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Zeno

(Click on image to enlarge it)

Zeno Mfg. Co., Chicago, IL, c. 1910s-20s (est.), 17". Silent Salesmen Too says that these machines were included free with the purchase of 1200 sticks of gum. Don't you wish they still were?

All Zenos (including the porcelain versions) have a clockwork mechanism that pushes a stick of gum out when a penny is inserted. Zeno made multiple versions of their wood machines. The versions fall into several general categories, and within those categories I've seen small differences between models. I think Zeno made these boxes for a number of years---they're not rare, or even hard to find---and tweaked the designs over time. The primary differences between models were the positions of the coin slot and the existence or absence of writing on the sides, but you can find smaller, secondary differences such as the beaded trim on the left machine and the absence of "ZENO" from the slanted trim piece at the bottom front of the example shown above right (which isn't 100% clear in the picture because of the glare---sorry 'bout that).

The tin on "tin Zenos" usually didn't hold up well over the years. Very few wood Zenos are clothed in tin, but at least one advanced collector believes that all wood Zenos were originally tin-covered and that tinless wood Zenos once had tin that simply didn't survive the years. The wood example above right supports that contention, while the one on the left refutes it. If you look at the right one closely you can see small, evenly spaced holes around various edges of the front. These holes are placed where the tin is tacked down in the tin-covered machine above, so I'm convinced that this wood machine was once sheathed in tin. The example on the left does not have such holes, so never had the tin. I think that not all wood Zenos were originally covered in tin, but some were covered with tin that just didn't survive.

The 3 machines pictured above are in original condition except for the black paint on the metal pieces above and below the gum exit on the left machine.

• The left machine is an early version with a gold cardboard sign under glass, a lower coin insert, beaded trim, and plain sides. Silent Salesmen Too says this and another glass-sign version are "the earliest of the wood Zenos." This particular example has great paper inside the back door, which you can see here. The coin slot covers on wood Zenos were made of pot metal and are found chipped or broken more often than not. I've never figured out why---it's not like there's a lot of stress on it---but for some reason they are.

• The 2 machines on the right are both a later version with a higher coin insert and advertising on both sides. As implied above, the tin-armored version is scarce whereas wood Zenos without tin are not hard to find even in good condition. The tin example pictured above is a September 2019 upgrade to my first tin Zeno, which you can see here. The example in the link is more in line with the condition in which they're usually found.