In the past year or so, I’ve been more patient about processing my film, waiting until I have a bag of rolls so I can minimize the cost of chemicals. I had enough rolls of Bergger Pancro to warrant a developing run, and these photographs were from a roll that I’ve been eager to see for several months.

When I happened upon the old St. Louis Globe Democrat newspaper vending machine in North City, I saw more — much more — than a rusting relic from a bygone media era. That’s probably why I filled an entire roll of 36 with this one subject.

Why? Because I worked for the Globe during its final two owners. I was hired during the Gluck days, in part because I worked for him while attending J-School at the University of Missouri - Columbia. He published a student paper called the Campus Digest (often referred to as the Campus Disgust) and I wrote features for it, mostly because he paid a small amount for articles.

I could write 10 blogs about my short time there, but those are for another time. Seeing the old vending box reminded me that during my long career, my Globe days are the ones I am most fond. It was an exciting time for a 23-year-old to be the Music/Arts Editor of a major metropolitan daily. Hell, it would still be an exciting time for a middle-aged writer.

The story of the slow death of this paper still breaks my heart. As recently as last week, when I mentioned I was a Globe reporter, the person said (as they almost always do), “Man, I miss that paper.”

I made a lot of photographs of this box because it may be the last remnant I have of that newspaper (except for the battered wooden inbox that I took on my way out that last day after the press conference when the final closing was announced).

I’ll still have the memories. And 37 black and white photos of a newspaper vending machine on its last legs.