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I held back from posting this until both items finished on ebay, in case anyone here was bidding.

These two small, wooden cigarette vending machines would have been ubiquitous in hotel lobbies, clubs and pubs in the 1930s.
Thanks to detailed pictures from the seller, we now know their makers and patent numbers.

Patent No. 220969
Sole Manufacturers
Clement Garrett & Co.
Jessop St.
Sheffield

Patent GB220969 Dora Garrett, 1924

Patent No. 331,254/29
Manufacturers
Brecknell, Munro & Rogers (1928) Ltd.
Engineers
Bristol

Wow nice are they thanks for sharing

You didn't tell us what they sold for Mr P.

I don't know whether they sold - didn't check. I think they had Buy-It-Now prices on them.

Topic merged - Site Admin.

Just found this old advert for cigarette vending machine made by Clement Garrett and Co, more well known for their gold change machines. Has anyone seen a triple vender similar to this? I see they use the word "BIJOU" for the single column model a term they used on their cast iron gold changers from 1900ish. The 1930 date would tie up with the cigarette prices. I wonder if they made metal venders for outside use positively from an earlier date? Can any vender collector offer any further information please.

My God, these were expensive!! £5 in 1935 is equal to £310 today! That's a lot of 2d packets of fags to get your money back (true 2d works out at 51p today, but even allowing for 50% profit on a 2d packet that's 1200 packets to sell before you make a profit through the machine and that doesn't include running costs!) It says "built to last". They would need to be.
The triple column machine is listed at a staggering £19. That's over £1200. The advert does appear to say "1930".

There's a Clement Garret & Co. triple cigarette vendor quite similar to the advert above already posted in this topic: Cigarette Vendors
Patented by Dora Garrett in 1924, it's sans peaked top and has different coin entries.

Here's a single unit made by the same company:



Treefrog's sharp eyes spotted the Clement Garret badge on this beer vending giant:

Embed from Getty Images

Canned Beer Machine
24th June 1937: A canned beer machine being tested out in London. The customer inserts 6d, waits for the coin to drop and pulls out a sealed can of beer. Experiments are being made to make the machines automatically self-locking and opening, in accordance with the licensing laws

What a great idea....drinking beer at work. I'm a little confused. She appears to be holding a beer bottle like the one pictured on the vending machine. He seems to be pouring beer from a can?? Not that it matters. Besides a brewery or Disney Land, that looks like the happiest place in the world to work.

J Peterson
Cheers from America

Early beer cans JP.

The good ol' days when you had to read the label to see if you were drinking beer or metal polish.

I knew that emoji would come in handy again

Here is the caption that goes with that photo:

24th June 1937: A canned beer machine being tested out in London. The customer inserts 6d, waits for the coin to drop and pulls out a sealed can of beer. A woman is using the opener on the right hand side of the machine. Experiments are being made to make the machines automatically self-locking and opening in accordance with the licensing laws.

A closer look at the photo shows the man is in fact removing an unopened can. There seems to be a choice of six different beers. The clock on the top makes sense if the auto lock was introduced.

The woman looks a little confused, but not to worry, it says on the top of the can, "instructions on the bottom". On the bottom it says, "open other end".

This 17th cent (more like mid 18th cent to my mind) coin-op gin dispenser is thought to be the oldest coin-op vending machine from the UK, although coin-operated is stretching a point. (That brand of gin is still available today).

….. it tastes like cat's what?

Doing a little research:
The first patent I found was 1901, when Clement Garrett was residing at Gothic Arcade Birmingham (at that time in the County of Warwick).
Improvements in Money Tills.

Then we have one in 1929, at which time Julian Clement Garrett is at Foreman Works, 13 Jessop Street, Sheffield.
Improvements in or relating to Coin-freed Mechanism

Then on 29th June 1939 a patent is applied for under the name of Clement Garrett & Company Ltd., 8 Leyburn Road, Sheffield.
Improvements for Delivering Tickets and the like
The National Archives tell us this was when company was founded.

Also Improvements relating to Coin-freed Mechanism in 1941 and Improved Coin-operated Vending Machine in 1942.

The National Archive records the company as closed in 1940, but this is contradicted by a patent for securing cash boxes filed under the company name as late as 1960.

And now there's a Garrett metal-cased three column 1930s Cigarette vendor (with raked top) of a slightly different design in the Museum.

Clement Garrett cigarette vendor badged with 1929 patent 324623