They predate credit cards, and taught us how to budget, with less than a dollar, or far less. Lived 18 miles out on LI in 1943 to 1947, went to high school in Brooklyn; cross country practice up on Van Courtland ParK .Subway back down to mid town. Got off on on 42 nd. Horn and Hardet across from Grand Central with some teammates. Left one another,jogged to Penn Station to LIRR & home.Homework finished on the train, dinner over, thanks to Horn & Hardet. Still remember them at 83 years of age. Never ate alone there. Robert J. Boyle

I think it would really fly today!

You got off the trains below street level, walked out into the main concourse, then looked up and left to the largest illuminated sign in the city. Then you turned right and walked up two large flights of magnificent marble stairs. Out the doors and under the street-side canopy, you looked left down to the end of the block -- and there across the street was the Horn & Hardart Automat, quick and inexpensive and easy. I was a young teenager the first time I took the train into New York City by myself, arriving at Grand Central Station on 42nd Street at Sixth Avenue. I walked the same route that I had gone before several times with my parents; my dad worked for many years in the Esso offices at 51 West 51st Street, then moved to the main office of Standard Oil (NJ) at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. I went up and met him for lunch that day, but I don't remember if we ate at the Automat that one time in the spring of 1965. As a family we ate there more than once, on trips into the City for museum visits, shows, shopping or other occasions. Things come and go, but memories should be passed on.

I love the reminiscences. In London, England when I was a working musician in the West End, Lyons Corner House was a favorite eaterie. You could also almost get employment there, washing pots and pans,for Joe Lyons,to help you with your rent etc. and sometimes it was preferible to busking in the street. Now living in Canada and visiting the U.S.A. quite frequently my favorite eaterie is the Golden Corral in Marysville W.A.

Beautiful memories with my mother on Labor Day weekend 1948. The day started with a boat ride down the Deleware River to Riverview Beach in New Jersey. Upon returning to Philly my mother and I had dinner at the H&H at 9th and Market. I was 14 at the time with a handful of nickels and could not wait to insert my nickel for the best hot chocolate in the world. I was so excited that I forgot to put the cup under the lions head! I remember my mother smiling at me as she handed me another nickel. I'm 77 years old now, and memories of so many happy times with my mother at H&H are treasured. I also recall taking my wife there in 1960. She was an "upstater", and sadly had never experienced the wonderful H&H.

I was born in Phila. pA in 1940. We use to eat at Horn Hardart. I always remember eating hamburger steak, carrots, harvard beets and mash potatoes. as a kid it was my favorite meal. How did they make the carrots?

I have seen new automats in Spain last year (november 2011. I have seen them in Marbella. They are from a company called Braimex. I checked out the website and they are manufactures of these hot food vending machines. The restaurant where they are installed is called The Food Company. So the automat is still alive!

I was in the Army Reserve and sent to Germany in 1990, I recall eating in a restaurant there that had a H&H wall of glass slots, I was in serveral cities and I think it was in Berlin. Worked in NYC in 60's, the H&H 42nd st and 8th ave, had a section for Women and children only.

i was born in the bronx,but we moved to michigan. for years when we would travel back to visit, my uncle clarence, who worked at H&H, would always bring me cheesecake. wonderful, yummy cheesecake. when i became an adult, my mom would fly there and always brought a cheesecake home, hand delivered on the airplane. does anyone know who or what company made them. i have been trying for years to get an authentic new york cheewecake or the recipe. phooey to these refrigerated make believes.

Summer of '65; I was 15 going on 16 and wanted to work. There weren't a lot of opportunities in my part of Jersey, so I spent the summer with my grandmother who lived on East 12th Street in Brooklyn. I looked older, so when I applied for a job at a cashier at Big Apple by Kings Highway and told them I was 18, nobody asked me for proof and I got the job. There was an automat within close proximity, and I often ate there, because the food was good, cheap, and I was saving my money. I especially loved the mac 'n cheese. When the fall came, I had to tell them I was going back to school in Jersey.

I only vaguely remember the Horn and Hardart located at Cottman Avenue and Large Street in Northeast Phila. There was a gang which had some members affiliated with my grade school, Our Lady of Ransom. They used to call themselves the H&H gang. I used to see the H&H logo carved into the bathroom walls etc. or on the outside walls at Solis-Cohen elementary school. Yet, it was at Solis-Cohen where I first seen and heard of the gang. I think most of the gang was catholic, but some went to public school. I never tried to find out what the symbol meant, but it was my mother years later who told me that they used to hang out in front of the Horn and Hardart’s. When I was very young one of the gang members lived up the street from me. I remember his last name being Murray and he was a red head. He took a protective liking to me. Not having an older brother was often a handicap when living in the city. He used to smoke and he told me he never wanted to see me smoking for it was bad for me. It was a threat, but being so much younger I knew he would not really hurt me. One day in the winter when I was probably in the 5th grade or so I pretended I was smoking by inhaling on a candy cigarette stick. The cold air turned my breath into a fog and I wanted to see what he would do. Just like a protective brother, he crossed the street while yelling at me for smoking and just before he went to remove the candy stick I showed him I was joking with a bit of nervous laughter. Yet, after that surprising act of kindness I did not have the heart to pull another such stunt on him. One time when I was walking by the gang while they were hanging out at Solis-Cohen they were are huddled around looking at some playing cards which I found out had some sex scenes or the like on the other side. He again steered me away from that pollution. I never knew what happened to the gang, but like Murray there were some not so bad eggs. Anyway, that is my connection to the H&H memories.

