Card collecting and bubble gum have to me always been closely intertwined. And while I was a regular buyer of both Bazooka and Dubble Bubble penny briquettes as a kid, gumball vending machines also drew my pennies. The 1958 CFL wrapper actually had a side ad for Bozo gumballs:
I've now had this Bozo machine in my collection for nearly twenty years:
Just over a year ago I added this new old stock variant of the Bozo machine to my collection:
It can be seen from this sticker on the bottom that O-Pee-Chee lent these Bozo machines free of charge to retailers so long as they were refilled with none other than Bozo gumballs:
Ken's Variety on Wharncliffe Road near Elmwood Avenue in London had a Bozo machine on the counter for many years throughout at least the 1960's. Ken's was a treasure trove of kids' stuff including cards, comics, model kits, Pez dispensers, bobble-head dolls of CFL players, Silverwood's ice cream cones (two scoops for a dime!), Krun-Chee Potato Chips (a less common brand than Hostess or Shirriff in London at the time), Black Cat Bubble Gum and of course the obligatory Beaver gumball vending machines. I have two of the Beaver machines in my present day collection which I fill with the requisite gold and silver charms as well as gumballs:
It was Beaver that dominated the gumball machine market in Canada just as Acorn dominated the one in the States.
I remember that the lucky recipient of a special silver ball from the Beaver machine outside Ken's Variety won a pair of wild cool Skeleton Hands like these:
(Not mine.)
Sadly I never succeeded in scoring the Skeleton Hands. There's been a void in my life ever since.
And I still dream of adding a classic card vending machine to my collection some day:
(Not mine.)
Collecting to me is all about the memories and keeping those memories alive. I cherish the memories as a part of my very being which is why I don't want to let them go.
