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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

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    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.

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    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.

    Diners could sit wherever they chose. Automats could be great equalizers because paupers and investment bankers might sit together at the same table. And Automats were something special to children. With a handful of change, they could choose a meal from foods they liked.

    Horn & Hardart Automats had a strict fresh-food policy. No food could be left overnight in any of its restaurants—or its retail shops (whose motto was "Less Work for Mother"), which sold prepackaged Automat food. After closing time each day, Horn & Hardart trucks carried surplus food to "day-old" shops. New York and Philadelphia each had three, located in low-income neighborhoods, which sold these items at reduced prices.

    Automats enforced quality control. The leather-bound rule book every manager received listed the proper handling of the nearly 400 menu items, described precisely where to position the buffet-style food on the plates and stated the number of times employees were to wipe tabletops each day.

    Daily, founders Horn and Hardart and other executives lunched together at the Sample Table (or the "ulcer table," as some disgruntled workers dubbed it). To test for quality and uniformity, they ate regular items and offered suggestions for new ones. And they judged whether new ingredients that outside suppliers offered were superior to those that were already in use.

    Between courses, samplers sipped black coffee. Each day that beverage came from a different Horn & Hardart outlet. In this way, Horn & Hardart performed spot checks on coffee, the most commonly ordered item. The precise amount gushed from the mouth of a chrome dolphin’s head (copied from a Pompeian fountain) at an exactly calibrated temperature.

    Horn & Hardart’s coffee became known as the best in town. In their heyday in the 1950s, Automats sold more than 90 million cups of fresh-brewed coffee each year. From 1912 to 1950, a cup cost a nickel.

    Horn & Hardart introduced the first fresh-drip brewed coffee to Philadelphia and New York. Before then, coffee on the East Coast had been a harsh, brackish drink made by boiling it interminably with eggshells to clarify it.

    After brewing each batch of their coffee, Horn & Hardart employees filled out a time card. After 20 minutes, they discarded whatever coffee remained and prepared more. Irving Berlin, the composer of "God Bless America," wrote a famous song about this delicious brew, "Let’s Have Another Cup of Coffee," which became Horn & Hardart’s theme song.

    For diners who were really in such a rush, the company provided stand-up counters similar to those that banks provide for writing deposit slips. These people ate what became known as "perpendicular meals."

    But Horn & Hardart had a restaurant for every kind of clientele. Philadelphia’s Automats were haunts for actors, hotel guests and merchants along Jewelers Row. Though Horn & Hardart did not allow smoking, Walter Winchell and other journalists ate at New York’s Automats. The restaurants didn’t hustle folks out who lingered over their meal—or even those who bought no food.

    Automats fell victim to consumers’ changing tastes. Perhaps people tired of cafeteria-style food. Many no longer ate a full meal at lunch. Americans moved into the suburbs and didn’t come downtown as often, so night business at Automats fell too. With lower labor and food costs, the modern kind of fast-food restaurants, such as McDonald’s, White Castle and theme-food emporiums, competed too successfully.

    In the 1970s Horn & Hardart replaced its dying restaurants with Burger King franchises. The generation that ate at these new fast-food outlets didn’t miss the charm of Automats’ fancy fixtures and diverse menu. Upscale power lunchers had no use for Automats’ simple fare.

    The last Automat closed in New York City in 1991, lamented by those who remembered what the chain had stood for: quality, service and cleanliness.

    by Carolyn Hughes Crowley


     
    Comments

    Thank you for this walk down memory lane. As a child growing up in a very difficult financial setting the vision of my parents, my brother and I celebrating birthdays at H and H is unforgettable. I seem to remember Thanksgiving dinner there too although I am not sure if they were open on holidays. We lived in a poor community in Philadelphia and would take the PTC trolley car to Frankford Ave. for these special dinners at Horn and Hardart. Our dinner consisted of mashed potatoes, Harvard beets, and creamed spinach. This was a meal fit for a king and I still savor the taste. I am sure that a day like this in the 1940's did not cost my parents more than $5 or $6 dollars but my brother and I were on top of the world. Thank you for the article and thanks to Mr. Horn and Mr. Hardart..................Fran Chelder

    Posted by Fran Chelder on February 16,2009 | 05:44PM

    I also fondly remember at least a few trips to the automat as a child with my grandmother, possibly in the Passaic or Paterson, New Jersey area. I was fascinated by Automats, along with those big containers that dispensed a gallon milk at various street corners.

