Contemplating.

Contemplating.
Wayzata, Minnesota

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Sepia Saturday - 174 rolled into 175 - 4 May 2013

Oh my, what do we have here?



But first a brief interruption to include last week's theme photo.

Dancing On the Moon or Dansen Op De Maan

Dancing into Sepia Saturday with Alan's photo prompt below, last week- until..... Something got in the way.


Before I was able to finish that post, spring interrupted my world for the weekend and a day.  Then by Wednesday we had snow again and 30 something degrees.
 I'm so happy I embraced all that I did
of a very short spring.





But I really liked Alan's featured theme photo!



Being an automobile person, my thoughts were on three of my favorite old time vehicles.  The Volkswagen Beetle, it's brother the Volkswagen Van and what appears to me as a Corvair directly behind the VW Bug.

The first car I really remember growing up was my father's old red Corvair.  It was our second car, that he drove, while my mother had the better, newer car.


Click on any photo for a larger image.


Ta Da..... welcome to the ever charming 1945 to 1959 edition of the



Volkswagen Beetle

Isn't it adorable? It's like it always has a happy face.


 
 
Is this a two for the price of one option?
 
 
 

All joking aside, did you know the Volkswagen Beetle dates back to 1938?
 
 


Yes, here it is, a 1938 Volkswagen Beetle.
 
 
Then someone had a brilliant idea.
 
 

The production of the Volkswagen Transporter Van actually began in 1950.
 



I'd really like to share some of those awesome 1960's vintage Hippie Vans, but I'm saving that for another post, in the future!


 
Welcome the Corvair in a 1960 commercial
 
 
From Pikes Peak Library, photographer unknown, these twenty-seven men and one woman stand with the latest Corvair, as personnel involved in making the Corvair commercial.

What I remember most about my father's little red Corvair was the smell inside, and the sound of the motor, and the look on my father's face when he drove it.  

 


 Rolling into this week's theme photo with.....
 Now for catching up with Alan's photo theme this week here it is.


 

 This is not just your average run of the mill vending machine.  I couldn't believe it when I read that the cigarette arrived out of the machine already lighted for your super-convenience.
 
Isn't that just nearly unbelievable?  How ever could they do that?
 
 
 A more common vending machine.
 

Okay, this stamp vending machine from 1907 is a much more common machine, and would be extremely hard and wasteful to come out, already dampened, so yes, sir you are required to lick your own stamp!
 
 
 
 
Feeling like you need to freshen up a bit?
 
 


Do you think she's all by herself, or does she have a friend along?



 
Oh my, what do these ladies have planned for tonight?
 
 
 
 
 
 


You'd almost think this photo was taken later then 1939, and it's one some of you may remember.  Except for the one on the right, which I don't really recall ever seeing.
 
 
 
 Is anyone looking for a great mystery today?


 
 
 Mystery or just plain bizarre?




Until this theme of vending machines, I never realized just how many bizarre or just odd vending choices there were. 

18 comments:

sage said...

Whiskey on ice out of a vending machine, it'd have to be better than coffee out of a vending machine!

I like your car posts--I miss those old VWs

Saucy Siciliana said...

Those pictures are so sweet! I love to look at pictures of the 50s and 60s. I didn't know the volkswagen dates back to 1935.

Bob Scotney said...

Whenever I see a Beetle it's Herbie I think of,
I've been searching the local town for vending machines that sell anything but coffee.

Cloudia said...

What a cool post! You reminded me of learning to driveIn a corvair!
and my beloved vw
Aloha:-)

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

I enjoyed your "Beetle" post, In Switzerland it was the car to drive for everybody, because it was affordable. In 1938 it was produced as the "Volkswagen" it was meant a car the masses could afford. It was a hit! As children we were fascinated by the vending machines. It was a treat to get a tiny, minuscule, very thin, funny tasting chocolate out of it! Karen, always top posts.

Unknown said...

That last one looks like she's using a blowtorch for that "outdoor, tanned" look! Wow!

Kristin said...

I hope somebody told those little girls they were at the wrong vending machine!

Mike Brubaker said...

This was a real two-fer! Just like when you put your quarter(s!) in the machine and an extra candybar falls into the tray. I like the Book-O-Mat and wonder what kind of literature you could get for 25 cents.

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy said...

Oh, Karen, you outdid yourself! Love the VW pics (I've had a bug, van, Sirocco and Mom had a hatchback when we were growing up.) The Sirocco was the only one that was a pain in the butt.

Loved all the vending machine pics too ... can you imagine buying little bottles of booze from a vending machine?

Hugs,

Kathy M.

Brett Payne said...

The spray-on tan vending machine is a real delight - wonder why that never caught on?

Lovely's Blot said...

I love the old VW beetles.. It was an aspirational thing when I was younger for it's sheer quirkiness.

As for the vending machines... the country that excells nowadays is Japan.. never seen so many on every street corner!

Thanks for the post..very interesting

Alex Daw said...

Japan is apparently THE place for vending machines. It is amazing what you can get from a vending machine.

Tattered and Lost said...

A self-spraytan machine! That's pretty bizarre. Who knew?

And I'm thinking the microbus just looks naked without the vinyl flower power daisies. Maybe it was a West coast thing.

Unknown said...

Did not know the VW Beetle was that old. Jerry used to restore Corvairs in CA with a friend and we had one for a long time as did our son who managed to set the engine on fire in his, end of his Corvair. Well spring has again returned at least down here in the "banana belt" of MN! The welcome sunshine does get me far away from the computer.

Kathy said...

I always wanted a VW van to take on the road in my hippie lifestyle imaginings. You found some interesting vending machines!

Unknown said...

A whiskey or vodka vending machine may be a bit over the top, but I wouldn't mind a coffee liqueur machine in the office :-).

"Then someone had a brilliant idea"
Actually, it was someone from Amersfoort, Ben Pon (the first and largest Volkwagen dealer in The Netherlands) who came up with the idea of a Volkswagen Transporter in 1947.

anyjazz said...

Marvelous collection of vending machine photographs! Most I had never heard of before!

darlin said...

Wow, lots of interesting old photos Karen! I wonder what ever happened to the already lit cigarette... machine catch on fire possibly? lol The alcohol vending machines? People getting a bit too tipsy at the office, or out shopping?

The bug reminds me of Herbie, I remember the car but not the story from when I was young. I wonder if I can find it again. If I remember I'll take a look one of these fine days.

Have a g'day!