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I was boiling the kettle to make myself some "snack in a paper cup" thing just now, and it reminded me of those Maxpax drinks vending machines that one used to see quite a bit in the 1980s and 1990s. They were obviously endorsed by Maxwell House, and I often think of them as being the hot drinks equivalent of a Soda Stream drinks maker.
They were drinks machines which were seen in work places, waiting rooms and elsewhere. If you had 20p (as it was in the mid 1990s), you could put it in a slot in the machine, select "coffee" (Maxwell House of course, hence the "Max" name), tea (PG Tips, I think), hot chocolate (Cadbury's, dare I ask?), tomato soup (Heinz?), and other warm beverages. We had one at our training place after leaving the Madhouse (school to you). The machine where I briefly worked at in the mid 1990s didn't recognise the new shiny 1990s 1p pieces, but could easily accept the old 1971 pennies.
One got a paper cup (a bit like the ones at children's parties, or even, one that you could find in packs of Persil), at the ready (usually with the Maxpax logo on it), selected, let's say, tea which had a PG logo on it (just like the films in the cinema!) Pressed the relevant button, and some tea granules fell into the cup. Then you added the "warm water" option, making sure you didn't scald yourself in the process - the milk option (I don't think that there was any variation between whole or semi-skimmed, etc), and then the sugar option, where a maximum of two sugars were applied into the cup. One had to use a "Bookie pen" sized wooden lolly stick to stir the cup, making sure your hands don't get scalded before consuming the drink. And there was a waste paper basket next to the machine to put any used empty cups in.
As well as my training place, I do remember that the waiting room at the local City Hospital circa 1984 also had one for the parents to get a quick drink before being seen - I was to see a specialist on Friday afternoons, and waiting our turn I know there was one in there at the time. I believe that there were also rival companies doing these machines where the coffee was probably Nescafe rather than Maxwell House, and Tetley probably did the tea rather then PG Tips. To be frank, there is not much difference than filling up a kettle from the tap and putting it on for a nice cup of tea, apart from the size and wright of the aforementioned implement that is used in the process.
Channel 4 ad breaks in the mid 1980s used to advertise Maxpax for the benefit of businesses, factories and non-domestic environments, as seen on some YouTube clips, so it wasn't for the family home. It was always "dial 100 and ask for Freephone Maxpax" in those pre-0800 days, or probably a 01-200 0200 job instead where they would send you a brochure or something to whet one's appetite.
Did anyone have one of those machines at their place of work? - or even saw them in waiting rooms, offices, and all that? I suppose that the water cooling machine is the 21st century of all that.
They were drinks machines which were seen in work places, waiting rooms and elsewhere. If you had 20p (as it was in the mid 1990s), you could put it in a slot in the machine, select "coffee" (Maxwell House of course, hence the "Max" name), tea (PG Tips, I think), hot chocolate (Cadbury's, dare I ask?), tomato soup (Heinz?), and other warm beverages. We had one at our training place after leaving the Madhouse (school to you). The machine where I briefly worked at in the mid 1990s didn't recognise the new shiny 1990s 1p pieces, but could easily accept the old 1971 pennies.
One got a paper cup (a bit like the ones at children's parties, or even, one that you could find in packs of Persil), at the ready (usually with the Maxpax logo on it), selected, let's say, tea which had a PG logo on it (just like the films in the cinema!) Pressed the relevant button, and some tea granules fell into the cup. Then you added the "warm water" option, making sure you didn't scald yourself in the process - the milk option (I don't think that there was any variation between whole or semi-skimmed, etc), and then the sugar option, where a maximum of two sugars were applied into the cup. One had to use a "Bookie pen" sized wooden lolly stick to stir the cup, making sure your hands don't get scalded before consuming the drink. And there was a waste paper basket next to the machine to put any used empty cups in.
As well as my training place, I do remember that the waiting room at the local City Hospital circa 1984 also had one for the parents to get a quick drink before being seen - I was to see a specialist on Friday afternoons, and waiting our turn I know there was one in there at the time. I believe that there were also rival companies doing these machines where the coffee was probably Nescafe rather than Maxwell House, and Tetley probably did the tea rather then PG Tips. To be frank, there is not much difference than filling up a kettle from the tap and putting it on for a nice cup of tea, apart from the size and wright of the aforementioned implement that is used in the process.
Channel 4 ad breaks in the mid 1980s used to advertise Maxpax for the benefit of businesses, factories and non-domestic environments, as seen on some YouTube clips, so it wasn't for the family home. It was always "dial 100 and ask for Freephone Maxpax" in those pre-0800 days, or probably a 01-200 0200 job instead where they would send you a brochure or something to whet one's appetite.
Did anyone have one of those machines at their place of work? - or even saw them in waiting rooms, offices, and all that? I suppose that the water cooling machine is the 21st century of all that.
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