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 21 surviving model records
LaCrosse
LaCrosse's public corporate record may be incomplete, but its machines still reveal a working history of refrigeration, vending and changing retail design.
- Founded
- Product line documented by 1950
- Founders
- Not identified in the cited public record
- Home
- Not firmly established in surviving sources
- Archive
- 21 machines
This reference catalog documents 21 LaCrosse machines. Surviving model records include production information spanning 1950 to 1970. Model-specific archive photography survives for 13 of the 21 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 LaCrosse record begins with machines
LaCrosse is represented here by 21 model records, 9 with usable production-date evidence. The documented span is 1950–1970.
No dependable public source located in this project identifies the company's founders or exact corporate beginnings. Those fields remain open rather than being filled from unsupported collector repetition.
Reading the catalog
Models become a working chronology
La Crosse 56 (1960's) marks one edge of the surviving chronology; La Crosse SDM-40 (Late 60's) 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 13 models
Model-specific photographs survive for 13 of 21 entries—about 62 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
LaCrosse in motion
La Crosse 56 helps establish the earliest documented portion of the line.
21 model records now define the surviving manufacturer shelf.
9 records carry usable production-era information.
13 models have model-specific archive photography.
La Crosse SDM-40 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 LaCrosse machines
21 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 — LaCrosse archiveComplete surviving model list, production notes and photographs.
- Smithsonian Institution — vending collectionsBroader museum context for commercial cooling and automatic retail.