I think there’s still an automat near where I live on Long Island. I’ve never eaten there but driven past it several times.
Were you able to cook at all? Sounds like you were dining out (though cheaply) every night.
I don’t remember these places at all but I moved out of the Bronx in 1971. I don’t know if my parents ever took us out to eat not counting Sunday’s at my grandmothers. By the time I was a teen and visiting NYC as such, they were gone. I really only remember them from a few TV shows and movies. That Girl in particular. She was too broke for more than a cup of coffee and a bowl of hot water and made ketchup soup I think.
It was definitely on Chesnut, but my recollection (from the mid '60s) is that it was on the other side of Broad, on the corner of 16th, IIRC. My mom used to go to the auction at Freeman’s (18th St.) and we’d go to the automat for lunch.
Oh, yes, as a kid during the 1930s, we ate in one now and then when we lived in Manhattan. Times were tough, and you could get a sandwich for a couple of nickles, and a cup of coffee (for my mom) for five cents. That fascinated me, as she put a nickle in ths slot, a cup underneath, and pressed a button. Out came the coffee, and miracle of miracles, it filled the cup and then stopped.
It was fun putting the nickles in the slot for a sandwich, then the little glass door popped open, and I could take out the sandwich on a plate.
The joke years later was that a guy from Las Vegas was going from door to door, and taking his sandwich to the table. When had about a dozen, another patron asked why he kept getting so many sandwiches. The guy replied, “Hey, I can’t quit when I winning.”
Probably ate at my first one in or about 1954. NYC. We lived in Arlington VA. but my dad worked weird hours and loved to travel. We would go to NY City for the weekend at the drop of a hat. Stayed at the Piccadilly Hotel near Times Square. Ate at the automat as a treat. Ate there last in 1964–went up for the World’s Fair.
My family went to that World’s Fair, I wasn’t born yet though.
I’m not sure that’s the same thing. Are those machines continually restocked with fresh food from a kitchen behind them? Do they actually contain hot food or do you have to microwave it?
We still have vending machines in the U.S and some of them have things like sandwiches and pies, but they’re not hot or straight from the kitchen and I wouldn’t call them automats.
I have vague memories of eating at the H&H in Philly when I was a child but I really don’t remember it well.
Don’t know who operated it but I recall getting food out of an Automat in Chicago when I was a kid. Might have been in the Museum of Science & Industry.
I did see a very small Automat, about a tenth the size of the one pictured, somewhere around Times Square in 1981. Didn’t use it, though.
I ate in an automat probably Horn and Hardat right after I saw Star Wars for the first time as a child and have always connected the two fondly. I always thought of the automat as something they would have in the Star Wars universe, in a Space Port where Han Solo would be waiting to have the Falcon fueled up.
Win-Win. You’re both probably correct. I’ll link to a page showing pics of the multiple locations in Philly.
I have. The novelty was a plus, but the mood was a minus. There is an alternative way of looking at them: they are like a vending machine, but you put food in and money comes out. You can make a living with this. Understand that you have to be on the staff side of the wall for this way of looking at them to work.
My maternal grandparents met at an Automat. (Both of them are now gone.)
I also recall going to one once in NYC…not exactly sure where it was, but think it was on the same street as Carnegie Hall? Few blocks east?
Had seen them so often in films I just sort of wandered in and tried something - I don’t even think I was particularly hungry, but just wanted to see how it worked.
I was unimpressed - reminded me of a somewhat better than average high school cafeteria as far as food selection.
And yeah, the people hanging out there that day looked like they were from a local retirement home, and it was not exactly a cheery atmosphere.
Yes, they’re hot & ready to eat, and restocked by the kitchen staff (the machines contain stuff like hamburgers, croquettes and frikadels - you can get some drinks and fries from the counter).
If you’re ever in the Netherlands, these shops are easy to find. Many train stations have them, and the above mentioned FEBO shops are fairly common in the larger cities.
One word: McDonald’s. Fast food restaurants took their place for a quick, cheap meal.
In addition, they ran into trouble when the had to raise prices. Vending machines didn’t accept dollar bills back in the 70s. You could get change for a dollar, but the readers only used to make change. I would expect they were too expensive to put on every slot in the automat. So you’d have to either have a pocketful of change, or run your dollar bills through the changer and then carry the coins to the slot. Too much hassle when you could go to Burger King and have it your way.
Also, Horn and Hardart only had automats in a few cities. They never expanded nationally.
You’re right. That’s an automat.
The last time I went they still had a lady in a booth taking dollars and handing out change for the machines - no bill changers yet.
And I always had macaroni and cheese there. Some of the best I’ve ever had, but I think that is from the thrill of doing it myself more than actual food quality.
There was one in the East Village not too long ago. It closed last year. Corn dogs, burgers, fries. Nothing exciting.
Just saw a segment on Modern Marvels that mentioned BAMN!, an automat in NYC.
Looks like they’ve been around a couple of years.