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Old gas stations

Messages
17,181
Location
New York City
Maybe this should be in the "you know you're getting old" thread.
You know you're getting old when you lust after 70 year old soda machines.

I'm sure you guys know this - I learned it from shows like Antique Restorations and American Pickers - but there is a huge market for those old machines and there are a lot - a whole lot - of them still out there. They aren't cheap, but if it's a passion to have one - they aren't that crazy. Living in a NYC apartment, a machine like that would take up half of our "open" space. It's not really that bad, but you get what I mean.
 

Ghostsoldier

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,410
Location
Starke, Florida, USA
My early 1960s Coke machine is a beast... it's over 6 feet tall, and must weigh 450 pounds (or, so it seems).

This is not a photo of mine, but it looks just like it.
be4d485e3c15722829e06d1d39145aae.jpg
680735d07b9ae68982c935533d2e1014.gif


Rob
 
When I was 12 (1972) I bought a vintage Coke machine from the church where my Boy Scout Troop met. It was in the basement, but was not being used (it did function though). I talked to a lady on the Church board and bought it for $10. When my Dad found out he made me cancel the "deal" as I "didn't need it". Still bothers me...

It was similar to this one, but had a 5-cent price.

Coke_Machine.jpg
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,697
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
We had the most-collectible of all collectible Coke machines at our station, the Vendo 81D...

157169382_rare-vintage-coke-machine-model-81d-vendo-coca-cola.jpg


This is just a generic Internet picture, not our actual unit, which was a bit grubbier from use and airborne nicotine buildup. We kept it stocked with Coke, Sprite, Tab, Orange Crush, and assorted "S&OK" brand flavors, usually including root beer, imitation strawberry, ginger ale, and cream soda. I have no idea where it ended up -- it disappeared a couple of years before we sold the place, and I suspect my uncle might have given it to somebody as partial payment on a debt. Today that unit, in unrestored but working condition, sells on the "nostalgia market" for upward of $5000.

The machine may be long gone, but I still have the key. Just in case.
 
Messages
17,181
Location
New York City
⇧ great pics.

So, are the girls out front of Magnus Root Beer "greeters" or something?

That is a beautiful Gulf station - set in a classic '30s industrial area. I have no idea where it is, but it echoes many old towns' industrial areas in the Northeast, especially along/near the Baltimore-to-Boston corridor of (what is now) Amtrak's mainline. That said, the Northeast rarely (it happened, but not often) had that much excess property around a gas station - land in that corridor, even then, was just too expensive.
 

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