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Hance Rex Convertible 1-2-3

Hance Mfg. Co., Westerville, OH, c. 1910s, 15". This date is an estimate. Hance made several "Rex" models that were similar in size, look, and mechanism, and I'm assuming they're from the same era. The name "Rex Convertible" is based on the machine's ability to be converted from a gumball vendor to a bulk vendor; all the route guy needed to do was change the vending wheel. The other models in the Rex line were either bulk vendors or gumball vendors; they could not be both.

This model was part of Hance's "White Base" line. The base is porcelainized cast iron, the mechanism housing is nickel-plated cast iron, and the baseplate, center section, and lid are aluminum. This example has a 1-2-3 mechanism, which is the only Rex Convertible 1-2-3 that I or several knowledgable friends know to exist. More about that below.

Some of the Hance models found with this style of globe are also found with a cylinder globe like the one on the Hance Rex. Of the 2 styles, the contoured globe pictured above is scarcer and prettier and is the one collectors will choose if given a choice. I don't know if the styles were different options for the same model when bought from Hance---and if so, what the price difference was---or whether they've been swapped between machines over the years. I suspect the former hypothesis is accurate but the latter probably plays a small role as well.

This model is considered rare. The serial number of this one is 3702, so despite its scarcity nowadays it appears that Hance made more than a few.

The example pictured above is 100% original except for the gate, which is a high-quality recast that I "aged" to match the general patina of the rest of the machine's finishes. This machine has a gumball wheel, which being oh-so-clever you might have already figured out.

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There's a story behind this one. It's not really my story because I simply bought it through eBay, but rather it's a story of how the guy I bought it from came to own it. It should give us all hope. Here it is:

The guy I bought it from is a dealer of antique lamps who lives in northern Ohio. One weekend in the spring of 2003 he'd planned to go to an auction that had advertised some lamps in which he had interest. The day before the auction he talked to a friend who also dealt in vintage lamps and found out that the friend was also planning to go. Since the auction was about 3 hours from my seller's house and his friend lived close to the auction, my seller decided to forego the auction and tackle some of the items on his domestic "to do" list. One of those involved some landscaping around the house.

As luck would have it, there was another auction near his house on Saturday that suited this task. It was at a local nursery and they were going to sell some trees. So off he went to buy trees. As he previewed the auction he saw some trees and some inexpensive gardening accessories, but not much else....until he saw the Hance pictured above, sitting near the end of a countertop without a soul around it. He went to the machine and looked it over, and although he didn't know squat about coin-op, he knew antiques in general and had a strong feeling that this was an unusual piece. He decided to buy it if the price wasn't outrageous. He didn't know what "outrageous" would be for this but he'd follow his instincts when the time came to bid.

He sat down with some friends and watched the bidding, and when the Hance came up he bought it. His friends were astonished at his foolishness and couldn't believe that their buddy would pay $125 for an old gumball machine! They razzed him for the rest of the auction and for several days afterward, but my seller thought he'd probably not gone wrong. Up it went on eBay, and I bought it for just a teensy bit more than he'd paid for it.

I called the seller after the eBay auction closed (which is when I got this story), and we discovered that we lived 4 to 5 hours apart. We agreed to meet about half-way between us in Springfield, OH, which has 3 big antique malls and would therefore give us something to do other than just meet and then turn around and go home. We met at the appointed time and I walked over to his SUV. He opened the back, pulled out a box, opened the box, and pulled out the machine. He set it on top of the box and then stepped back so I could see it. My very first thought was "I can't believe I paid four grand for a project machine!" My second thought was "Wow, the rest of it is great!" It was perfect except for the missing gate, but the gate was still missing and that made it incomplete. But I knew that when I bid so I had nobody to blame but myself. I paid him, thanked him, and we went our separate ways.

I brought the machine home and set it on my workbench. I ran a couple of pennies through it, and the mechanism seemed to work erratically. It gave different numbers of turns for a penny. Thinking that a spring or lever or some internal ratchet was sticking open when it should close at the end of a turn, I removed the coin door below the mechanism, turned the machine upside down, and hosed the innards down with WD-40. I then turned it rightside up and started running pennies through it to work the oil in. The first penny gave one turn, and I thought "ah ha, it worked!" The second penny gave 2 turns, and I thought "oops." The third penny gave 3 turns, and I thought "huh...." I decided that I needed to keep running pennies through since the oil hadn't worked its way in yet. As I did that I noticed a pattern develop, and that pattern was 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3. "Golly," I thought, "this is a 1-2-3 mech!" I ran more pennies through, and sure enough, the pattern didn't deviate. This kinda sorta made up for the missing gate...in a way....partly.

I'd never heard of a 1-2-3 mechanism on this model, so I emailed a couple of friends who know more about Hances than I did (or do even now), told them about this, and asked them if this was unusual. I received rude and sarcastic replies from them, but the consensus was that they'd never heard of one before. I took that to mean yes, it's unusual.

So that's the story. I had this on the shelf for a lot of years with that damn gate missing, not rectifying the situation until November 2021. At some point during the intervening years I got a recast gate that was too rough for me to use, then a very nice recast gate that was bright and shiny and I didn't know how to correct that, and then in the fall of 2021 found out how to darken bright shiny aluminum. I finally got around to doing that and the result is what's shown above. I won't pass up an original gate if I stumble across one, but until then I can be happy with what's on it now. It's no longer a project machine.