Based upon my love of all things mechanical - in particular clocks - it dawned upon me one day that parking meters are like clocks.  So, I started poking around on eBay - my favorite place to indulge myself - and I came across a guy in Florida selling old parking meters for $20 each.  There were various models, no guarantee on condition or operation.  I decided to buy one and asked that he send me the best of the lot.  Here's what he sent:

It's a Magee-Hale "Park-O-Meter" automatic parking meter from the mid-1950s.  Click here for the original patent which was granted January 13, 1953. The coin box was unlocked, but the main housing was not.  The meter didn't come with any keys, so I had to drill out the lock.

Step one was to take the unit apart.  Note above that although the time is "expired" the indicator flag has not come up. You can see the clockwork escapement on the top left of the mechanism - this is what counts down the minutes after coins are inserted.

Not really much to it - the housing is comprised of three cast aluminum sections; the mechanism comes out as a whole; there are four pieces of 3/16" glass; the coin box is stainless steel with a spring door and ball-chain to open.

Step two was to bead-blast the housing to get all the paint off.  My intention was to re-finish with a grey "hammered" paint, but the plan changed somewhere along the way... Here are the parts after blasting.

The bead-blasting leaves the surface really smooth and does a really great job of removing crud and paint.  The parts were in such good shape, I decided to see how they looked if I polished them.  Generally, cast aluminum does not polish well but these parts were in really good shape so I decided to try.  I could always paint it if I didn't like it.

This picture does not do the housing justice, but suffice to say it turned out really well.  Next was the mechanism. I cleaned it with acetone to remove the years of dirt and grease.  I re-lubricated with clock oil and that's all it really needed to get back into working order. Next is to reassemble and try to find replacement locks.  For now, I can leave the coin box lock in place as gravity will keep the door closed.  As for the housing lock, I cut down a 5/16" coupler, threaded it onto a screw that passes through the back, and am using a socket-head cap screw through the front to hold the two halves together.

This particular model takes nickels and/or pennies - you can see one of each in the round windows above and below the "Park-O-Meter" badge.  This was designed, believe it or not, to discourage people from using "slugs" in the meters.  A nickel will get you an hour; each penny will give you fifteen minutes. 

On the reverse, the "O" in "Park-O-Meter" is actually a hole in which a key is inserted to wind the mechanism.  This particular design was an improvement over earlier designs in two ways.  One is that it is completely automatic - all a person needs to do is insert a coin and the time is automatically credited. Older models required the person to turn a handle after the coin was inserted to get the time credit. The second is the use of multiple denominations of currency - in this case, nickels and pennies - earlier models could only accept a single denomination. Later improvements on this model allowed the use of dimes and quarters in addition to the nickel and penny. Click here for the patent that was granted on August 25, 1959.

I was able to find what I hope will be suitable replacements locks from a vending machine supply company - Crow River Trading. The old bubble-gum and peanut machines used a threaded and keyed lock similar to what this meter uses to keep the housing closed as well as the barrel lock mechanism for the coin-box.

Now, I need to figure out a base for it.  I came across this drain in the plumbing section at my local big orange hardware store:

A 2" PVC pipe fits into it and works well on the base of the meter.  The only issue is that the ID is too large to secure the meter to the pipe.

The solution is to use a piece of 1 1/2" ID PVC sleeve with a slit cut into it.  Then, wrap with a piece of sandpaper.  The bottom of the meter is tapered, so when the nut inside is turned, it forces the sleeve to open wider and wider until it snugs against the inside of the larger PVC pipe.  This is how the meter was originally affixed to the pole in the street (in principle).

Next, the grate on the drain needs to be filled - I used "Water Putty" to fill in the holes.  I want to fill the bottom with sand for stability as the top is very heavy.

Next, the pole and base are cemented together and the entire unit is wet sanded and painted satin black.

Well, here's the finished product - looks great next to the motorized bicycle.  Can't decide if I like it in the corner or behind the bike better.