    Posted by dawn on April 29,2009 | 08:12AM

    Having been brought up in Philadelphia during the late-'40s, I am pleased to inform you of my intimate relationship with the H and H automat - particularly the one located across from The Academy of Music where, a decade later, I performed opera and ballet. Not only because of the convenience of its locale, but also for its reasonable-priced cuisine and what I considered "the best cup of coffee in Philly," H and H was my "office" between sets. Now, whenever I return home for a visit, I always stare at the spot where the automat once stood ... with a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat, in desperate need of a cup of that exquisite java that once so efficiently kept me going!

    Posted by Ellis E. Seamone on May 4,2009 | 09:30PM

    Hi, I went to Horn and Hardart so many times.My Dad also worked there.It was my favorite.There will never be another. I remember a song " less work for Mother dear". I don't know if that was the title,but if you could send me the title it would be great.Maybe the lyric's it would bring many memories. Thank you

    Posted by Arlene on May 10,2009 | 01:54PM

    H&H was one of my families favorite restaurant and we really miss this great place and it will never come back.Imagine having a tasty and fresh meal for only pocket change,with no waiting and sitting wherever you wanted to sit.My children just can not fathom this type of restaurant as they were closed prior their birth. It really brings back pleasant memories and I really would give anything to be able to go to a automat for even one time.

    Posted by russell zoppina on May 11,2009 | 10:26AM

    Horn & Hardart was started by my great grandfather Joseph Horn...He eventually sold the company and everything went downhill after that!...I do miss their food & hospitality!...

    Posted by Carla Horn on July 19,2009 | 01:04AM

    I remember the automat on Fulton Street in downtown Brooklyn. My favorite food were the fish cakes and baked beans which were served in a little brown bowl. It was fun with all the nickels. The dining area was enormous...well for an 8 year old it was. I just can't imagine though going to it today and eating sushi!

    Posted by Roberta on July 28,2009 | 07:08AM

    The automat on 14th Street in Manhattan...after Mom & I would shop for bargains at Klein's...we would head around the corner to H&H Automat...where I savored the most delicious chopped steak, and real gravy the best mashed potatoes and creamed spinach in the world...rice pudding.Later on I would have my lunch at the W57th Street automat. A clean and state of the art example of a caring Corporation in America that took pride in its product. Perhaps before its time! A wonderful example of organization that someone should take off with today.I also enjoyed the H&H Childrens Hour.

    Posted by Helene Sachnin on July 28,2009 | 08:41AM

    I grew up in Phila and went to H & H weekly with my grandparents, I remember where every restaurant was located. Every Philadelphian I talk to had their favorites, I loved the mac and cheese, harvard beets, baked beans and tapioca pudding.
    I miss H & H.

    Posted by andrea Kline on July 28,2009 | 09:25PM

    I USE TO GO THERE WHEN I WORKED AT PHONE COMPANY ON FRANKFORT AVE. LOVED SPAGETTI AND SALSBURY STEAK. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE WE CAN GET RECEIPES??? I MISS H&H ALSO

    Posted by CATHY on August 6,2009 | 10:11AM

    I was telling my neice about H & H and how much fun it was to eat there when my Mother & I were in Philly for the day.
    I was reminicing about the choc chip pound cake - my favorite - I'd love to have that recipe!Sure do miss those good old days.

    Posted by Inez Ross on September 9,2009 | 05:39PM

    My favorite was an warm apple dumpling with warm vanilla sauce.

    Posted by Cath Jacquinto on September 10,2009 | 07:20AM

    Every year around Christmas my Aunt Rose and Uncle Tex, who did not have children, would travel to West New York, New Jersey to pick up my sister and me for a trip into New York City. We would have lunch at H & H. I would always have a ham and cheese sandwich and chocolate milk. We would then go to Macy's to visit Santa Claus and have our photo taken with Santa. We would then select our Christmas presents. These are fond childhood memories of H & H.

    Posted by Vince Lombardi on September 30,2009 | 11:29AM

    I have wonderful,childhood memories of H & H; seeing a piece of pie behind the glass and putting nickels in to get one. We would go to Macy's and then to H & H. It was fun to be able to look at all the items behind the glass and make a choice.

    Posted by Peggy Boag on October 7,2009 | 11:10PM

    I had similar experiences at H&H. As a child, it was my favorite place to go to with my little Irish grandmother. We would go to one of the downtown Philadelphia automats. I cherish those moments. I purchased the book, The Automat, written by Lorraine B.Diehl and Marianne Hardart. You will love this book, especially if you crave recipes like baked beans and rice pudding. What a read ! I think it's still in print. Oh, I forgot, I also worked at the H&H on the Roosevelt Blvd. as a waitress during the summer before my Junior year of high school. I gained 15 pounds that summer.

    Posted by Eileen Burke on October 20,2009 | 03:23AM

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