___________________________________________________________________________________________

Autosales

Autosales Vending Corp., New York, NY, c. 1928 or earlier, 32". Before I checked Silent Salesmen Too I'd thought this was a 1930s-era machine, but it's a bit earlier than that. I've always associated porcelainized machines with the 1930s, so this may be an early example of that genre. I know of a few other pre-1930s porcelainized models, but porcelain seemed to take off in the early to mid-'30s with Northwestern, Columbus, and Norris (among others), and I don't know of many porcelainized machines made before 1930. Some earlier machines such as early L-vendors had some porcelain on them---see Autosales L-vendor as an example---but the 1930s machines I'm thinking about are globe or cabinet machines made of cast iron or steel and completely encased in porcelain.

But enough about porcelain. This model is---as I've alluded to---porcelain over thick steel, much the same as a short case Pulver. Also like Pulver, it's dense and solid and sturdily constructed. This model was made by Autosales until 1928, at which point Mills bought Autosales and continued making the same model with slight changes to the signage. One of those changes was putting their own company name at the bottom of the front panel, which historians would call a clue when dating a particular example.

These aren't rare, but they're not especially common. The examples I've seen have generally been in good condition, although most aren't quite as nice as the one above. If you want one in good shape you'll get one eventually, but it may take a little while.

The example pictured above is 100% original.