INDEX: Gumball Machine Retail Merchandising Candy Amenity

INDEX:
Gumball Machine
Retail Merchandising
Candy Amenity

Gumball Machine Retail Merchandising Candy Amenity

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This Gumball Machine Retail Merchandising Candy Amenity
index page aggregates links to all posts and photos of
retail merchandising, display, and outfitting as well as
deep Background courtesy of Wikipedia.

BACKSTORY: A gumball machine is a type of bulk vending machine that dispenses individual gumballs in exchange for money. They were developed around the early twentieth century.

Although vending machines for stick or block-shaped gum were seen as early as 1888, the first machines to carry actual gumballs were not seen until 1907 (probably released first by the Thomas Adams Gum Co. in the United States).^[1] Patented in 1923, the Norris Manufacturing Company produced their “Master” line of chrome gumball machines during the 1930s. These machines could accept either pennies or nickels.^[2]

Founded in 1934, the Ford Gum and Machine Company of Akron, New York was another early manufacturer of gum for gumball machines in the U.S. The Ford brand of gumball machines had a distinct shiny chrome color; sales of gum from Ford gumball machines went to local service organizations such as the Lions Club and Kiwanis International.^[3]

Founded in 1909, Northwestern Corporation started with kitchen matches and eventually came out with the Northwestern Model 33 in 1933 (naming for the year which it came out) and eventually the Model 60 and Model 80, both of which are still sold today.^[4]

Generally, a gumball machine consists of a clear sphere (originally glass, now most often plastic) which is filled with gumballs, sitting on top of a metal base. It has a locked metal top which can be removed to restock the machine. A coin is inserted into the base and a knob is turned clockwise 360 degrees, depositing the coin in the base of the machine and allowing a gumball or trinket to be dispensed into a chute at the bottom of the machine that is closed off by a metal flap.

Most gumball machines have a simple mechanism for dispensing the gumball, to the point of the actual dispensation being largely invisible (after turning the handle the gumball is deposited behind the door). However, some gumball machines have more elaborate methods. Most of them utilize the potential energy of the gumball’s location above the base, by, for instance, causing it to roll down a spiral ramp, or a set of diagonal disks (each one is tilted in the opposite direction than the preceding one) with holes in lowest point. The most elaborate mechanisms also use electricity to power various forms of transit (e.g. lifts and pulleys) as well as ramps and drops for the gumball upon its way to dispensation. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

BACKSTORY: Bubble gum (or bubblegum) is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble.

In modern chewing gum, if natural rubber such as chicle is used, it must pass several purity and cleanliness tests. However, most modern types of chewing gum use synthetic gum-based materials. These materials allow for longer lasting flavor, a softer texture, and a reduction in tackiness.^[1]

In 1928, Walter Diemer, an accountant for the Fleer Chewing Gum Company in Philadelphia, was experimenting with new gum recipes. One recipe, based on a formula for a chewing gum called “Blibber-Blubber“, was found to be less sticky than regular chewing gum and stretched more easily. This gum became highly successful and was eventually named by the president of Fleer as Dubble Bubble because of its stretchy texture.

This remained the dominant brand of bubble gum until after WWII, when Bazooka bubble gum entered the market.^[5]

Until the 1970s, bubble gum still tended to stick to one’s face as a bubble popped. At that time, synthetic bubble gum was introduced, which would almost never stick. The first brands in the US to use these new synthetic gum bases were Hubba Bubba and Bubble Yum.^{[citation needed]}

Bubble gum got its distinctive pink color because the original recipe Diemer worked on produced a dingy gray colored gum, so he added red dye (diluted to pink), as that was the only dye he had on hand at the time.^[6] (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

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