Meet Me at the Automat
Horn & Hardart gave big city Americans a taste of good fast food in its chrome-and-glass restaurants
- By Carolyn Hughes Crowley
- Smithsonian magazine, August 2001, Subscribe
It was once the world’s largest restaurant chain, serving 800,000 people a day. It was Horn & Hardart, and its cavernous, waiterless establishments represented a combination of fast-food, vending and cafeteria-style eateries. These restaurants, with their chrome-and-glass coin-operated machines, brought high-tech, inexpensive eating to a low-tech era. Making their debut in Philadelphia in 1902, just up the street from Independence Hall, and reaching Manhattan in 1912, Horn & Hardart Automats became an American icon, celebrated in song and humor. With their uniform recipes and centralized commissary system of supplying their restaurants, the Automats were America’s first major fast-food chain.
Although no longer a commercial enterprise, the Automat nonetheless has survived as a relic of Americana. Beautifully ornate with its mirrors, marble and marquetry, a 35-foot piece of Philadelphia’s 1902 Horn & Hardart is in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
Founded by Joseph Horn and German-born Frank Hardart, the restaurants were a new concept in food service, borrowed from a successful German eatery. The Automats immediately captured America’s interest and imagination. They were the restaurant industry’s first attempt at emulating the assembly line.
Customers put together their own meals in a continuous, moving operation. Hot food was always hot—and savory. Automats, moreover, always sought to offer the widest possible variety of culinary choices.
In huge rectangular halls filled with shiny, lacquered tables, women with rubber tips on their fingers—"nickel throwers," as they became known—in glass booths gave customers the five-cent pieces required to operate the food machines in exchange for larger coins and paper money. Customers scooped up their nickels, then slipped them into slots in the Automats and turned the chrome-plated knobs with their porcelain centers. In a few seconds the compartment next to the slot revolved into place to present the desired cold food to the customer through a small glass door that opened and closed. Diners picked up hot foods at buffet-style steam tables.
The word "automat" comes from the Greek automatos, meaning "self-acting." But Automats weren’t truly automatic. They were heavily staffed. As a customer removed a compartment’s contents, a behind-the-machine human quickly slipped another sandwich, salad, piece of pie or coffee cake into the vacated chamber.
Customers found many advantages in this style of dining. They could see the food before buying it. They thought the glass-fronted compartments and shiny fittings were sanitary, a comforting reassurance after the food contamination scares of the time.
Patrons were discouraged from tipping. Nor did any cash register reveal the cost of a meal for all to see; the coin slots kept thrifty customers’ dining expenditures discreetly hidden.
Subscribe now for more of Smithsonian's coverage on history, science and nature.
Related topics: Food and Drink Early 20th Century Buildings
| Tweet | Digg |
Comments (36)
+ View All Comments
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?
Posted by trudy weiss on January 15,2012 | 01:28 PM
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!
Posted by Marc on January 12,2012 | 08:15 AM
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.
Posted by Arthur Hirsch on January 5,2012 | 02:00 AM
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.
Posted by vici farrell on October 13,2011 | 12:22 PM
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.
Posted by Lynda Ehrich on September 24,2011 | 09:20 PM
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.
Posted by John C. on July 30,2011 | 04:37 PM
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.
Posted by JOHN O. GOFF on May 6,2011 | 04:20 PM
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.
Posted by Puttie Williamson on April 25,2011 | 06:02 PM
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.
Posted by anne denofa on December 11,2010 | 07:53 AM
I, too, remember vividly the cafeteria and automat in Philadelphia. My mom and I would take the train into Reading Terminal from North Wales PA and head straight to H&H for breakfast. Then we would shop and return for lunch. I always got spaghetti, harvard beets and creamed spinach. That was some combination, but my mother didn't object. It was wonderful. This was in the mid-late 1940s. I was 5,6,7,8 years old. Oh, how I miss those days.
