There's a great little book on the history of the Automat that I have read a couple of times, by Lorraine B. Diehl and Marianne Hardart. I'm willing to bet the food quality really was good after reading it! Thanks for adding your own memory! Maybe it's time for an Automat revival, she says optimistically?
I think the modern solution would be Apple Pay. The vending machine at my work takes Apple Pay and I use it all the time. It has a little door that opens in very much the same way as the Automat cubicles. I think it would work nicely.
Thanks, Annette - Wouldn’t a revival be nice? I know that book! In fact, if you click the link in this post to get the recipes, it’s from their book and they are both prominently featured in the documentary. I think it may be out-of-print, I saw it on eBay for $190 :(
Dec 28, 2022·edited Dec 28, 2022Liked by Jolene Handy
I just watched the film. It's very well made, entertaining and informative. In a previous comment, I mentioned my misadventure with an Automat in Amsterdam, but I didn't know the Americans had actually taken the Automat idea from Europe.
What struck me the most in the film is that one of the two guys who launched the Automat empire wanted to offer his customers a warm, unforgettable kind of hospitality but they ended up going the complete opposite way: no service, everything automatic. And the funny thing is, that was the Automat's key to success because people equaled impersonal service and automatic vending machines with the modern age. Go figure.
Of course, there was much more to the Automat's success than that.
Glad you had a chance to watch, Gianni. As ‘modern’ as they were, people enjoyed being at the automats, people sat and talked and that’s where the warmth came from. They were well run, ‘friendly’ (though automated) places, and the food was terrific. And as the film showed, everyone was welcomed. Happy New Year! 🎆
Dear Jolene--I love your post on The Automat and I saw the film because of your last post. Thank you soooo much! What memories! And I didn't know you grew up on Long Island. My family lived in Levittown until I was four, then moved to Stamford. I wonder if we ever crossed paths! Thank you for everything you're doing. I love your recipes, your research and your stories so very much! xoxJamie
Such a fun read, Jolene!! I would have loved to visit the Automat. I remember studying abroad in France and thinking it was so cool that they had hot drink vending machines everywhere, but this is next level. And I agree with you that pumpkin pie is just ok! I like to have a slice at Thanksgiving, but when I tell people that I don't wait on pins and needles for that slice all year round, they look at me like I'm nuts!!
😊 yay! I’ve been doing some research on the best foods to chase down when I get there...I have some thoughts, but am completely open to any you have as well!!
This was fun, Jolene! I loved the photos of the automat and now I am wondering if I actually ever saw one in action or just knew about them from pictures and films. I loved cafeterias too when I was young.
I don’t know how you do it, but you keep coming up with stories that I’ve never heard about and that I now have interest in. I’m off to check out the documentary. Thanks Jolene.
Gayla, thank you so much for sharing this with me— I keep coming across stuff that interests me and cross my fingers that it will also be interesting to TTK readers! :)
This was a fascinating read. I watched the documentary after seeing this post. I feel that they could have solved the problem they had when they needed to raise prices but could only take nickels by manufacturing a token that would fit into the nickel slot. Then they could sell the tokens for whatever price they needed to charge. They wouldn’t have had to double the price of their coffee and shock their customers. Someone get me a time machine so I can save the automats!
“Someone get me a time machine so I can save the automats” I couldn’t love that statement more, Elizabeth! 😊 watching that part of the film was tough, knowing between that and the opening of interstate highway, the fate of the automats was sealed. Brilliant idea about the tokens!
I enjoyed this so much. (Those wall dispensers for coffee!!!)
How many of these were in operation, at the height of their popularity?
I'd also totally forgotten that Hopper's pic of the woman sat at the table with the reflected lights receding was called...exactly that. (There's a lovely chapter in Alain de Botton's "Art Of Travel" about his role in portraying the loneliness that can strike when you're travelling, especially alone. That's what first made me aware of Hopper's work, which I'm now quietly obsessed with).
Aren’t they gorgeous! There’s a whole part in the film about Mr. Horn seeing fountains on a trip to Italy and that being his inspiration for the coffee dispensers. By 1950 I believe there were about 100 in NYC and Philly (most in NYC and there were also retail stores.) Thanks for the book rec, Mike — I love Hopper, too, and until I saw this documentary I’d never really LOOKED at the table and the chairs in the painting so closely :)
I loved this post! I knew very little about automats, and you helped me understand their vibrant role in history. I especially loved the bit about your grandmother!
Thank you so much, Jillian, I think you’d really enjoy the film! Between the ages of 3-7 when we lived in Ridgewood, my grandmother took me all around town!
By the mid-50s my grandmother had retired from 20 years of teaching first-grade in Santa Barbara. She moved to Hollywood and worked at a fancy dress store in Beverly Hills. When Mom would drive us down to visit for the day, many times lunch was at the automat.
