Yesteryear Collection

The COCA-COLA Collection: The Vintage Vending Machine Edition

In 1936, COCA-COLA celebrated its 50th anniversary. In just half a century, the company had grown far beyond what it could have ever imagined, and was poised for even greater things yet. The refreshing taste of COKE had expanded far beyond the confines of Atlanta and was now found in many countries around the world.

One reason for the great success of COCA-COLA was that the company made sure its customers could find their product everywhere. Movie houses, pharmacies and soda shops offered COKE from the fountain, while every establishment from general stores to gas stations provided ice-cold bottles of COKE from specially designed vending machines.

One such machine was the Cavalier 51. This electric refrigeration unit used a unique serpentine belt equipped with small cylinders. In each of these cylinders was a bottle of COKE, rotated to the hinged door when the customer dropped in his or her coins. The machine held 51 bottles and could be refilled by the proprietor.

Eagerly sought after by collectors, a vintage Cavalier 51 vending machine commands a very high price. And now this valuable piece of the COCA-COLA heritage decorates the sides of a 1937 Dodge Air Flow truck - along with the words "COCA-COLA Goes Along." Your model is produced by Matchbox Collectibles.