Horn & Hardart
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Horn & Hardart is a company that came to prominence as the proprietors of the first automat in New York City.
Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart had already opened an automat in Philadelphia, but their "Automat" at Broadway and 13th Street, in New York City, a cafeteria with its prepared foods behind small glass windows and coin-operated slots, created a sensation when it opened on July 7, 1912.
The automats were particularly popular during the Depression era, and their Macaroni and Cheese, Baked Beans, and Creamed Spinach were staple offerings.
The company also popularized the notion of "take-out" food, with their slogan "Less work for Mother".
The chain remained popular through the 1950s. It declined with the rise of the fast-food restaurants; the last American Automat closed in 1991.
The automation idea was a bit of a gimmick. Someone who looked at the pictures and had never been inside one might think that it was a row of vending machines. The other side of the doors that you put coins in was really a working kitchen in which employees that you never saw made the food up fresh and opened a semi-circular door in the back of the little shelves to put fresh sandwiches into.
The name of the chain was a household word and the subject of jokes (such as Peter Schickele's satirical piece "by" P. D. Q. Bach, Concerto for Horn and Hardart and the eponymous two-headed purple monster character(s) on Sesame Street.)
Automats are no longer a viable concern in the United States, though a few continue to operate in the Netherlands.
The Horn & Hardart name is currently used for a chain of coffee shops in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Horn & Hardart are currently reviving the Automat concept with their Dine-O-Mat restaurants in NYC.
The history and coffee company external links are defunct as of 02/03/07 and are being left in in case someone else tries to do something with them. The tribute site is active and features a book by the great grandaughter of one of the founders and is still in print as of 2/3/07.
