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We didn't have automats in Baltimore where I grew up in the 50's, but we did have real tea rooms, such as the one at the Women's Industrial Exchange. I also worked at a tea room in a department store part time as a college student. My mother considered it to be more "refined" than an ordinary waitressing job.
Thank you for sharing, so enjoy your stories, memories of the East Coast.
Raised in the San Francisco-Bay Area, Oakland, when the trains traveled on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge. Dreamed of one day traveling to New York, having lunch at an automat.
1955 ? the trains ceased crossing the bridge, believe buses were used till B.A.R.T. was completed. When did the automats cease?
1950's, one dressed for the "City"; a dream to shop at Woolworths at Powell and Market.
Cable cars there too, began at Powell and Market; did you have flower stands on the streets of New York ?
Wow. Thanks for that bit of history. I lived in San Francisco starting in 1975. Never heard that trains went over the Bay Bridge! I still can't look at the new bridge without feeling sad.
Still hoping for some photos of the old outdoor automats. Maybe I should do a search
Watched a cool documentary on HBO Max. Mel Brooks said he once paid $35 for a cup of coffee and it wasn't
as good as the 5 cent Horn and Hardart coffee he used to get at the Automat.
They looked pretty cool and had nice decor with marble floors. Of course you'd most likely have to use a credit
card today to swipe (no coins) but turning a brass knob and getting a great sandwich or piece of pie sounds
like a win to me.
Labor was cheap then—
Imagine the labor it takes to portion out and package and load those serving windows
Unless it happens under robot labor you aren’t going to see “cheap”
And I don’t know that the quality of food was “great” compared to restaurants of similar quality
I never ate at one—they were big-city items
We had cafeterias like Luby’s (which I loved) and Morrison’s (not so great) and the one at Highland Park shopping center in Dallas—in the heart of the wealthy enclave—go figure
I'm 70 and have never seen one, they must have been before my time or perhaps only in big cities. Here at my office they have a somewhat similar idea, cold or frozen foods that you buy with a kiosk to pay, then you have to microwave the foods that get served hot. The café here got shut down due to Covid and still only about 1/10 of the people working in the office on any given day. Still not even enough to support an automat.
Automats had a role to play before places like MacDonalds and similar. Cafeterias like Luby's and all you can get hot/cold buffets like Golden Coral also played a role in the demise of automats. Like any other business, I guess they eventually were unable to compete. Heck, a year or two ago now we lost Barney's in NYC! Neiman's went into bankruptcy and reorganisation a couple of years ago, too. Things change for better or worse but too often for worse in my opinion. Would I welcome automats again? Sure, why not?
I remember going to them a few times as a child, although my memories in general are as faded as old newspaper photos at this point. This would probably be late '50s and perhaps a year or so beyond, being brought there by my folks, I vaguely remember being with my grandmother too. This would be on occasions that we would take the subway to Manhattan in our "good clothes" for some reason: the Tree at Rockefeller Center, Mass at St Pat's Cathedral... something cheap or free.
They were busy and noisy, I recall. I was fascinated walking around, looking at all the little windows with a plate of food locked behind it: soup, sandwiches, desserts and I could choose and pay myself. The only dish I have a clear memory of is getting a small bowl of baked beans that was in a small but heavy commercial-style bowl (to prevent chipping & breakage) and was steaming hot. Putting a coin in the slot myself and grabbing it from the window was exciting to a 6-7-8(?) yo and carrying the tray to our table.
If I watched the little windows after people took their tuna sandwich or whatever, I would catch a glimpse of someone's face behind the window quickly shoving in another sandwich and disappearing. For a kid it was a fascinating place to eat compared to all those boring restaurants where i had to sit still and be quiet forever it seemed.
I guess a few were still around when I was a teen but they were almost invisible in the age of fast-food burgers. They disappeared quietly, like the lightning bugs we used see back then too but no more.
Yes, it was a fun novelty for children I suppose, much like eating at the counter at the five and dime, e.g. Woolworth's. My mum sometimes took us for an afternoon of five and dime shopping where could buy junk (some of which now sells on eBay these days for outrageous prices as collectibles!) and stop midway for a bite to eat at the coffee shop. I doubt most kids today would find that sort of afternoon rewarding.
I do miss the adult shopping my younger years, though. You dressed to go shopping at nice stores where clerks were all dressed nicely, too. Your purchases were wrapped in tissue and boxed---no cheap plastic bags. A meal in the store's cafe was served at tables with white table cloths, real flatware, glass glasses, etc. Those days are never coming back either. {{{SIGH}}}
For a nickel? The quality and portions do not compare to the automat. Even back in the day, the automat was a bargain.
Maybe they were too much of a bargain, and that may have contributed to their demise.
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