Lyle M. Becker

L.M. Becker & Co. was founded by Lyle Michael Becker in 1941. A native of Brillion, WI, 18 year old Becker began in coin-up with a fledgling peanut machine route as an outgrowth of his father's machine route. Despite the abundance of tavern locations throughout Wisconsin, the route was less than successful because the peanuts were perishable.

While peanuts many not have been successful, gumballs proved a more viable product. Returning from WWII, Becker again took his chances with bulk vending. Previously-rationed sugar was then readily in supply and gumballs, returned with easy availability in the post-war years.

Becker reconfigured his peanut venders for gumballs with a merchandising twist that would become a company standard. He offered the "winner gumball" concept - a limited number of gumballs in each machine entitled the winner to a more expensive piece of candy from the shore's shelf. The idea immediately took off and still exists in some markets today.

Lyle's next idea changed bulk vending history. He was one of the first in the industry to vend charms along with confection products. During the pre-capsule days of the late 40s and early 50s, the small metallic and plastic charms were mixed in with the gumballs. The kids either received a charm, a gumball, or both.

The idea quickly caught on nationwide with operators as kids began collecting the charms. On the strength of the "winner gumball" and charms, Lyle built one of the nation's largest routes of penny gumball machines. Including to 5,000 grocery stores, the route stretched from Omaha to the New England states.

What followed in 1950 would again change the bulk vending industry. The addition of charms to bulk vending caught the attention of the Food and Drug Administration. Concerns over contamination of the gumballs by the charms had the government agency looking to ban the profitable combination.

Bulk vendors from across the country soon came together to discuss the problem. What followed those meetings was the formation of the National Vendors Association (NVA), which later became the National Bulk Vendors Association (NBVA).

Lyle was concerned because he had 5,000 gum and toy machines placed across the country. He thought he would lose everything. The newly formed NVA was successful in defeating the ban on mixing charms and gumballs, but almost immediately, local municipalities began cracking down on the gumball/charm mix with claims that it represented gambling, since children were not always assured a vend worth equal value.

After the gambling uproar, Lyle sold off all 5,000 machines.

For the next few years, he continued to dabble in the novelty business sans bulk vending machines. His product line included prize packs, small toys, and other types of novelties sold from behind the counters of small retail operations and taverns.

In the late 70s the price of machines was going up and traditional bulk vending operators needed machine maintenance. So Lyle leased machines to distributors nationwide, providing a constant flow of toys. It was in this way that the company built up its infrastructure for designing, purchasing and importing toys.

Toy 'n Joy cabinet-style machines were introduced in the 80s and found wide acceptance in a variety of locations. While they vended conventional toy novelties and confections, their wood-construction was a departure from machines built by other factories.

In the early 90s L.M. Becker & Co. was one of the first to offer a wide assortment of 50-cent merchandise and high-quality display cards.

Today, the company is headquartered in Appleton, WI, and ships from a 20,000 sq/ft facility in El Paso, TX.

L.M. Becker & Co. has come from peanuts and gumballs to trend-setting jewelry, novelties and toys. The machines have gone from one-domed penny slots to electronic machines with dollar-bill changers that allow for more flexibility in items. Times have changed, and L.M. Becker has always kept pace.

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