Maintaining Mold-A-Rama: Chicago’s Very Own Souvenir Machine
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- Опубліковано 7 жов 2024
- If you've ever visited a museum or zoo in the Chicago area, chances are you've encountered a Mold-A-Rama machine.
For three dollars, the space-age looking machine injects melted plastic into a unique mold created by two aluminum plates. A blast of air removes excess plastic, hollowing out the model. It's cooled and hardened before the plates part, revealing the unique plastic souvenir after less than one minute.
The Field Museum is home to five Mold-A-Rama machines, most of which create different dinosaurs and Brookfield Zoo has 13 machines, which sell different animal models corresponding to the exhibit near each machine.
In 1971, Bill Jones purchased 12 Mold-A-Rama machines in the Chicago area: 10 in Brookfield Zoo and two in the Museum of Science and Industry.
His son Paul is following in his footsteps and their company, Mold-A-Rama Inc., now operates 63 machines in five U.S. states.
Video and story by Evan Garcia
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My son recently started collecting these at Universal Studios FL. Love them! Thank you for keeping them alive.
Man I grew up with these, it was the only thing my mom would get for me when we would go to the zoo cuz they were a quarter back in the day.
Living in Aurora and going on a School field trip to the Brookfield Zoo or the Museum of Science and Industry and getting one made my day. I was more excited to get one of these then seeing the Animals, it didn’t matter if I had the same one at home or not, I still got I still got them.I can almost remember the smell of the warm plastic fresh from the machine!Great memories for sure!
Holy crap I found about this just now... and I was there in the summer of 2014, completely missed this and came back to Japan... guess I have no choice but to visit windy city again
Wow, I remember this as a little girl. My mom would buy me this when we leave the zoo. I always wanted to put the quarter in and wait for the figure. Such good memories 😢
No wonder they have such a retro look to them. I love it!
No better smell in the world!
This is what we had before 3d printing.
They had such cool machines in the 1950’s and 60’s. These are wonderful to watch in action and I’m so glad he’s keeping them alive. The Miami Seaquarium had these in the 1960’s when the tv show “Flipper” was on the air. their “Mold-A-Rama” machines made little Flipper dolphin statues for souvenirs. I have one of them. They made three different flippers.
I’m not sure,but I think they had a Mold-a-Rama at Pacific Ocean Park in California too,and Disneyland had them.
My parents would take us to the Toledo Zoo in the late 60s and early 70s. I always got one on the way out (before the tunnel). The fresh smell when they were done will stay with me forever!
I think it's a super cool machine, I'd throw down a few bucks to get a mold out of one
I'd love to see one of these!
I. Remember. Them. From. The. 1970s. And. Now
I remember getting a dinosaur from a machine like this when I was a kid.
I remember there were a few in the Orlando science center. I wonder if they still have it. Mine was of an astronaut
good memories
what an amazing machine and a great story, shame we neve go these in australia, that i know of!
I really wish these were still a thing. I would love a collection of wax dinosaurs with the colors of my choosing
Come to Chicago! New molds are coming out all the time too -- I just got a baby blue Quetzalcoatlus from the Field Museum this morning
@@ThatMackieGirl Maybe when everything has settled down.
they aren't wax meaning more durability
@@ThatMackieGirl got one yesterday! I love Quetzalcoatlus!
I got a few as a kid from Chicago attractions, but I remember them best from Truck Stops in Florida on the way from Orlando to Miami. Used to have a whole shelf of these between my sister and I as a child of the 80s.
Were there competitors? I got one in the early 80's in Oklahoma City Zoo. Elephant, I think. Of course I don't know what brand the machine was, though.
Went up a lot since 10 cents 😲
We need one machine from Mongolia
Sweet! So for $3.00 you can make a 25c piece of junk you'll forget about before you get home.
Every party has a pooper, thats why we invited you...
Really dude? I'm 45, and have a few of them from my childhood.
No, that's just you.
you gae, bro?
Yeah you forget about them until 20 years later and go oh shit that was my childhood. I wanna go to Brookfield sometime this year just to get these.