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Mystery Gumball Vendor

Maker unknown, c. 1930s or 1940s (estimated), 9 ¹/₂". This is not the kind of 'mystery machine' that one can say "Hey, check Silent Salesmen Too, it's a mystery-whatever." No, this is the kind of mystery machine that's really a mystery. It looks like a Penny King whose globe has been cut way down and then the base got planted into a chunk of wood that I think is really some kind of composite. The thing is, that so-called Penny King has a slide-coin insert, which I don't recall ever seeing on a Penny King. So the machine is unusual if it's a Penny King, and for damn sure the wood/composite/whatever nest is unusual, and the really really short globe is unusual although not mysterious, so all in all I don't know what to make of this thing.

I bought it at an auction in September 2017. I saw it in the catalog and thought it was quirky and kinda gaudy, and then saw it in person at the preview and still thought it was quirky but not as gaudy, and decided on a max bid. I got it for exactly that bid, which was more than a Penny King costs but not, like, gotta-own-it / stupid-money high. I was actually surprised to get it, given its whimsical nature and rarity. It's the kind of thing that's often driven up by 2 bidders who duke it out, but they must have stayed home that day.

Lots of other collectors attended that auction and I talked to a few of them about this, and none had seen one before. Our impression of the machine was that it didn't look like the product of some creative soul trying to spawn a new species, because it looks too well done---too intentional-by-design---to have been cobbled together like that. I think this was designed and originally built to be exactly what it is. Look at the bottom, for example; I don't think a vendor or collector would have been able to build it that well. And where would he have gotten the slide-coin-entry-Penny King? Huh? Answer me that, Mr. Smarty Pants!

Whatever it is, I think it's 100% original and complete.