JUST AFTER THE WAR STARTED IN 1941 MY FATHER WHO WAS IN THE MARINE CORPS WAS SENT OVER SEAS, WE WERE LIVING IN AN APT HOUSE ON VINE ST. TO MAKE EXTRA MONEY I BUILT A SMALL SHOE SHINE KIT FROM AN OLD ORANGE CRATE I TOOK FROM ONE OF THE "AMERICAN STORES" DOWN THE STREET..I SET MYSELF UP IN FRONT OF H&H ON BROAD STEET IN PHILLY. I WOULD GUESS I WAS 8 OR 9 YEARS OLD.. I HAD BLACK AND BROWN POLISH ONLY, COULDN'T AFFORD ANY MORE, GOT AN OLD SHIRT AND RIPPED IT IN PIECES AND USED IT AS A SHINE RAG, I CHARGED 10 PER SHINE, MADE ABOUT $1.OO PER DAY, THAT WAS GOOD...WHEN I GOT COLD I RECALL THAT IN FRONT OF H&H WAS A LARGE WIDE GRATE WITH THE STEAM COMING UP, , I THINK FROM THE SUBWAY, I WOULD STAND ON THE GRATE TO GET WARM OFTEN TIMES IF I LOOKED CLOSELY DOWN INTO THE BOTTOM OF THE GRATE (MAYBE 15 FT.) AND SPOTED A COIN, I HAD A VERY LONG STRING WITH A BOLT ON THE END FOR WEIGHT, I TOOK THE GUM FROM MY MOUTH AND STUCK IT ON THE END OF THE BOLT, I THEN TOOK A MATCH FROM MY POCKET, LITE IT AND WARMED UP THE WAD OF GUM UNTIL IT BECAME STICKY,I THEN DROPPED IT INTO THE GRATE AND LOWERED IT ONTOP OF THE COIN, IT STUCK TO THE COIN AND I PULLED IT UP, I GOT VERY GOOD AT THIS AFTER A WHILE, ONE TIME I WAS SO EXCITED BECAUSE I RETRIEVED A 50 CENT PIECE..ANYWAY I WOULD GO INTO H&H AND BUY A HOT CUP OF COCOA I THINK FOR A NICKEL, IT WAS SO GOOD. SO MANY MEMORIES, I SHINED A LOT OF SAILORS SHOES IN THE FRONT OF HORN AND HARDARTS. LOVED THAT PLACE. WELL EVENTUALLY MY FATHER CAME HOME SAFE (4TH. MARINE DIVISION) AND HE WAS TRANSFERRED TO TIBURON CALIF. HERE WE REMAINED . I CAN STILL CLOSE MY EYES AND SMELL THE SMELL.

I, too, grew up in the Bronx in the 1950's and like so many others have written, it was always such a thrill to ride the subway to the city and dine at Horn and Hardart after shopping on 34th Street! My Mom and Aunt, sister and I would shop at Macy's and of course my favorite at the time, Woolworths and then came the fun of the Automat! Still remember ordering the mashed potatoes, creamed spinach and creamed corn! All starches, my Mom would say, shaking her head but she let me order it from the ladies wearing the little white lace aprons. How grown up my sister and I felt when we put our money into the hot chocolate machine and watched as it poured out the worlds best tasting hot chocolate, especially to two girls who hardly ever got any because we were allergic! What a treat! We would be on our best behavior there, feeling like we were movie stars in New York City! Ah, youth! Loved putting those nickels into the little slots and getting that delicious apple pie or a pumpkin pie. Their butter cookies were out of this world too and two came on the plate, perfect for my sister and I! I was able to take my son to the last one in the city the year it closed so he could experience the Automat for himself and he loved it too. Four generations managed to love that place. We will never forget it. I managed to buy two forks when they were going out of business, something I will always treasure.

The O'Shaughnessy all eat at h&h at k and a. I remember My mother took us in a cab from Memphis and lehigh sts on friday nights for fish cake platter and a coke. it was about 35 cents at H $ H.but boy was that good. now you could get killed at k and a.