Coin-operated machines of all types are collected. The vending machine is an ancient invention dating back to 200 B.C., when holy water was dispensed in a coin-operated vase. Smokers in seventeenth-century England could buy tobacco from a coin-operated box. It was not until after the Civil War that the technology made modern coin-operated games and vending machines plentiful. Coin-operated machines play music, are used for gambling and skill tests, and dispense products like gum or perfume. Slot machines, arcade games, and dispensers are all collected.
