Vend-o-Vision: Trading Quarters for Watching TV in Public

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://hackaday.com/2026/02/28/vend-o-vision-trading-quarters-for-watching-tv-in-public/

Vend-o-Vision: Trading Quarters for Watching TV in Public https://hackaday.com/2026/02/28/vend-o-vision-trading-quarters-for-watching-tv-in-public/
#Reviews #Teardown #Coinoperated

"Modern jukeboxes trace their origins to coin-operated phonographs. Marketed as automatic phonographs, these late-nineteenth-century machines combined Thomas Alva Edison’s (1847–1931) wax cylinder phonograph with a coin-operated mechanism. Edison patented the first cylinder phonograph in 1878 after experimenting with a device that recorded audible messages from a telegraph or telephone signal. This machine utilized a metal cylinder wrapped in tinfoil and was more of a novelty, as recordings quickly degraded after a few plays. Edison’s Improved Phonograph followed a decade later with wax cylinders that greatly increased the life-span of recordings. During the 1890s, electrically operated automatic phonographs were produced by various manufacturers under license from Edison. Nicknamed “nickel-in-the-slot” machines, they appeared in arcade parlors across the United States alongside Kinetoscopes, another Edison invention that played short movies from 35 mm film. Automatic Edison phonograph courtesy of the Joe Welch American Antique Museum. "The Automatic Age: Coin-Operated Machines" is on display, pre-security, in the International Terminal. http://bit.ly/CoinOperated" This was posted to our Instagram account on July 25, 2018 – https://millsfield.sfomuseum.org/instagram/1729357907/

"Fortune-telling was so fashionable in the first half of the 20th century that some machines, such as The Gypsy Fortune Teller, advertised the subject and did not actually offer a fortune. Each penny played on The Gypsy Fortune Teller dispensed a ball of gum, with prizes for winning suits available behind the counter. Other fortune-tellers kept pace with new technologies. The countertop Futura fortune machine illuminates its predictions from a roll of 35 mm film inside, visible through a lighted window atop a plastic “crystal ball.” All objects are courtesy of Joe Welch American Antique Museum in San Bruno, California. "The Automatic Age: Coin-Operated Machines" is on display, pre-security, in the International Terminal. http://bit.ly/CoinOperated" This was posted to our Instagram account on August 30, 2018 – https://millsfield.sfomuseum.org/instagram/1729357723/

"Coin-operated vendors did not require their owner-operator to be present for every sale. When placed in the appropriate location, these robust machines only had to be filled, maintained, and protected from theft to be profitable. Vending machines were offered with various designs and mechanisms to suit operators and their clientele. During the early twentieth century, these compact and simple, coin-operated vendors were placed atop the counters of stores, restaurants, and bars across the United States. Countertop vending machines dispensed small products that were best suited to sales of a single item. Postage and postcard machines conveniently vended items for mail correspondence outside of the post office, such as the Duplex stamp vendor, which fed one- and two-cent stamps from rolls behind glass sides. Jackson Vending’s safety match vendors, popular in cigar stores, public houses, and saloons, dispensed a box of safety matches from a rotating carousel housed under a glass dome. All objects courtesy of Joe Welch American Antique Museum. "The Automatic Age: Coin-Operated Machines" is on display, pre-security, in the International Terminal. http://bit.ly/CoinOperated" This was posted to our Instagram account on January 19, 2018 – https://millsfield.sfomuseum.org/instagram/1729358697/

My X Account Was Hijacked to Sell a Fake WIRED Memecoin. Then Came the Backlash

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.wired.com/story/wired-memecoin-scam-hacked-x-account/

"Under the guidance of designer Paul M. Fuller (1897-1951), Wurlitzer jukeboxes showcased light, color, and form in striking, Art Deco designs. Wurlitzer also marketed a line of tabletop models for smaller businesses. These compact jukeboxes employed a twelve-selection mechanism that raised or lowered 78 rpm records arranged in a stack to the desired disc. All objects are courtesy of Joe Welch American Antique Museum in San Bruno, California. "The Automatic Age: Coin-Operated Machines" is on display, pre-security, in the International Terminal. http://bit.ly/CoinOperated" This was posted to our Instagram account on March 06, 2018 – https://millsfield.sfomuseum.org/instagram/1729358489/