.

You know, it wasn't until the 20oz bottles that I started hating soda vending machines. I think that was right around the time they started taking dollar bills too. I was in high school, and the machines there were all Coke products. They were these ugly wavy fronted red things, and they were on timers that restricted their use to non-lunch times. They were the most frustrating machines ever. Constantly malfunctioning, eating your dollar, or just refusing service thanks to the timer. Of course, this caused kids to beat on them - ever seen a smashed-in dollar bill acceptor? I have. Amazing how much damage a pissed-off Senior can do with a textbook.

The older machines that dispensed cans never stole my money, or jammed, or caused problems. I remember that the coin slot was a metal casting - and there was this metal tab you pushed down to clear it if it jammed - rare, but a bent coin would get stuck in it's throat sometimes.

-Ian
 
Awww geeze - you guys don't remember pull-tabs? I'm feeling OLLLLLDDDD. I remember the transition to the modern can tops.

One of these days I'll start looking for one like Phet posted, but I want one with the RC logos - I always remember the one at the gas station my dad went to - he'd let me get soda there sometimes.

Of course, Dr. Pepper logos wouldn't be bad either - I have fond memories of a bunch of cases of Dr. Pepper that dad brought home at the beginning of one summer - he worked at Crown, Cork & Seal (canning & bottling equipment) when they were in Baltimore, and they did a big test run. Toward the end of the summer we started to find the cans only half-full because those cases where when they were adjusting the gear that seals the tops.
 
theres a big old square pepsi machine on a truck next to my house..guess its going to the dump.. should i try and get it?
 
theres a big old square pepsi machine on a truck next to my house..guess its going to the dump.. should i try and get it?

Definitely! Too far away for me, but you should definitely grab it for your game room. Gotta be authentic - keeping beer and soda in the fridge is just so... boring :)

-Ian
 
Man I wish I could get find a pic of the kind I like. It was something like Phets.. but had 5 or 6 soda selections. They were in an oval shape, and underneath it the oval shaped soda type was a small square or rectangular type button you hit for your selection. There were 5 slots at the bottom which I always thought was weird since there was 6 soda types. The can always got turned sideways and you'd have to twist and turn it to get it out of the slot. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Aren't old soda machines a big draw on power since they'll be old and less efficient. I thought about it and then decided on using the small spare fridge instead. Less sexy but serves the same goal and I can put our extra milk into it.
 
Aren't old soda machines a big draw on power since they'll be old and less efficient. I thought about it and then decided on using the small spare fridge instead. Less sexy but serves the same goal and I can put our extra milk into it.

There's actually enough room inside most soda machines to put an extra gallon of milk - there is almost always space at the bottom for extra cases of soda. The only problem, is that then you'd have to remember that you left an extra gallon of milk in the bottom of the soda machine...

And yeah, a soda machine might not be the most power-efficient way to keep stuff cold, but that's by far not the point. There are worse things to spend money on. A room full of refrigerator-sized games, each with their own monitor is not an efficient way to play video games. But it's far more fun :)

-Ian
 
CokeMachine1002b.jpg


That looks almost exactly like the one I am referring about except it was Pepsi, the selections were oval instead of square and it had the openings at the bottom.
 
I had been actively looking for an old 50"s coke machine but everyone i talked too said they waste so much power that you'll wish you never had it. My gas/electric bill in the winter months is already $500-$700 so i'm officially done looking.
 
The old soda machines don't use much more power than a fridge. I figure my Vendo 63 (slant shelf with a bottle door on the left) cost about $25/month to run. If its always stocked, the compressor doesn't run that often. The circulating fan runs, but doesn't draw that much. I have 2 machines running all year long. Certain machines like the slider that is pictured uses a bit more power, but still not going to break the bank. My 63 holds about 3 cases of bottles. In the summer I used to shut my basement machine down and put a can machine on the patio for the kids. Last summer went to fast to have the time to do it.
 
Why not go with a fountain dispenser instead? They take up a much smaller space and the taste as we call know is MUCH better from a fountain! I got a cornelius 4 head dispenser off of CL here in Portland for a mere $100 with a 1980's DR Pepper Logo on it. It is the shit! Don't get me wrong, the vendo's and other machines are still cool, but the fountains are my fav!!
 
You know, honestly, I always preferred soda from cans. Fountain drinks always tasted "off" or watered down to me. When I get soda at a fast food place or something, half the time the mix is off - it's always mostly fizz, not enough flavor. And, even when it is mixed right, it still tastes different to me. I guess I just grew up with soda in aluminum cans, and that's how I like it best. Call me weird. :D

-Ian
 
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