The American Soda Machine Archive • Manuals, history & restoration

Manufacturer archive

Delf Vendors

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 2 surviving model records

Delf Vendors

Delf Vendors'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
2 machines
Delf 122 from the Cola Machines archive
Delf 122 · A surviving reference machine

This reference catalog documents 2 Delf Vendors machines. Model-specific archive photography survives for 2 of the 2 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.

01

What survives

The Delf Vendors record begins with machines

Delf Vendors is represented here by 2 model records, 0 with usable production-date evidence. The documented span is dates not fully established.

The recovered manufacturer summary adds this period evidence: were located in St. Louis, Missouri at 3176 Brannon Ave. We're not sure about the relationship between Atlas Tool & Manufacturing , which also started in St. Louis, and Delf Vendors, but one has to wonder why the Atlas Delph 139 Triple has similar bottle chutes as the Delf 12-96 …

02

Reading the catalog

Models become a working chronology

Delf 12-96 (N/A) marks one edge of the surviving chronology; Delf 122 (N/A) 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.

03

The visual evidence

Photography preserves 2 models

Model-specific photographs survive for 2 of 2 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

Delf Vendors in motion

First record

Delf 12-96 helps establish the earliest documented portion of the line.

Catalog growth

2 model records now define the surviving manufacturer shelf.

Dated evidence

0 records carry usable production-era information.

Photo record

2 models have model-specific archive photography.

Latest record

Delf 122 helps define the latest documented portion of the range.

Recovery

Legacy pages and images are consolidated into the Cola Machines reference archive.

Today

Open questions remain labeled while additional literature and identified machines can extend the history.

The headline machines

2 machines that tell the story

N/A

Delf 122

The best-photographed Delf Vendors record in this collection, with 4 surviving archive views.

Explore the machine →

The complete reference shelf

All Delf Vendors machines

2 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.

  1. Cola Machines — Delf Vendors archiveComplete surviving model list, production notes and photographs.
  2. Smithsonian Institution — vending collectionsBroader museum context for commercial cooling and automatic retail.