Cool, Drinks Machine

Like the pleasing aesthetic qualities of police pillars I was always fascinated by the clunky refrigerated milk drinks dispenser machines. I think there was one at Firhill School? I was never inside the school so I can't confirm that-do any of the followers of The Stair know?

Photo Colin Dalziel

Also, were they sited outside some of the small dairy shops at Falcon Road West or Montpelier Terrace? 

There was certainly one at Lindt's at Brighton Place, Portobello. Anne, Iain and I would accompany our grandfather to pick up one or two messages and occasionally be allowed to buy a drink. For a child these machines were fascinating-the ones I recall were slightly different  to the machine illustrated above in that they were a deeper blue and had six red buttons;  the tetra-pack carton of cold milk was dispensed with a satisfying thud as it landed in the large drawer and before one opened it there was always the small frisson of excitement that it was indeed the requested product!

Better still you could get strawberry milk-what a novelty-also I think you could get orange juice jubblies too. Cool!

Postscript: What are your memories of vending machines-Spangles, Wrigleys and Beech Nut gum, Nestle chocolate?