Posted 15 years ago
potrero
(156 items)
(Shipman Mfg. Co, Los Angeles.) This porcelain-front stamp dispenser is in near-mint condition, but I don't have the key to open it. Originally stamps were only sold at post offices, but at some point the postal system branched out into drugstores and supermarkets. This machine sold four 1c stamps for 5c or three 3c stamps for 10c - so there was a markup. The sticker at the bottom of the machine reads: "This stamp machine today has become a civilian necessity, because it sells a vital government product without a clerk - saves manpower and aids the war program." I have subsequently found two other machines like this in different colors, but with less fancy porcelain, perhaps from the 1950s.
I love your stamp machines, I have one like yours on the left with Uncle Sam on the front and my pulls are on the bottom of the machine. It is dated Feb 22, 1945. it is posted on my Show & Tell
My husband finally put the one I bought him for Christmas years ago in his post office. It has a crank for the mechanism and sells 6 cent stamps. It is 2008-2012 made in B-klyn, NY. 3 for 25 cents.
I would think that a locksmith could open these for you and even make keys if you really wanted them, shouldn't be too expensive.......
could anyone tell me how to install weights, stamps correctly.i bought this and most everything was apart,except for the main base. thanks jeff