It is increasingly amazing what a person can find in a vending machine. Japan in particular is known for its vast array of weird and wonderful custom vending machines. In most Western countries, people can expect to find candy bars, potato chips, soft drinks, and other similar convenience foods. Here is a selection of the most unusual things to be found in vending machines across the world.

Lettuce, Pray?

This vending machine in Japan grows the lettuce from seed, moving it along a progressive line toward the chute, where it is to be dispensed once it has grown large enough. So anyone interested in a healthy side for lunch can get a crisp, cool, freshly grown lettuce, in the city.

Food for Strays

In Istanbul, there is a vending machine that dispenses pet food for stray animals, in return for empty plastic bottles. The machine is designed to accept empty plastic bottles and then release a certain amount of food into a container at the bottom of the machine. There is a flap that prevents the food from drawing flies or other insects, but it is just light enough to be pushed open by a dog or cat. This act of kindness is activated by an act of consciousness, an amazing example of how vending machines can be used to affect social change.

LEGO

For the perfect solution to a long trip with the kids, there are vending machines in the German train stations that offer LEGO packs. This is an amazing way to keep kids productively occupied for extended periods of time.

Strings Attached

In Portland, Oregon, there is a vending machine that supports the local music industry by offering guitar strings and drum sticks. Portland must be a pretty comfortable place to gig if it is this hospitable to musicians. In fact, the place has produced loads of great bands and artists. Perhaps that is because it’s easier to get strings and sticks on the fly.

Words of Passion

Gumball machines have always traditionally dispensed gumballs. Sometimes, they also dispense those impostors, the small rubber bouncy balls that look much tastier than the real gumballs. Recently, in the US, gumball machines have been giving out a much longer lasting sweet treat: poetry. For fifty cents, anyone can get their own little piece of poetry from a gumball machine. Credit is due to the person who thought up this novel way to bring poetry back into mainstream life.

But of Course

Wherever there is an opportunity for commerce, there will be medical marijuana. In the US and Canada, medical marijuana is legal for people, as a natural alternative to painkillers, to assist with many different illnesses. Normally, it is available over the counter at various stores. However, there are now vending machines that dispense medical grade marijuana of different strains, making it more accessible. Users should remember to bring their prescriptions, though, as the machines are still attended by real people.

Saving Grace

Being caught in the city or far away from home in a freak thunderstorm is incredibly inconvenient. Imagine being able to simply buy an umbrella from a vending machine, and arriving at the conference or business meeting composed and dry as a bone. In Japan, this can happen.

Beyond the Pale

Once again, Japan features in another unusual vending machine product: used women’s underwear. There is not much to say about this one, except that people from many other societies would see this as contrary to popular morality. However, in Japan, there is enough of a call for this to open a niche market. This is a good example of how societies with different norms and values can practise acceptance and tolerance.

Crusties

Nanjing in China is where you can find a vending machine that dispenses live crabs in plastic containers. This vending machine product is definitely worth mentioning as one of the weirder and wilder outliers on the spectrum.

All That Glitters

In an ironic and not altogether unpoetic trivialism of the metal that underpinned global currency for around a century, gold, not candy, can be found in vending machines in several countries around the world, but debuted in Dubai. There is a choice, for the discerning buyer, between bars and coins, although it is entirely possible this vending machine does not accept cash.

Other items to be found in vending machines are denims, champagne, beer, beetles, bananas, mashed potatoes, and other assorted food dishes. Oh, and cars. There is an oversized vending machine that actually dispenses luxury cars.

The vending machine trade is not only booming but diversifying. It’s worth it to keep an open mind when inspecting what’s on offer, but also equally important to have a sense of adventure and curiosity. Vending machines are a unique and cost-effective way to present a product outside of the traditional shop front setting.