Vending machines have come a long way since the first one was invented in ancient Egypt Dropdown content, when a mathematician invented a device that dispensed holy water in return for a bronze coin.
These days vending machines commonly give out drinks and snacks and there are even vending machine restaurants. But there's more than just food and drink on offer – a whole host of these mechanical shops around the world stock all sorts of strange wares. Here are a few of our favourites.
Gift giving is one of the holiday season’s greatest joys, but we’ve all got that friend or family member who is impossible to buy for. Thankfully, S*uce in
The Art-o-mat is actually a reconfigured cigarette machine, but instead of dispensing cigarettes, it dispenses piece of art. The concept is the brainchild of
It might seem like Hello Kitty is taking over the world – or at least parts of Asia – as branded vending machines can now be found throughout the continent, from
It’s wonderfully easy to get your five-a-day in
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There may be no more nostalgic vending machine than a Coca-Cola dispenser. The Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum in
Ice cold Coca-Cola vintage refrigerator © ICe mGTh/Shutterstock
Since Sprinkles Cupcakes opened its first cupcakes ATM in back in 2012, it has been easy for Americans to get their sugar hit at any hour. The Sprinkles bakery ATM – found at several Sprinkles stores across the country – offers up freshly-baked cupcakes in a variety of flavours, from red velvet to peanut butter chocolate, 24 hours a day.
© Tomas Cermak/Shutterstock
While technological advances can be seen as a threat to our beloved paperbacks, this isn’t the case in
Book vending machine © Andrii Zastrozhnov/Shutterstock
Crab is such a popular dish in China and Japan that the invention of vending machines that sell live crabs was inevitable, right? These machines first appeared in
Admittedly this particular machine is designed with a small audience in mind, but for those last-minute fishing excursions when you remembered everything but the bait, it might just save the day. Located throughout America, they’re stocked with all types of fish fodder, including minnows, mealworms and maggots. Delicious.
Beer vending machines first appeared in
Beer vending machine © Evgenia Kimurzhi/Shutterstock
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Top image: Japanese girl wearing kimono buying drinks from the vending machine © PR Image Factory/Shutterstock
Tamara is a former snowboard instructor who's been a freelance travel writer for 12 years. She loves snowboarding, hiking, mountain biking and scuba diving, and the regions she knows best are Asia, America and Africa. Europe-wise she knows Germany and France very well. In normal times she does two or three trips a month. Follow her on Twitter