Thanks for including the pie dough recipe...and custard (with or without nutmeg) is very good for to break a fast.
In reading the CBS Sunday morning piece, it says automats were only on the east coast. We never traveled to NYC or Philly so now I’m wondering just where the heck were we that I have such a vivid memory of going to the automat with my grandmother.
Thank you so much Kate for sharing your recipe! I’m going to do some research and see if there was something in BH that was similar, maybe run by a different company? I’m going to check with historian Annette, too :)
It is a fascinating documentary. I love that you found the plates on eBay, it adds another dimension to your documentation of the automat. I wish that I could time travel.
A terrific film and satisfying slice of memory, Jolene! We’re enormous fans of Mel Brooks (and RBG too!). I’m also not a huge pumpkin pie aficionado, but you’ve inspired me to try again. Maybe this lovely recipe, your tips and a mega-dose of whipped cream will do the trick!
Just back a few hours ago. I'm still digesting all we saw, did and ate. I agree with you about whipped cream! In France, it's usually called crème Chantilly and seems to be a given with almost any dessert--and we did have a few! Hope to write more about dessert, etc. once I finally wake up and remember I don't have to keep trying to communicate in high school French! 😴🤣
There's a great little book on the history of the Automat that I have read a couple of times, by Lorraine B. Diehl and Marianne Hardart. I'm willing to bet the food quality really was good after reading it! Thanks for adding your own memory! Maybe it's time for an Automat revival, she says optimistically?
Agree....I feel like someone needs to bring this back. And those beautiful coffee cups, too...
Standing by with my little roll of nickels! Or maybe dollar coins!
I think the modern solution would be Apple Pay. The vending machine at my work takes Apple Pay and I use it all the time. It has a little door that opens in very much the same way as the Automat cubicles. I think it would work nicely.
You're probably right. Despite the nostalgic appeal of the coins, the novelty would wear off when I started dropping them. 😂
I learned that someone made a version of these machines with a punch card: https://twitter.com/garyhornseth/status/1591858167704608770?s=46&t=Er9C0yzu01ixXN546NZqug It would theoretically be possible to have the nostalgia factor if these machines still exist somewhere.
Wow! I’m going to link to this next week, thank you, Elizabeth!
Now, that's cool!
😂
Definitely!
😊
I feel the same way, Christene. :)
Thanks, Annette - Wouldn’t a revival be nice? I know that book! In fact, if you click the link in this post to get the recipes, it’s from their book and they are both prominently featured in the documentary. I think it may be out-of-print, I saw it on eBay for $190 :(
I just watched the film. It's very well made, entertaining and informative. In a previous comment, I mentioned my misadventure with an Automat in Amsterdam, but I didn't know the Americans had actually taken the Automat idea from Europe.
What struck me the most in the film is that one of the two guys who launched the Automat empire wanted to offer his customers a warm, unforgettable kind of hospitality but they ended up going the complete opposite way: no service, everything automatic. And the funny thing is, that was the Automat's key to success because people equaled impersonal service and automatic vending machines with the modern age. Go figure.
Of course, there was much more to the Automat's success than that.
Glad you had a chance to watch, Gianni. As ‘modern’ as they were, people enjoyed being at the automats, people sat and talked and that’s where the warmth came from. They were well run, ‘friendly’ (though automated) places, and the food was terrific. And as the film showed, everyone was welcomed. Happy New Year! 🎆
You are right. I wish I could have tried it myself.
At the end of the film, they suggest that Starbucks might be the Automat's heir, but I'm not sure about that.
Happy New Year to you too!
Those coffee spouts are gorgeous 🤩 I had heard of the Automat but knew very little about it. Now I have to watch the documentary!
Those spouts are just amazing! Yes, I think you’ll enjoy it, Kiki!
We were in Levittown...so I guess out paths didn't cross, but I'm sure we bumped into one another in NYC!
For sure, Jamie! :)
Dear Jolene--I love your post on The Automat and I saw the film because of your last post. Thank you soooo much! What memories! And I didn't know you grew up on Long Island. My family lived in Levittown until I was four, then moved to Stamford. I wonder if we ever crossed paths! Thank you for everything you're doing. I love your recipes, your research and your stories so very much! xoxJamie
Thank you, Jamie! We were in Islip. So glad you saw the documentary and, as always, thank you for your kind words of encouragement! ☺️
Such a fun read, Jolene!! I would have loved to visit the Automat. I remember studying abroad in France and thinking it was so cool that they had hot drink vending machines everywhere, but this is next level. And I agree with you that pumpkin pie is just ok! I like to have a slice at Thanksgiving, but when I tell people that I don't wait on pins and needles for that slice all year round, they look at me like I'm nuts!!
