So I’m trying to be open-minded about what I remember

“So I’m trying to be open-minded about what I remember” – P.E. by Victor Lodato

5 thoughts on “So I’m trying to be open-minded about what I remember

  1. This is where web presentation is frustrating. I like what’s going on here, and I can figure out that those are probably vending machines, but what are they selling? A real print at a modestly substantial size would make that clear. The tradeoff of the wide distribution we can do on the web.

    1. When I chose this photo two days ago I thought this might be a puzzle for non German readers. These are gumball machines, here is a link to the German wikipedia article since there are some more photos. And yes, it’s Kaugummiautomat in German.
      As it is said in the article, they are attached to exterior walls of buildings, fences etc., often at childrens’ way to school, and they are typical for the overall appearance of the townscape in West Germany. That’s why I took the photo. It’s so German.
      Only in West Germany because – guess who brought these machines here together with chewing gum ;-) after the war?
      Interesting – something from the US that nowadays seems so typical German to me … .
      Puuh, imagine we would have to sent each other prints every day …

  2. It’s sort of funny, us giving gum to Germany. Now your sidewalks must have dots like ours. Our gumball machines are usually paired with cheap toy machines, usually in groups of four but without the silver metal panel in front. I apologize for the gum on behalf of the US;-)

    1. As I have already mentioned in my email, the history of the US soldiers bringing gum to Germany after WW2 is a positive theme in Germany.
      What I am not so happy about is the intrusion of coffee-to-go plastic cups – you find them everywhere and I could fill a whole exhibition with my “thrown away coffee plastic cups” photos. Last year I found a cup in a strawberry field nearby that originated in Hamburg, more than 500 km away. S***b****s’s influence.
      But it’s still funny: nobody I asked was aware that these “Kaugummiautomaten” weren’t an original German invention ;-)

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