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
Steelmade
Steelmade'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 1960
- Founders
- Not identified in the cited public record
- Home
- Not firmly established in surviving sources
- Archive
- 2 machines
This reference catalog documents 2 Steelmade machines. Surviving model records include production information spanning 1960 to 1960. 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.
What survives
The Steelmade record begins with machines
Steelmade is represented here by 2 model records, 2 with usable production-date evidence. The documented span is 1960–1960.
The recovered manufacturer summary adds this period evidence: was located in Lomira, Wisconsin and also had an office in San Francisco, California. To date, we only know of this company through a brochure printed in 1967.
Reading the catalog
Models become a working chronology
Steelmade 216 (Late 1960's) marks one edge of the surviving chronology; Steelmade 312 (Late 1960'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 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
Steelmade in motion
Steelmade 216 helps establish the earliest documented portion of the line.
2 model records now define the surviving manufacturer shelf.
2 records carry usable production-era information.
2 models have model-specific archive photography.
Steelmade 312 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 Steelmade 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.
- Cola Machines — Steelmade archiveComplete surviving model list, production notes and photographs.
- Smithsonian Institution — vending collectionsBroader museum context for commercial cooling and automatic retail.