Haha! That’s the reaction I get when I tell people I don’t like peanut butter, either. 😂 Emailing you about the Xmas markets later! :)
😊 yay! I’ve been doing some research on the best foods to chase down when I get there...I have some thoughts, but am completely open to any you have as well!!
Run with whatever you think is most interesting (and delicious 😂) This will be fun!
This was fun, Jolene! I loved the photos of the automat and now I am wondering if I actually ever saw one in action or just knew about them from pictures and films. I loved cafeterias too when I was young.
They really were special! Let me know if you see the documentary, it’s really wonderful, Elizabeth!
Another wonderful entertaining article.
Thank you.
Thank you, Matt! ❤️
I don’t know how you do it, but you keep coming up with stories that I’ve never heard about and that I now have interest in. I’m off to check out the documentary. Thanks Jolene.
Gayla, thank you so much for sharing this with me— I keep coming across stuff that interests me and cross my fingers that it will also be interesting to TTK readers! :)
You keep finding and sharing and your subscribers will keep reading. Your newsletter is so different and unique and I love it!
You made my day, Gayla! Thank you so much. 😊
This was a fascinating read. I watched the documentary after seeing this post. I feel that they could have solved the problem they had when they needed to raise prices but could only take nickels by manufacturing a token that would fit into the nickel slot. Then they could sell the tokens for whatever price they needed to charge. They wouldn’t have had to double the price of their coffee and shock their customers. Someone get me a time machine so I can save the automats!
“Someone get me a time machine so I can save the automats” I couldn’t love that statement more, Elizabeth! 😊 watching that part of the film was tough, knowing between that and the opening of interstate highway, the fate of the automats was sealed. Brilliant idea about the tokens!
I enjoyed this so much. (Those wall dispensers for coffee!!!)
How many of these were in operation, at the height of their popularity?
I'd also totally forgotten that Hopper's pic of the woman sat at the table with the reflected lights receding was called...exactly that. (There's a lovely chapter in Alain de Botton's "Art Of Travel" about his role in portraying the loneliness that can strike when you're travelling, especially alone. That's what first made me aware of Hopper's work, which I'm now quietly obsessed with).
Aren’t they gorgeous! There’s a whole part in the film about Mr. Horn seeing fountains on a trip to Italy and that being his inspiration for the coffee dispensers. By 1950 I believe there were about 100 in NYC and Philly (most in NYC and there were also retail stores.) Thanks for the book rec, Mike — I love Hopper, too, and until I saw this documentary I’d never really LOOKED at the table and the chairs in the painting so closely :)
I loved this post! I knew very little about automats, and you helped me understand their vibrant role in history. I especially loved the bit about your grandmother!
Thank you so much, Jillian, I think you’d really enjoy the film! Between the ages of 3-7 when we lived in Ridgewood, my grandmother took me all around town!
By the mid-50s my grandmother had retired from 20 years of teaching first-grade in Santa Barbara. She moved to Hollywood and worked at a fancy dress store in Beverly Hills. When Mom would drive us down to visit for the day, many times lunch was at the automat.
Thanks for including the pie dough recipe...and custard (with or without nutmeg) is very good for to break a fast.
In reading the CBS Sunday morning piece, it says automats were only on the east coast. We never traveled to NYC or Philly so now I’m wondering just where the heck were we that I have such a vivid memory of going to the automat with my grandmother.
Thank you so much Kate for sharing your recipe! I’m going to do some research and see if there was something in BH that was similar, maybe run by a different company? I’m going to check with historian Annette, too :)
It is a fascinating documentary. I love that you found the plates on eBay, it adds another dimension to your documentation of the automat. I wish that I could time travel.
Thank you, Vicki, I love little finds that connect to history (and are useful!)
And, yes - a time machine would be nice to have around 😉
Love the plate. It’s beautiful!
Thank you, Randee, I’ve been using the plates daily since I got them! 😊
A terrific film and satisfying slice of memory, Jolene! We’re enormous fans of Mel Brooks (and RBG too!). I’m also not a huge pumpkin pie aficionado, but you’ve inspired me to try again. Maybe this lovely recipe, your tips and a mega-dose of whipped cream will do the trick!
Thank you, Ruth, I really loved the documentary, too. And whipped cream is ALWAYS a good idea! (Are you back from Paris?) ❤️
Just back a few hours ago. I'm still digesting all we saw, did and ate. I agree with you about whipped cream! In France, it's usually called crème Chantilly and seems to be a given with almost any dessert--and we did have a few! Hope to write more about dessert, etc. once I finally wake up and remember I don't have to keep trying to communicate in high school French! 😴🤣
Welcome home, Ruth! Lol to the high school French! 😂