___________________________________________________________________________________________

Mystery 53

Maker unknown, 16". This is a great machine that many collectors would like to own, and about which many collectors---including me---know little. It's truly a "mystery machine." Collectors speculate that it might have been made by Bluebird, but we really don't know.

It's a neat machine whatever its heritage. It's made of cast aluminum and does have a Bluebird feel to it. The globe is unusual and to the best of my knowledge was not used on any other model. The mechanism works on a penny, and the vending wheel was designed for gumballs. According to the decal above, it's a profit-sharing machine that gave 1, 2, or 3 gumballs for a penny, but I've never tested that for fear of damaging the vending wheels in case they're as fragile as those on a Bluebird 1-2-3.

The example above appears to be 100% original and is the only one I've seen with old paint. The others have been bare aluminum or were newly painted. I've seen only a few examples of this model and believe it probably qualifies as rare, and if not Officially Rare it's certainly scarce.