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Nelson's Fruit Lozenges

N. C. Joseph, Ltd., c. 1930's?, 30 ³/₄". A friend of mine found this in an antique store while driving to the Chicagoland show in the fall of 2006. He knew I liked foreign machines so he bought this on a whim and hauled it to Chicago. When he saw me in the parking lot Friday morning he told me about it and showed it to me, but it was still dark and I asked if he'd hold it until it got light and I could get a better look. I liked what I saw in the dark, but I'd never seen one before and I wanted to be sure there was nothing I was overlooking. I suspect that it wasn't expensive when he bought it, but by the time it was offered to me it'd turned expensive and I wanted to be sure I knew what I was buying. After it got light I went back, looked closely, liked what I saw, and bought it.

I still know very little about it except that it sold (I assume) Nelson's Fruit Lozenges. Drop in a large English penny or half-penny (I think it's the latter), and then pull the drawer open and grab your lozenge. The machine is porcelain-finished steel, with a wood back and a textured aluminum top. The Nelson's connection was a big attraction to me because I own another Nelson's piece. To the best of my knowledge each of these 2 Nelson's machines is the only one of its kind known, and I wanted to corner the market on Nelson. That's not a good reason to buy a machine that you don't like, but it's a secondary factor if you do like it.

This example is 100% original. I wouldn't have a clue who'd made this if it weren't for a partial label on back. I'm glad it's still there.

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