Stoners

[stburger]

Were these still being built in the 60's

[Roadman]

I'm sure someone on this board will have more detail on what happened and when to Univendor  the maker of the Stoner Candy machine but I believe the company stopped production around 1960.  Their haydey seems to have been 1947 - 1958.

[rayg]

pic's didn't post, please re-post them

[bcharlton]

I think it may just be a general questions regarding Stoners.  I have not seen a tradional Stoner Candy machine after 1958-59

BC

[Roadman]

I think the machines could not be converted to $.25. newer machines came in

[stburger]

What do you mean by newer machines

[Kilroy]

Other manufacturers, such as National.

[MaineT]

I talked to an 80 year old guy that used to own a vending company and over 150 machines.  He started with DuGrenier and quickly went to Nationals and Stoners, due to reliability, but when the Stoners could not go over .25 cents he scrapped them by the dozen. He said they had no value if they couldn't sell product. He said he does realize now what a gold mind it would have been. Basically like anything disposed of back then I guess. He did have some really cool old very early DuGrenier Cigarette machines in his house and they were very cool.

I thought it was neat that he said when it went things went to .22 cents per item, he had to put 3 pennies in each pack of smokes for change so it would still work out. I would have never guessed that in my whole life!!

[Roadman]

Building on your comment re: the "change" included in packs of cigarettes, I remembered reading this awhile ago:
How the 1955 Doubled Die Cents Were Produced:

The 1955 Doubled Dies were created when the Mint struck a working hub and a working die together while they were both slightly rotated differently from one another. Consequently, this working die then received a doubled die impression and as a result struck thousands of 1955 Doubled Die cents.

After the 1955 Doubled Dies were produced, they were mixed with millions of regular circulation strike cents from that same year. However, Mint employees caught some of the 1955 Doubled Die cents before they went into circulation. The Mint then decided that it was just not worth the trouble of melting millions of cents to retrieve the approximately 20,000 Doubled Die cents that were accidentally produced.

1955 Doubled Die Cents in Circulation

In the following months, 1955 Doubled Die cents were finally turning up in circulation, including in cigarette packs which were being sold in vending machines. At that time, a pack of cigarettes would cost 23 cents each but the vending machines would only take a quarter and no other change. Therefore, the cigarette companies would need to place two cents inside each pack of cigarettes to be given back as change. Anyone who inserted a quarter in the vending machine would then receive a pack of cigarettes with two Lincoln cents inside a cellophane packaging. This cellophane packaging was then wrapped around the cigarette packs with the two Lincoln cents inside it, and this is where many of the 1955 Doubled Dies surfaced.

[bcharlton]

Great information Roadman.  This is the stuff that makes the hobby interesting.


Some funny pictures don't hurt either.

   
BC