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 6 surviving model records
FL Jacobs
FL Jacobs'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 1940
- Founders
- Not identified in the cited public record
- Home
- Not firmly established in surviving sources
- Archive
- 6 machines
This reference catalog documents 6 FL Jacobs machines. Surviving model records include production information spanning 1940 to 1953. Model-specific archive photography survives for 5 of the 6 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 FL Jacobs record begins with machines
FL Jacobs is represented here by 6 model records, 6 with usable production-date evidence. The documented span is 1940–1953.
The recovered manufacturer summary adds this period evidence: began manufacturing machines for Coca-Cola and Pepsi in the 1940's while located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Later, around 1950, they moved to Traverse City, Michigan before going out of business in late 1953. Jacobs machines have a unique shape that many collectors nicknamed the "mailbox". This design has become a trademark of styling for F.L. Jacobs. Below is an excerpt that supercedes my previous comment regarding F.L. Jacobs closing its doors in 1953: "In October 1954, F. L. Jacobs Company, a manufacturer of automobile parts based in Detroit, Michigan , announced that it had acquired both Mills Industries, Inc. and Selmix Dispensers, Inc. of Long Island City, Queens (another manufacturer of equipment in the vending and dispensing industries). At that time, the main products of Mills Industries were commercial ice cream freezers, frozen custard and milk shake machines and all types of vending machines. During 1953 and 1954, the company had added a new coin-operated coffee vending machine, a three-flavor beverage bottle vendor, a citrus fruit juice vendor, and an ice cream package vendor to its product line. The intention of F. L. Jacobs Company was to operate Mills Industries as an independent subsidiary. However, component parts for the equipment were to be produced in the factories of F. L. Jacobs in Detroit, Michigan , Traverse City, Michigan and Danville, Illinois. By September 1954, the controller of Mills Industries was James A. Pound. In November 1955, Mills Industries announced a project to consolidate, over a number of years, most of its operations in Traverse City, Michigan."
Reading the catalog
Models become a working chronology
FL Jacobs 108 (Late 1940's into the early 1950's) marks one edge of the surviving chronology; FL Jacobs 56 (1952 – 1953) 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 5 models
Model-specific photographs survive for 5 of 6 entries—about 83 percent of this manufacturer catalog. A separate general gallery adds 2 images.
Together, specification records and images let collectors compare proportions, doors, vending mechanisms and branding without pretending every unresolved identification has been settled.
Archive chronology
FL Jacobs in motion
FL Jacobs 108 helps establish the earliest documented portion of the line.
6 model records now define the surviving manufacturer shelf.
6 records carry usable production-era information.
5 models have model-specific archive photography.
FL Jacobs 56 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 FL Jacobs machines
6 model records
FL Jacobs photo archive
2 general collection photos
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 — FL Jacobs archiveComplete surviving model list, production notes and photographs.
- Smithsonian Institution — vending collectionsBroader museum context for commercial cooling and automatic retail.