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Mold-A-Rama

Type of vending machine

Mold-A-Rama
Summary

Type of vending machine

A Mold-A-Rama machine at the [[Pacific Science Center]] in Seattle
Museum of Science and Industry]] in Chicago

Mold-A-Rama is a brand name for a type of vending machine that makes injection molded plastic figurines. Mold-A-Rama machines debuted in late 1962 and grew in prominence at the 1964 New York World's Fair. The machines can still be found operating in dozens of museums and zoos.

History

American inventor John H. "Tike" Miller is credited with conceiving a free-standing plastic-molding machine in the 1950s. He licensed his mold-making patent and related technology to the Automatic Retailers Of America (Aramark), which operated Mold-A-Rama machines as a subsidiary company through 1969. Aramark divested all machines and service locations by 1972 because of the high cost of the equipment. As of 2010, two US companies own and operate Mold-A-Rama machines: the William A. Jones Company in Illinois and Replication Devices in Florida. As of November 2015, there are 124 machines in eight states.

References

References

  1. Rossman, Martin. (October 29, 1962). "Machine Molds Items While Customer Waits". Los Angeles Times.
  2. (May 4, 1963). "Keilson Puts in Molding Units". Billboard.
  3. (December 12, 1964). "Mold-Rama Draws 'Em". Billboard.
  4. Benderoff, Eric. (September 4, 2006). "Old Technology Proves a Modern-Day Classic". Chicago Tribune.
  5. Johnson, Steve. (August 17, 2016). "Smelly, Plastic and Nostalgic, Mold-A-Rama Celebrates 50th Birthday at Brookfield Zoo". Chicago Tribune.
  6. "Apparatus for Molding Hollow Plastic Products".
  7. Channick, Robert. (January 24, 2019). "Mold-A-Rama Defends Its Retro Name and Vintage Vending Machines Against 'Modernized' Competitor". Chicago Tribune.
  8. Garcia, Evan. (September 26, 2019). "The Story of Mold-A-Rama, Chicago's Very Own Souvenir Machine".
  9. Daly, Sean. (July 2, 2009). "Waxing Nostalgic: In 30 Seconds, Mold-A-Rama Makes Memories, Toys to Last a Lifetime". Tampa Bay Times.
  10. Fecile, John. (November 13, 2015). "Mold-A-Rama-Rama! The Secrets Behind Chicago's Plastic Souvenir Empire".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

toy-figurines vending-machines products-introduced-in-1962
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