much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . april 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message crane merchandising systems type automated vending equipment manufacturer industry automated vending founded 1926 founder b. e. fry products vending machines parent crane co. website 1 crane merchandising systems is a designer and manufacturer of vending machines . crane manufactures models sold under such brand names as national vendors automatic products gpl dixie narco and stentorfield . their manufacturing facility is located in williston south carolina united states . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 establishment 1.2 the great depression 1.3 world war ii 1960s 1.4 present day 2 references 3 external links history edit establishment edit crane merchandising systems was founded in 1926 by b. e. fry a st. louis businessman as the national sales machine company . citation needed fry invented a more foolproof vending machine that would only accept coins unlike older machines such as the smoketeria a cigarette vending machine which would accept things such as flat buttons and cardboard discs . the great depression edit by 1931 national sales machine company was a well established business manufacturing a variety of merchandisers for various food products . however the great depression proved too much for the company and it went under in 1932 . soon thereafter in the spring of 1933 fry s son b. w. fry reopened the company as national vendors inc. in 1934 al diederich joined b. w. fry in national vendors giving it the administrative strength it would need to grow during the tumultuous 30s and 40s . world war ii 1960s edit during world war ii national vendors took part in the war effort by producing mortar ammunitions casings . after the war the company returned to the demand for convenient cigarette candy and pastry vendors . in 1956 national vendors was acquired by the universal match company allowing national vendors to introduce several new products . in 1967 national vendors introduced its first full line of automatic merchandising equipment . cms was acquired by crane corporation in 1985 and became crane national vendors . present day edit today crane merchandising systems designs and manufactures a diverse yet integrated portfolio of automatic merchandising equipment across multiple verticals including hot and cold beverage snack and food . it also offers other vending solutions including media touch screens cashless processing payment devices vending management software and wireless communication technology . the company is a segment of crane co. a diversified manufacturer of engineered industrial product . crane co. is traded on the new york stock exchange nyse cr . alan hollis is the company s president . references edit crane merchandising systems history . retrieved 2012 05 08 . external links edit official website v t e crane co. people richard t. crane subsidiaries american standard brands automatic products crane merchandising systems dixie narco mei conlux related articles charles r. crane crane beach retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title crane merchandising systems & oldid 728022000 categories vending machine manufacturerscompanies established in 1926hidden categories articles lacking reliable references from april 2009all articles lacking reliable referencesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from january 2014 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 2 july 2016 at 16 42 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view