Posted by Bert Pierce on October 22,2010 | 08:42 PM
My 95-year-old neighbor Harold Cromer was a supervisor at the H&H commissary in New York City for nearly half a century. He remembers the building covering about a city block, located on 11th Ave. and 49th St., right next to the Hudson River. He tells me this location was not an automat, but rather the site where all the food was prepared for delivery to the automats. Does anyone know exactly where this building was and what happened to it after all the automats were closed? Was the building torn down? Harold would love to know! Please send your answer to my email address: elmiraglch@aol.com
Thanks so much for replying!
Posted by Cindy on September 12,2010 | 07:15 PM
I am now almost 86 yrs. old. I as my fatherand mother grew up in Phila. No one knows more about H&H better than I, nobody , as I was there since 1927 every wed. and sun. There were highchairs for children and the best food. I had an older sister and a younger brother (1930) and throughout the depression it was like a ritual. My mother worked at the famous womens" store Blauners, so I knew downtown and the restaurants on 60th and Mkt. and 69th and Mkt. Sts. But this is the capper, in or about 1958, I opened a restaurant called Freddy's at 21st and Chestnut in the basement of an apartment bldg.I searched for a theme and in my wildest quest of a lifetime I found a man who had tables and chairs from H&H! They were so heavy (brass base, I think and the tops were of a base rubber, I just never knew. My partner had most of the money and he sold the restaurant under my nose. Did I tell you this restaurant had tiffany lampshades from the same seller? I am in Calif now and have never visited my dream rathskeller again, is it still there? Oh how I miss those days. Ciao, Freddy Baby
Posted by Fred Borrelli Jr. on May 23,2010 | 01:00 PM
Do I EVER miss the H&H of yore! Having grown up in Philly in the late-40s & 50s, I have often found myself dreaming of their scrumptious beef and chicken pot pie, buffet- style vegis and absolutely the BEST cup of coffee I have ever had in the USA! When I grew up and began performing as a professional musician, I patronized the automat on Broad Street just across from the Academy of Music ... that is, until I moved to Europe and partook of some equally satisfying cuisine. Here it is so many years later, and what I wouldn't give to return to Philly on a day ... say in 1950 and have lunch at H&H. Dream on, MacDuff ... dream on.
Posted by ELLIS E. SEAMONE on April 30,2010 | 03:33 AM
All these decades later and people still miss H&H...no wonder, it was very good value for the $. It's also intriguing that NYers and Philadelphians have a shared memory from eating identical food!
I grew up in Flushing, Queens where a H&H was located at Northern & Parsons Blvds, about a 1/2 mile east of the shopping hub and about the same distance from home. IIRC it was a full service restaurant. This was the very 1st restaurant I remember going to- I felt very grownup whenever we went there. Much like banks and RR stations from an earlier era, its facade suggested an elegant dining experience for the masses.
This H&H also had a retail store/area where we could take home simple pleasures like spaghetti, codfish cakes, and other favorites-Huckleberry pie, frosted cupcakes with sprinkles on top w/o filling(!), and chocolate candy you could break up unsurprisingly called, "Break-Up". Downtown, a local meat co., Trunz, also carried many of the H&H take-home goodies.
Many reasons detailed elsewhere led to H&H's insolvency and demise, we didn't think we'd miss it much until we did. The Flushing site was subdivided into a union office, a flooring/carpet store and a bank c. 1975
P.S.: In 1989 I was in Philly for the 1st time in a decade, and I discovered a grocery in Rittenhouse Sq. that carried pies & other H&H items-the store mgr. said the co., still operational,had moved to Bensalem. I later learned that H&H despite msny forays into food operations as franchisee or licensee was concentrating on their core mail order business as "Hanover Direct". (like a Fingerhut)
Sadly, every new H&H incarnation ("Dine-O-Mat", "Coffee Co.") seems to quickly fade in vain efforts to relive past glories. Over time, most of the old H&H signage and other vestiges have also vanished, although at the Upper Darby building and other scattered locations some indicia, along with our fond memories, still remain.
Posted by Alan on April 27,2010 | 11:54 AM
+ View All Comments