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Advance Unit A

Advance Machine Company, Chicago, IL, c. 1916, 25". Shown above are two examples of the Unit A, which is one of several wall-mounted single-column "unit" models made by Advance from (I think) the late 1910s or early 1920s through the '40s or '50s. The different models differ by height, depth, mechanism, type (or lack) of window, and the shape and location of the product exits---but other than that they're mostly the same! I can't keep the unit letters straight, but they're described in Silent Salesman Too (page 13) if you want to investigate.

This is the earliest of the unit models listed in Silent Salesman Too. Although all of the unit models differ in some way, this is the most atypical. At 25 inches it's several inches shorter than the others, it's not nearly as deep, it has a flat bottom, it has an Advance #4 mechanism, and the product is dispensed above the mechanism rather than below it. I think the machine's smaller size makes it cuter than the larger models, and the #4 mechanism signifies its earlier circa-ness compared to later Advance models like the Unit E and the Model D.

All of the Advance unit vendors are made of sheet metal. They were originally stenciled with a slew of patent numbers on the bottom of the machine, so if those are missing then the machine has probably been repainted at some point.

The machines pictured above are 100% original. The Hershey's machine on the left is pristine in every respect. It has the patent numbers stenciled on the bottom, nearly intact paper on the front of the back plate (click here to see a more denser image that you can expand to read), and a little notice at the top of the inside stack. The machine on the right is also in great condition, just not as over-the-top nice as the Hershey's example.¹ Based on the bottom of the gum example, it appears to be a bit earlier than the Hershey's machine on the left.

¹ I'll acknowledge here the unfairness of this comparison. It's like comparing Robin Wellings to Phoebe Cates back in their heyday. Robin was a looker, but Phoebe Cates was Phoebe Cates and it's never fair to compare mere mortals to goddesses.