The History And Evolution Of The Gumball Machine

The gumball machine is a vital piece of the nostalgic atmosphere in any arcade or chain pizza joint. The excitement of finding a quarter someone dropped on the ground, the joy of waiting to see which color you got, and the thrill of not knowing how long, exactly, the gumballs have been sitting inside are all peak childhood experiences. But the concept of a gumball machine is honestly pretty strange — so who dreamed it up, and how did it come to be?

Functionally, gumball machines are just a niche vending machine, and the two novelties' histories are pretty intertwined. In fact, although technically the very first vending machine was a contraption that allowed the Ancient Greeks to trade a coin for holy water, the first vending machines in the United States were placed in New York City subway stations in the 1880s, and offered Tutti-Frutti gum to commuters for the price of a penny. Then in 1907, true gumballs, with the traditional hard shell and spherical shape, were dispensed from machines. Since then, the design for the dispenser has been refined, but the concept has remained mostly the same. One unexpected exception? A brief foray into gambling gumball machines, which gave every tenth customer their penny back along with the free gumball. Unfortunately, these were banned during Prohibition in the 1920s, so your chances of spotting one today are pretty low.

So how have gumball machines changed since the 1900s? For one thing, they now cost a quarter instead of a penny. Some of the technology has also been updated (for example, the round glass shape wasn't always the go-to), but for the most part, they work similarly to how they always have: mechanically, without the need for electricity. Essentially, a metal disk underneath the gumball container has gumball-sized holes all around the outside. When you put in a coin and twist the handle, one of the circles turns to line up with the gum-dispensing chute, and one of the candies falls out into your waiting hands.

Some of the construction material has also changed. Early gumball machines were typically made with steel or cast iron to ensure their durability, while today, they're made from plastic and aluminum to lessen the cost. And they've arguably lost some of their whimsy — some vintage machines even involved animatronic figures picking up the customer's gumball and dropping it into the waiting chute. But there are still creative gumball machines and vending machines out there today — while the timeless technology has persisted somewhat unchanged, the idea of unlocking an object behind glass with a coin has also wonderfully expanded, thanks to human creativity. Some of the most unique vending machines in the world include one that dispenses champagne, and another that will spit out a piping hot French baguette. The novelty of the vending machine concept might not have been enough to keep half grocery store, half vending machine Keedoozle afloat, but it feels safe to say that as long as the history of pizzerias in America continues, gumball machines will remain their stalwart companion.