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Griswold Evernice

Griswold Mfg. Co., Rock Island, IL, c. 1920's or 1930's (est.), 15". This 2-column vendor has a porcelainized cast iron base and lid, and a painted sheet middle midsection. The top of the base, which holds the coin slot, is nickel-plated. It has a conventional 2-column match-vendor design but is better than most because it has white porcelain, which I love for some reason that I can't explain. This model looks similar to the Griswold Match Machine and the H. E. Winters match vendor. Significant differences exist between the 3 models, but they all have white porcelain!

The example above is 100% original except for some of the paint. The paint on the front and the side away from the camera look original to me. The paint on the side toward the camera is an ancient repaint---it's got all the patina of original paint but up close in person you can tell it was applied over a previous layer that had chipped or peeled. I'm as sure as I can be that it was applied by a vendor during service, probably when my parents were kids.