Automat

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The first automat at 13 Leipziger Strasse in Berlin, Germany ) StollwerckAutomatenrestaurant1896.jpg
The first automat at 13 Leipziger Straße in Berlin, Germany )
A food ticket machine in Japan in 2022 Meal ticket - shokkenki - May 13 2022 01-38PM.jpeg
A food ticket machine in Japan in 2022

An automat is a type of fast-food restaurant where food and drink are served through a vending machine, typically without waitstaff. The world's first automat, Quisisana, opened in Berlin, Germany in 1895. [3] [4]

Contents

By country

Germany

An automat in East Berlin, 1954 Bundesarchiv Bild 183-25350-0001, Berlin, Alexanderplatz, Automatenrestaurant, Nacht.jpg
An automat in East Berlin, 1954

The first documented automat was Quisisana, which opened in 1895 in Berlin, Germany. [5] In 1904, a similar restaurant opened in Breslau. [6]

Japan

In Japan, in addition to vending machines that sell prepared food, many restaurants also use food ticket machines (Japanese : 食券機, romanized: shokkenki). This process involves purchasing a meal ticket from a vending machine, which is then presented to a server who prepares and serves the meal.

Kaitenzushi restaurants, which serve sushi on conveyor belts, are also common in Japan. [7]

Netherlands

An automat in Efteling Vendingautomaat warme snacks Efteling.jpg
An automat in Efteling
A Smullers automat/snack bar at Den Haag Centraal railway station Smullers.JPG
A Smullers automat/snack bar at Den Haag Centraal railway station

Automats (Dutch : automatiek) provide a variety of typical Dutch fried fast food, such as frikandellen and croquettes, as well as hamburgers and sandwiches from vending machines which are back-loaded from a kitchen.

FEBO is the best-known chain of Dutch automats, with some outlets open 24 hours a day. [8]

United States

818 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, the site of the first U.S. Horn & Hardart Automat, pictured with original automat signage in July 2020. 20200729 0818-0820 CHESTNUT.jpg
818 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, the site of the first U.S. Horn & Hardart Automat, pictured with original automat signage in July 2020.

The first automat in the United States was opened by food services company Horn & Hardart on June 12, 1902, at 818 Chestnut St. [2] in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [9] Inspired by Max Sielaff's automat restaurants in Berlin, they were among the first 47 restaurants (and the first outside of Europe) to receive patented vending machines from Sielaff's Berlin factory. [2] The automat spread to New York City [2] in 1912, [10] and gradually became part of popular culture in northern industrial cities.

Originally, the machines in U.S. automats only accepted nickels. [11] A cashier sat in a change booth in the center of the restaurant, behind a wide marble counter with five to eight rounded depressions. The diner would insert the required number of coins in a machine and then lift a window, hinged at the top, and remove the meal, which was usually wrapped in waxed paper. The kitchen was located behind the machines and used to replenish them from the rear. [12]

Automats were popular with a wide variety of celebrity patrons, including Walter Winchell and Irving Berlin. The New York automats were also popular with unemployed songwriters and actors. Playwright Neil Simon called automats "the Maxim's of the disenfranchised" in 1987. [13]

The automat was threatened by the arrival of fast food restaurants, which served food over the counter with more payment flexibility than traditional automats. By the 1970s, the automats' remaining appeal in their core urban markets was chiefly nostalgic. Another contributing factor to their demise was inflation, which caused an increase in food prices and made the use of coins inconvenient in a time before bill acceptors were common on vending equipment.[ citation needed ]

At one time, there were 40 Horn & Hardart automats in New York City. The last one closed in 1991, when the company had converted most of its New York City locations into Burger King restaurants. At the time, customers had been noticing a decrease in the quality of the food. [13] [14]

2000s US revivals

In an attempt to revive automats, a company called Bamn! opened a Dutch-style automat store in the East Village in New York City in 2006, [15] only to close three years later. [16] In 2015, another attempt to open an automat was made by a San Francisco company called Eatsa, which opened six automated restaurants in California, New York, and the District of Columbia, but they all closed by 2019. The company soon rebranded itself as Brightloom, and continue to sell automation technology to restaurants.

The COVID-19 pandemic inspired a new wave of automat revival attempts, aimed to adapt to the social distancing guidelines and the desire for contactless dining. Joe Scutellaro and Bob Baydale opened Automat Kitchen, which specialized in fresh food, in Jersey City's Newport Centre in early 2021; [17] [18] however, it closed after one year of operation because of low foot traffic due to the pandemic. [19] Another automat chain, the Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, opened in the East Village in 2021; [20] they opened a chain in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in December 2023. [21]

Rail transport

A form of the automat was used on some passenger trains. The Great Western Railway in the United Kingdom announced plans in December 1945 to introduce an automat on buffet cars. [22] Plans were delayed by impending nationalisation, but an automat was finally introduced on the Cambrian Coast Express in 1962. [23]

In the United States, the Pennsylvania Railroad introduced an automat between New York Penn Station, and Washington Union Station, in 1954. [24] Southern Pacific Railroad introduced automat buffet cars on the Coast Daylight and Sunset Limited in 1962. Amtrak converted four buffet cars to automats in 1985 for use on the Auto Train.

