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Columbus Model E

Columbus Vending Company, Columbus, OH, c. 1909, 11". I don't know much about this model beyond what's in Silent Salesmen Too. It vends breath pellets and like most breath pellet vendors it's a small bugger, but it's made of cast iron and it's solid and it's really quite gorgeous. You can put it on a ahort shelf and save the taller shelves for more substantial, tall globe machines like a Climax 10 or Hance Standard Rex, or for a marqueed machine like an Ad-Lee E-Z. So, owning a Columbus E is a smart way to maximize use of your space, and you can tell your wife I said that if you ever come home with one (a Model E, that is, not a wife).

This is one of two versions I've seen. The other is exactly like this except for the base, which is tapered and has a dish molded into the front. The tapered-base version looks sleeker and less "blocky," and I perceive it to be scarcer although I'm not sure why. Both versions are considered rare.

Bill Enes states in Silent Salesmen Too that all examples he's seen of the above version have had ribbed globes. The one above has a clear globe, and it's been on this machine for a very long time---the globe is fused to the rubber gasket above and below it. Bill also states that the tapered-base version "has been found with clear globes without ribbing." I'd bet that both versions were used with either globe, so until I see contrary evidence from old Columbus ads or literature, I'll remain skeptical about any firm rules regarding which globe is correct or incorrect for which version.

The machine pictured above is 100% original. I'd had it for awhile when I saw a ribbed globe on ebay, purportedly for a Columbus E. I bought it intending to install it on this machine, thinking that if Bill said these all had ribbed globes then the smooth globe might not be right. I also thought the ribbed globe was more unusual, and cooler. I bought the ribbed globe, and after it arrived is when I discovered---or perhaps I re-discovered---that the smooth globe was fused to both gaskets. A globe fused to a machine is part of the machine, and I don't mess with them---especially on a machine of this caliber. The machine sits on my shelf exactly as shown above, and the ribbed globe is in a box in a cupboard, awaiting my next Model E or my death, whichever comes first.