Vending
8-year-old Brooklyn artist turns vending machine into creative business
October 21, 2025
What began as a family lesson about saving money has turned into a small neighborhood sensation for eight-year-old Linus Piepmeyer, who operates a vending machine selling his own New York City–themed buttons on a Boerum Hill sidewalk, according to a report by The New York Post.
Linus, with help from his parents, designs and packages colorful pins featuring familiar city icons such as pigeons, taxis and pizza slices. Since setting up shop in July, he has sold hundreds of buttons for 50 cents each.
"Getting the money has been cool," Linus told The New York Post, adding that he originally hoped the machine could be stocked with snacks like Cheetos or Twizzlers.
His parents, Alison and Zach Piepmeyer, said they wanted to teach him the value of creativity and entrepreneurship. "We decided maybe it's better for Linus to feel like he's making something — and that this will teach him the idea of creating value that other people want to pay for," Zach Piepmeyer told the news outlet.
Linus has since expanded the concept with a QR code linking customers to Inside Joke Apparel, a website selling T-shirts featuring his designs. His next goal, he said, is to start a comic book company and one day, make virtual reality headsets.