In Switzerland, the Bodensee–Toggenburg Bahn introduced automat buffet cars in 1987. [25]

With the advent of air travel and other forms of transportation, automats on trains became less popular and were eventually phased out. The last automat in use on a train in the United States was on the short-lived Lake Country Limited in 2001.

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vending machine</span> Machine which automatically dispenses products to customers after payment

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horn & Hardart</span> American food services company known for automats

Horn & Hardart was a food services company in the United States noted for operating the first food service automats in Philadelphia, New York City, and Baltimore.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cafeteria</span> Food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">FEBO</span> Dutch fast food chain

FEBO is a chain of Dutch walk-up fast food restaurants of the automat type. Founded in 1941 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, FEBO is most notable for this automatic format: a counter is available for purchasing French fries, beverages, and hamburgers. Other FEBO snacks can be bought from the automats. The primary automat-vended items are krokets, frikandellen, hamburgers, kaassoufflés and similar items.

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The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour was a variety show with a cast of children, including some who later became well-known adult performers. It had a long run for more than three decades. The program was sponsored by Horn & Hardart, which owned restaurants, bakeshops and automats in New York City and Philadelphia.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Hardart</span>

Frank Hardart Sr. was the co-founder with Joseph V. Horn of Horn & Hardart, the food service company that launched the Horn & Hardart Automat cafeterias in Philadelphia and New York. Patrons at the Automats could serve themselves by putting coins into a wall of glass-fronted dispensers, opening a door to an individual serving of everything from a hot entree or sandwich to a piece of pie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quisisana</span> German food-service company

Quisisana was a German company that introduced the world's first automat restaurant in June 1895 on the grounds of the Berlin Zoological Garden, Germany. The establishment was considered a success, selling 5,400 sandwiches, 9,000 glasses of wine and cordials, and 22,000 cups of coffee on the first Sunday of business. Quisisana also manufactured automat machines and equipment, including a milk vending machine which was adapted for use in German schools.

<i>The Automat</i> 2021 American documentary by Lisa Hurwitz

The Automat is a 2021 American documentary directed and produced by Lisa Hurwitz and written by Michael Levine. It is about the automats once operated by Horn & Hardart. It features an original song by Mel Brooks. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2021. It was released in the United States on February 18, 2022, by A Slice of Pie Productions. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.

References

  1. Bernardo Friese, grandson of Max Sielaff
  2. 1 2 3 4 Automat-Restaurants – AUTOMAT GmbH, 23 Spenerstrasse, Berlin, N.W. :: Trade Catalogs and Pamphlets - OCLC
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  4. Williams, Addison (2020-07-23). "Automat History | What is an Automat Restaurant?". History Associates Incorporated. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
  5. Smith, A.F.; Oliver, G. (2015). Savoring Gotham: A Food Lover's Companion to New York City. Oxford University Press, Incorporated. p. 24. ISBN   978-0-19-939702-0 . Retrieved June 15, 2017.
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  7. Feng Hsin-I, Cindy (2011). "The Tale of Sushi: History and Regulations". Institute of Food Technologists. 11: 206–207 via Wiley Online Library.
  8. Brenner, Elysia (2014-02-05). "Power-ranking the FEBO automat's wall of food". Thrillist. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
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  10. "Automats become a thing of the past in New York". Free Lance-Star. (Fredericksburg, Virginia). Associated Press. December 31, 1977. p. 12.
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  12. https://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2192.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
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  14. "New York's Last Automat Closes". St. Petersburg Times. Associated Press. April 11, 1991. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
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  16. Amanda Kludt (March 9, 2009). "The Shutter: Felled Bamn! to Become Baoguette?". Eater NY.
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  18. Hamstra, Mark (February 3, 2021). "Automat Kitchen puts modern spin on classic no-contact format". Restaurant Hospitality. Archived from the original on 2021-02-03. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
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  20. Warerkar, Tanay (January 21, 2021). "A First Look at Brooklyn Dumpling Shop's Automat". Eater New York. Archived from the original on 2021-01-20. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  21. Sheehan, Jason (2023-12-12). "South Street is Getting a New Dumpling Automat". Philadelphia Magazine. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
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  23. "Railway Gazette". The Railway Gazette. 119: 709. 1963.
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