The American Soda Machine Archive • Manuals, history & restoration

Manufacturer archive

Moss

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

Moss

Moss'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 1930
Founders
Not identified in the cited public record
Home
Not firmly established in surviving sources
Archive
3 machines
Moss De Luxe "A" from the Cola Machines archive
Moss De Luxe "A" · A surviving reference machine

This reference catalog documents 3 Moss machines. Surviving model records include production information spanning 1930 to 1933. 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.

01

What survives

The Moss record begins with machines

Moss is represented here by 3 model records, 1 with usable production-date evidence. The documented span is 1930–1933.

The recovered manufacturer summary adds this period evidence: was located in Brooklyn, New York. We only know of the company through an advertisement and brochure, based on the models displayed, I would say the company may have manufactured coolers in the 1930's as the Moss De Luxe "A" is from 1933.

02

Reading the catalog

Models become a working chronology

Moss De Luxe "A" (Early 1930's, 1933) marks one edge of the surviving chronology; Moss De Luxe "A" (Early 1930's, 1933) 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 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

Moss in motion

1930

Moss De Luxe "A" helps establish the earliest documented portion of the line.

Catalog growth

3 model records now define the surviving manufacturer shelf.

Dated evidence

1 record carries usable production-era information.

Photo record

3 models have model-specific archive photography.

1933

Moss De Luxe "A" 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

3 machines that tell the story

Early 1930's, 1933

Moss De Luxe "A"

The best-photographed Moss record in this collection, with 1 surviving archive view.

Explore the machine →

N/A

Moss CC-4

One of the models that helps establish the breadth and chronology of the line.

Explore the machine →

The complete reference shelf

All Moss 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.

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