Another reminder of simpler times – and my childhood – disappeared from my office recently.
Jerry Bouray stopped by. I thought he was coming by to refill the gumball machine in our front office.
No, he stopped by to remove it. They just weren’t selling like they used to.
The machine, or actually two plastic globes of sugary goodness, were there when I purchased the Sun Times.
There were days when I just had a craving for some gum, and a couple of pennies in my pocket could be put to good use. Some days, I even splurged with a dime. I don’t think it was the gum I enjoyed as much as hearing the sound of the coin dropping and the pillow-shaped “chicle” coming down the chute and the memory of getting the gum out of a machine at Hicksville Barber Shop in Jackson, Tennessee when I was a kid.
At the time I was able to look eye-to-eye with the machine’s inventory.
My favorite, as I got a little older, were the jawbreakers. Later, if I had a Coke in my hand and saw a machine that dispensed peanuts, then I did what any Southern kid would do – I put in some coins and dropped a handful of the peanuts into the soda. If you try it, be sure to take drink real fast and enjoy a Southern delight.
Jerry was looking for gumball machines in Canada when he learned that Leo Messer of Fairfield had his route up for sale.
First National Bank of Fairfield gave the okay for the loan, and the Bouray’s were the proud owners of 520 machines. Jerry and his wife BJ took over the route from Leo in 1992. BJ is the owner. She used to travel with Jerry on the routes, but now she handles the paperwork.
Their route covered Great Falls, Fairfield, Conrad, Choteau, Butte, Deer Lodge and Helena.
Over time, the business grew and 450 machines were added.
The machines dispensed the penny chicles; the dime roundballs, quarter roundballs, quarter bouncy-balls, Hot Tamales, peanuts, peanut M&Ms, Mike & Ike’s and Skittles. Jerry told the Sun Times, “The Mike & Ike’s were the best seller, by far.”
The Bouray’s move a lot of product. “We would buy 50 cases of the ten-cent rounds at a time, with 1,560 ‘rounds’ per case about every six months.”
Even though there was a decline in sales, “COVID killed the business, cutting sales by 75 per cent,” said Jerry. “Thirty years ago you could make money off the penny machines,” said Jerry, but higher prices for the product and shipping have changed that, and now the machines at the Sun Times are gone.
At one time, the Bouray’s were one of the fastest growing distributors for Ford Gum.
Jerry gave high praise to Ford Gum, saying the firm was great to work with.
Ford Gum & Machine Company, based in Akron, New York, began in 1913. Ford Mason, a 20-year-old roofing salesman who spent spring, summer and early fall traveling by horse and buggy over the winding country roads of western New York State. He was idle during the winter because nobody repaired barn roofs in cold weather.
Looking for work, Ford came across a man that owned a company that operated chewing gum vending machines. The machine was invented just a few years before.
There is no relationship between Ford Gum and Ford Motor Company.
You may notice on the machines around Fairfield a label referring to the Lions Club. Ford requires that each distributor choose a local non-profit to support. A percentage of the sales is donated to that non-profit, and the money goes directly to the local non-profit. In the case of the Fairfield machines, the money was donated to the Fairfield Lions Club. In Choteau, the donations go to the Choteau High School Honor Society and in Conrad it goes to the food bank.
The Bouray’s had 35 machines in Fairfield at their peak. In Butte, Jerry heard the story of a man that used a penny machine to teach his grandson that you could still “buy something for a penny.”
At a Great Falls bank, a little girl put a penny in a machine, then realized it was a Lincoln penny. The bank was advised, and the machine was taken off the floor until the next time Jerry made the rounds. He successfully rescued the Lincoln penny.
At the Montana Job Service office in Great Falls, Jerry was asked to remove a machine since it was “taking jobs away.”
The Boruay’s plan to keep running 580 machines. The machines are divided into four routes. It takes a day to run each of those routes, and they makes the routes every six weeks.
I’ll miss those gumball machines, and hearing, “Mom, can I have a penny?”
