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Ampco

Ampco, Providence, RI, c. probably 1930s, 9". This is not listed in Silent Salesmen Too. To the best of my knowledge this is the only example known and it was found after Silent Salesmen Too was published. It's cast iron painted silver, and where a few specks of paint are missing it looks to me like there may be chrome or nickel plating under the paint.

I wrote about how I acquired this in an article for the COCA magazine. If you're interested in reading that, you can click here to view a pdf version of the text.

Despite the "AMPCO. PROV.RI" stamped into the bottom, this machine screams "Vendex." Screams it! The body style, gate, handle, and lock are all of the Vendex style (see here for an example), so this was almost certainly made by Vendex and private-labeled for Ampco. Vendex was based in Boston, not far from Providence, and the proximity of the two companies adds credence to that hypothesis.

What was "Ampco," you ask? I dunno. Ampco, Inc. appears (as of December 2019) to be registered but not active in Rhode Island, but I couldn't find out what the company does or did. It seems to be just a shell now, keeping the name in existence but doing no more than that.

One last thing I find interesting about this machine. If you consider the gate to be facing "south" when viewed from above, then the decal is facing northwest. The globe is female-notched on the bottom to fit a corresponding male notch on the base, which prevents the globe from rotating on the base. Therefore, the decal placement is either a heinous mistake, an act of rebellion by a disgruntled employee, or was actually intended to face the back of the machine. My money's on one of the first two options.