i had one of these

There used to be a nursery close to General Forrest Junior High School that had one of these old machines.   I'd often slip over there and load a dime into it and enjoy a 6 ounce ice cold Coke.  Years later I was offered to purchase one of these vending machines for $200.00.  I held onto it for about about a decade, hoping to get it fixed one day.  Most of the time I had the machine, it adorned the stage of the of the old Skylight Coffeehouse.  A friend of mine, Jim Thompson, and I fixed the stage to look like the front of an old general store.  It was always my hope to keep hold of the old vendor and get it working one day.

Not long after Gina and I moved back to Gadsden, AL (from Bowling Green, KY) did our dish washer broke.  We were strapped for cash at the time and so I decided to sell my Coke machine.  Parting was such sweet sorrow. Only a few years had passed until I met a guy that lived on my very block who knew how to fix old Coke machines.  What a burn!  To add insult to injury, the dish washer didn't last but a couple of years until it had to be replaced.  Somewhere that old machine of mine is still out there, just as pretty as ever.

I still regret selling it.

Me and my old Coke machine at Christian Brothers, late 80's or early '90's