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Ace Streamliner

Operators Vending Machine Supply Co., Los Angeles, CA, c. 1930s, 16 ¹/₄". In Silent Salesmen and Silent Salesmen Too this is called merely an "Ace." I'd heard reference a few times to a "Streamliner" but didn't know what that was. When I discovered that this is it, I couldn't figure out where the name came from. It looks great, but it's not exactly streamlined. As you can tell, I wallowed in mystified ignorance for quite some time (I'm used to it). Then I got this one and found (Sha-ZAM!) the words "STREAM LINER" embossed in small letters on the bottom front of the globe. Mystery solved.

This model used to be listed as "rare," but I know of at least 4 myself so I'd guess that at least twice that many still exist somewhere on the planet. Still, it's a model that a lot of collectors would like to own and there aren't nearly enough of them to satisfy that demand. Like almost all Aces, this model is made of aluminum.

This example is 100% original. I bought it at the Stan Harris auction in 1995, and at the time I'd been collecting for only about 4 years and had nary a clue what I was doing at a venue like that. When the auction catalog arrived 2 weeks beforehand, I stood at the kitchen sink thumbing through the catalog, and when I saw the picture of this machine I sort of moaned, and said, "Ohhhh, they've got one." My wife said, "They've got one what?" I showed her, and she said, "Oh," and went back to clipping her toenails. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Of all the machines at that auction (and there were a few), this was my top priority, my dream machine, but it came up fairly early and I didn't want to blow my wad on it. I set a maximum bid, got pushed up to it, but luckily nobody tried to push me beyond it. I was thrilled to get it, and it's still one of my favorite machines.