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Bluebird Merchant

Bluebird Products Co., Kansas City, MO, c. 1915, 16 ¹/₂". This is an all-aluminum vendor that has a lot in common visually with many other Bluebird models, but if you're familiar with those models then even a quick glance at this one will give you a "hmmmm, that's different" kinda reaction. According to Mr. Enes this model breaks the rule that Bluebird parts are interchangeable. That may be true for many Bluebirds, but I don't think it's true for the less-typical models like the Twirl Chute or the Pamco. Those models differ enough from the conventional Bluebird that I don't see how they could interchange, but I haven't tried it so I can't say that with 100% assuredness. I can say it with 97.2% assuredness, but that's as far as I'm gonna stick my neck out on that one.

The Merchant has the same patent year as a lot of other Bluebird models such as the Bulk Vendor, the 1-2-3, the Universal Products, and others of that ilk, but it looks cruder. Compared to all other Bluebirds it looks primitive. Given the way this looks you'd think it was the first Bluebird model, but I think that honor goes to the Twirl Chute. Compared to those other 1915 models, this one has a differently-shaped tab on the vending lever, a different dish, and a different midsection. The close-up of the dish shows how crude the casting is of the front opening, which is unlike later Bluebirds with their smooth, clean lines. The decal on this example is ancient faded paper and looks 100% right on this machine.

You can see the product cup here. Not to digress, but is there a collector-approved name for the opening in a vending wheel that swings the product to the top of the product chute when vended? Is it even a vending "wheel?" It's without doubt a wheel in, say, the Bluebird Jawbreaker and in the Bluebird 1-2-3 and in many other non-Bluebird machines like the Ford or the Columbus 14, but in a bulk vendor like this is it a wheel? Anyway, that product-moving-thingy in the Merchant isn't round so it's not designed specifically for gumballs---it's a bulk vendor---but the right-sized gumballs would work. Not as well as new navy beans old dessicated product from the 1930s, but they could be made to work.

This example is 100% original. It's the only one I've seen live or even know about, but it's not the one pictured in Silent Salesmen Too so at least 2 exist. I was lucky to get it. A friend was selling it in the fall of 2017 and I was immediately smitten with it. It's the forerunner of most other Bluebird models, it has the crusty patina I dig so much, it's all-original, it's uber-rare, it's complete, it works---what's not to love about it? It even has its original feet and a key with a patina consistent with that of the rest of the machine. It wasn't cheap but the price was fair, so I paid the man and got this bad boy away from him before he could change his mind. It's quite happy in its new home, and I know that because it tells me that every time I kiss it goodnight.