Original reference photography from the Cola Machines archive. Select any image to inspect the machine, mechanisms, identification plates, and restoration details.
An evidence-led history reconstructed from 3 surviving model records
Crosley
Crosley's public corporate record may be incomplete, but its machines still reveal a working history of refrigeration, vending and changing retail design.
- Founded
- Not established in surviving sources
- Founders
- Not identified in the cited public record
- Home
- Not firmly established in surviving sources
- Archive
- 3 machines
This reference catalog documents 3 Crosley machines. Model-specific archive photography survives for 3 of the 3 entries. This profile treats missing information as part of the historical record: uncertain dates stay uncertain, while surviving machines, literature and photographs carry the narrative.
What survives
The Crosley record begins with machines
Crosley is represented here by 3 model records, 0 with usable production-date evidence. The documented span is dates not fully established.
The recovered manufacturer summary adds this period evidence: coolers were made by the Refrigeration Division of the Crosley Radio Corporation in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Reading the catalog
Models become a working chronology
Crosley 157 Cooler (72 Bottles) marks one edge of the surviving chronology; Crosley Koldrink Cooler (168 Bottles) marks the other. Between them, model names and cabinet sizes trace how the line responded to package, capacity and retail-location demands.
Archive dates describe surviving examples and period literature, not guaranteed factory introduction and discontinuation dates. That distinction matters when corporate catalogs are missing.
The visual evidence
Photography preserves 3 models
Model-specific photographs survive for 3 of 3 entries—about 100 percent of this manufacturer catalog.
Together, specification records and images let collectors compare proportions, doors, vending mechanisms and branding without pretending every unresolved identification has been settled.
Archive chronology
Crosley in motion
Crosley 157 Cooler helps establish the earliest documented portion of the line.
3 model records now define the surviving manufacturer shelf.
0 records carry usable production-era information.
3 models have model-specific archive photography.
Crosley Koldrink Cooler helps define the latest documented portion of the range.
Legacy pages and images are consolidated into the Cola Machines reference archive.
Open questions remain labeled while additional literature and identified machines can extend the history.
The complete reference shelf
All Crosley machines
3 model records
Research notes
Sources & further reading
Corporate milestones are cross-checked against the sources listed here. Model dates and archive counts follow surviving Cola Machines records; gaps and uncertain dates are left visible rather than filled with guesses.
- Cola Machines — Crosley archiveComplete surviving model list, production notes and photographs.
- Smithsonian Institution — vending collectionsBroader museum context for commercial cooling and automatic retail.