Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-276) and index.

"Although the 1880s are considered the beginning of the vending machine era, these devices have existed for a couple of thousand years. The earliest reference to a vending machine was made by Hero - a Greek mathematician, physicist and engineer who probably lived in Alexandria during the first century A.D. - who described and illustrated a coin-operated device to be used for vending sacrificial water in Egyptian temples. Completely automatic, the device was set in operation by the insertion of a five-drachma coin." "From its inception to its current place in popular American culture, the vending machine has appeared in many forms and places. This history details successes and failures of the machines, economic factors influencing the popularity (or lack thereof) of vending machines, and the struggle of the industry to become a dominant, large-scale method of retailing products."--Jacket.

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