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Columbus Model B

Columbus Vending Company, Columbus, OH, c. 1912, 18 ¹/₂". The Columbus B is a cast iron bulk vendor almost identical to the Columbus Model A, but the midsection is deeper to accomodate a nickel and a nickel's worth of goodies. I used to think there was more of a difference between these models than I do now. A Columbus sales brochure from the mid-1930s doesn't list the Model B, but instead under the description for the Model A says, "For those who desire a 5 cent vendor designed like the Model 'A', specifiy Model 'B'. The Model 'B' vends a larger portion and operates on a 5 cent coin." Based on this presentation it seems that Columbus considered the Model B to be a variation of the Model A, and marketed it as such.

I show 2 examples above:

The machine on the left is (I believe) a very early version with an early truncated dish and a small-nippled lid. Examples with dishes are earlier than those without them, but this is an early version of the dish. I'd never seen one before this one, but have since learned that they're very scarce although not unknown.
The earliest Model B's had paper decals on a smooth #9 globe, so the globe and decal on the example pictured above may be of more recent vintage than the rest of the machine. The globe I bought on this machine was a later #9 with embossed star, but I swapped it with the one shown, which is a the same globe but with a decal. I don't know if this decal is "right" for the era of the machine; I usually associate it with 1930's machines, but I've seen it on smooth globes and that makes me think it may have been introduced earlier than the 1930's.
This machine also has an interesting feature I haven't seen on another Model B. It has a small metal tab that can be screwed into the midsection behind the coin insert in order to switch the vendor from a penny to a nickel machine (or vice versa; I don't remember whether it's a penny machine with the tab in or out). Therefore the penny decal on this is correct, although at first glance you'd think it's the wrong denomination for a Model B.
The example on the right is a nearly perfect example of the later, more common version, with the 'PATENTED' base, a star-embossed globe, and a large-nippled lid. During the painful process of thinning I'd decided to sell my previous Columbus B and live with only the early example. Then this one became available and screwed up that part of my plan. Given the condition of this one I had to keep it, so for now I have two. I've seen only one example that's nicer, and that one looked to be NOS.

Many thanks to Roy Leatherberry for his critical review of this page.
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