Oak Vista with prview window

[Frank Boston]

Hi everyone,

I have been searching everywhere for information on the oak vista I recently purchased. It includes a preview feature much like the look see on a topper. I cannot find any other examples on the web. Can anyone tell me how common these machines are? Do they have added value?

[gumball guy]

13 hours ago, Frank Boston said:

Hi everyone,

I have been searching everywhere for information on the oak vista I recently purchased. It includes a preview feature much like the look see on a topper. I cannot find any other examples on the web. Can anyone tell me how common these machines are? Do they have added value?

I have never seen one before. It looks like it is part of the brush off plate assembly so anyone could have removed the original brush off plate and replaced it with this one. If Oak ever did a a viewer window I would have expected to see it on their older Acorn models and not a 1980s or later Vista. Also, the position of the viewer is a bit odd as you would have to view from the side instead of the front. Most viewers, like the Topper you mention allow viewing from the front of the machine. As far as added value.....probably not much unless you can come up with some historic provenance in writing that shows this to be some rare version of the machine that Oak manufactured.

[Frank Boston]

based on the patent #'s listed on the back It was manufactured in the early 60's

[gumball guy]

9 minutes ago, Frank Boston said:

based on the patent #'s listed on the back It was manufactured in the early 60's

Here's a little info on Oak Manufacturing from a previous post if your interested.

I'm no patent aficionado but I do know that patent numbers can cover large periods of time. There were literally millions of Oak Vistas built off those patent numbers over the decades after the patent was granted. I would look at the brush off plate and see if there are any manufacturing identifiers on it. Feel free to post a few more pictures as well so we can better assess if it looks like anything was modified to accommodate the viewer and maybe someone else can chime in. Remember, I'm just giving you my opinion as a commercial vendor who has used Oak equipment for 20 years. I'm not a historian or a professional antique vending machine collector.