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Hance Rex

Hance Foundry Co., Ohio, c. 1908, 13 ¹/₂". Hance made several "Rex" models that were similar in size, look, and mechanism, but differed in details such as the vending wheel and the way the goods were passed from the machine to customers' hands. Within each model as well as between models, the finish (painted, nickel-plated, or porcelainized), the coin entry (short, plain gooseneck, or embossed gooseneck), and the type of globe (straight cylinder or pear-shaped) could also differ.

This model is simply the "Rex," without an additional descriptor, as opposed to the Rex Gumball or Rex Convertible or the "P-nut" (which is a Rex Convertible with a large globe and a lighted lid but without a "Rex" moniker, which it should have but doesn't) or Standard Rex or the Rex Breath Pellet. The Rex is made of cast iron and has a painted baseplate, lid, midsection, mechanism cover, and coin door. The body is (or in most cases I've seen, used to be) nickel-plated. This model has holes around the perimeter of the vending wheel, making it obvious that this is a gumball machine, not a bulk product dispenser.

The Rex has the earliest patent date---1908---although Silent Salesmen Too doesn't list patent dates for all of the Hance models it shows. Details about who made the early Rex models---and where they were made---are inconsistent:

Silent Salesmen Too lists the maker of all Hances except the Rex as the Hance Mfg. Co., which I know was located in Westerville, Ohio at least some time during its existence.
The Rex is listed in Silent Salesmen Too as having been made by the Hance Foundry Co., with no location mentioned.
According to Silent Salesmen Too, some of the embossed gooseneck coin entries on the Rex say "Rex Mfg. Co. Cols, O."
The decal on the machine pictured above states "Erie, PA." as the location of Rex Manufacturing Company.

I don't know how to make sense of these various clues about the home of the Rex.

This is a great-looking model and is popular with collectors. They're not common but they're also not rare. The example pictured above is 100% original except for the coin door lock, and has 100% of its original decal.

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Update December 2015: I bought the machine below on ebay last month and wanted to include it on this page because of the coin door. Compare it to the one in the pictures above. You'll notice that the coin door below is shaped differently, with a straight-line profile rather than the curved profile in the pictures above, and no lock. I knew when I bought this that the coin door was not original, and others must have also been aware because my winning bid was lower than I'd expected it would be. The coin door has the same ancient repaint as the rest of the machine, so methinks it's been part of this machine since the machine was in service.

I like and admire clever vendor modifications and fixes, and this is one of them. The coin door is made of thick steel, fits the body tightly, and looks right if you don't know what it's supposed to look like. It has a tab on the bottom edge that slips into a slot in the baseplate, and a notch cut out of the top edge that fits around the shaft of the handle. These attachment points keep it tightly in place. This is not as convenient to remove and re-install as the original coin door, and that may have driven the vendor nuts on route. To remove this coin door you need to remove the lid, hold-down ring, and globe. Then you lift the center section (with the mechanism) up a little to free the top edge of the coin door, after which you can pull it to the side and lift it up to free the bottom tab from its slot.

I don't know why the vendor made this, but I speculate that he lost or inadvertently destroyed the original after he could buy a replacement from Hance. I don't know that's the story, but I can't imagine why someone would make a replacement that was so inconvenient to remove and re-install if he could have bought an original replacement.

Along with vendor modifications and fixes, I like old vendor repaints. This example has a well-done replacement part and a great old repaint. I also like nice factory-original machines with the original paint, but quality vendor touches and old repaints can give a machine more personality. I bought this for resale but really liked it when I got it and decided that it should hang around for awhile.

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Update November 2023: Below is another Rex that's worth showing. I bought it (not for resale!) in 2019 from Chad Boekelheide, who'd found it in an attic (yes, that really happens; see here for another example). According to Chad, it'd been painted over with thick, ugly red paint that had to go, so he stripped it off and repainted the black cast iron parts. I don't recall if he knew green porcelain was under all that gloppy red paint or if he discovered it when stripping it. I mention Chad's name because his black repaint is among the best I've seen as a new repaint made to look old, and I wanted to be sure he gets full credit for it. He's an experienced collector with a top-notch collection but I didn't know he had this kind of touch with paint! I'm not fond of repainted machines but I barely think of this as a repaint, it's that good. The paint has a lot more sheen in the pictures than it does in person, so don't judge my claims from them.

The green porcelain midsection is what sets this apart from other examples. I knew that Hance made a white porcelain version but didn't know about the green.

And since I'm updating this page, remember that repainted red Hance Rex with the remade coin door that I described above? The one I bought for resale? It's still hanging around.

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