Has anyone here been inside an Automat?

[Sugar Smack]

Photo: alteich.com, apriori.com

I hear there is only one left in the United States. I'd never have known about them if I hadn't been watching 50's era Bugs Bunny cartoons. What do you think? Maybe I should open one here in Chapel Hill. ;-)

[In_The_Wind]

1. There was an Automat in NYC when I first moved here.

I didn't see any Toons there.

[Sugar Smack]

2. Sweet! I knew there might be one left.

I'm going to check out the book "Automat". Apparently, it has a lot of pictures of the inside of one. I love that sort of thing, as you know! :D

[In_The_Wind]

3. I remember so many things that are part of America's history.

I believe the last NY Horn & Hardart closed in 1986.

We even had automats in Atlanta when I was a child. I remember my daddy taking me to work with him during my summer break from school. We'd always eat breakfast and lunch on the road. He had his own business so I always enjoyed tagging along and helping him. :)

[Sugar Smack]

5. What a treat that must have been.

I can imagine being a child and allowed to rummage with a few coins. The pictures I've seen of automats make it look like the walls were menus. I'm searching google for more pictures of automats.

:bounce:

[0007]

6. What year was that?

[In_The_Wind]

8. 1969

[tinfoilinfor2005]

89. I went to one in NYC during the 1964 World's Fair.

Maybe the same one. It was really neat.

[RebelOne]

4. My parents would take me to the Horn & Hardart

Automat in Philadelphia when I was very young. It brings back such great memories. I always loved that place.

[Sugar Smack]

12. Hey, how was the food? What would you get when you were there?

:hi:

[RebelOne]

63. I really don't remember what I ate.

I was only a little kid.

[peacefreak]

7. Oh man, I'm old.

I think my parents took me to that one pictured. I was amazed by all the little doors. I also think that's where my love for Art Deco started!

[Sugar Smack]

11. Hundreds of little doors!

That's part of my fascination as well. I love Art Deco too! Isn't it fun to re-visit places? I'd like to see one in person just once.

[NewWaveChick1981]

9. The Varsity in Atlanta, where I grew up, used to be

very similar to an Automat inside. They had the usual fast food options (and still do) and the most famous greasy food around. They also had rows and rows and rows of Automat-type vending machines, and I remember begging my dad for a quarter to get a Coke out of one of them. He finally gave in (remember the "Will you take us to Mount Splashmore?" episode of the Simpsons??? LOL), and it was the greatest thing. They had tvs going in there, which I guess took the place of the cartoon viewer. (This was somewhere around 1970, so the tvs were a novelty in a restaurant.)

Never been to an actual Automat, but I know they're cool. :)

Edited to add: Forgot to say that I think an Automat would do very well in Chapel Hill! The vending machine area in the student union was always packed when I was a student there.

[Sugar Smack]

13. When you're a child, it gives you a sense of independence

to be set loose with a quarter and several hundred options, doesn't it? You are so right about the Student Union too! As gentrified as CH has become, we could do with a little novelty. I loved your answer! Thanks.:-)

[NewWaveChick1981]

14. Thanks, Sugar Smack!

That quarter and the huge number of machines from which to choose gave me the feeling that I was playing the slots in Vegas and I was gonna win big! :D It's a really amazing thing for a kid.

CH was not as gentrified in the 80s...It was a lot of fun, though! Was Fowler's Food Store on E. Franklin gone by the time you got to CH? If it was, you missed a legend. It was an old A & P-type independent grocery store with a legendary beer and wine cooler that you could spend days in. It was not fancy or anything, but the whole room was one huge cooler. I know it's been demolished in favor of high-end shops.

[Sugar Smack]

15. We went into Fowler's when I was a kid! I remember it.

The high ceilings, the exposed pipes running along the walls. I remember it was a big store that had a wine section sort of cordoned off. There was also a lobster tank that held me in thrall. I remember staring at those lobsters while my father shopped. I'm so glad you know that store. I wish we still had more independent places like that to go to.

[NewWaveChick1981]

20. That's where I did my grocery shopping the whole time I lived

in the dorm---over two years! I didn't have a car, so I either walked or took the bus there (lived in Winston Dorm). I still went in frequently after that. It was such a great old-time grocery store, and I miss it. I lived in Chapel Hill for four years after I graduated. My husband and I went to Fowler's every time we went back to CH until we discovered its demise. :(

It's so cool that you remember Fowler's! *Sigh* Those were the good ol' days... (Geez, I sound like an old fart, don't I???)

[Sugar Smack]

33. Wow- I'm remembering all sorts of cool stuff about that place.

Wasn't there lattice work in the wine section, and bunches of fake grapes with tendrilly-looking vines decorating it?

There was a little golden age my father loves to describe along Franklin Street. Do you remember a bakery and gift shop right next to the Shrunken Head? Do you remember the Intimate Bookshop with its creaky wooden stairs? Brenda and Wallace Kurault owned the small chain before it got sold out by the likes of Barnes & Noble. Guess what's there now?

A PERFUME store! :cry: :grr: :nuke:

[NewWaveChick1981]

37. GEEZ! You're taking me down Memory Lane! LOL

Yes, you're exactly right about Fowler's. The lattice work was kind of cheesy, but in a good way. :) Ah, those were the days...

I do indeed remember the bakery and gift shop. I think it was Town & Country. There was a bakery right beside First Citizens Bank when I got to school there, and that's where I had my first bagel. The Shrunken Head started not long before I went to school there, and there was Ye Olde Waffle Shop in that same strip. The Intimate Bookshop was a great place to hang out. You know it burned down, didn't you? It was a suspicious fire, but the floors were all hardwood, so it went up like a matchstick (which would have happened at the tiniest spark, so it may not have been intentional). I talked with Wallace Kuralt many times when I was in there. BTW, Charles Kuralt gave the commencement address when I graduated in 1985. :D

Sutton's Drug Store was a great place to get orangeades and lemonades (there's nothing like homemade! :D ). It was so sad when they closed a couple of years ago. That store had been there since the earth was cooling. I used to get medicine and stuff from them whenever I could.

Damn, times do change! I like perfume stores, but not where the Intimate Bookshop is supposed to be! :cry:

[Sugar Smack]

49. Oh, sweetie! Sutton's is still here!!

My uncle goes in there for lunch every single day! That's where he does all his "networking" ;) I know how you feel about Sutton's- they are wonderful. It really hits the spot when you're looking for homey comfort food like egg salad sanwiches and crinkle-cut fries.

I remember the controversy about whether or not the burning of the Intimate bookshop was an accident. I always thought Wallace was a neat guy. He and Brenda had a miniature town set up every Christmas in the display case. I worked at the Eastgate store. Oh, God I'm missing it so much right now!:hug:

[NewWaveChick1981]

51. Wow! I'd heard a rumor that they were gone.

I need to get back to CH soon so I can visit Sutton's again! I'm so glad it's still there! :)

I know what you mean about the Intimate. I miss going there too. :hug:

[NewWaveChick1981]

Also meant to say

that (WARNING: Old Fart ramblings to follow! LOL) back in my day, the legal drinking age for beer and wine was 18 and harder stuff was 21. I could legally go into the Fowler's cooler from the time I was a freshman. I usually didn't buy anything, but I had lots of dorm friends who practically lived in that cooler.

[In_The_Wind]

16. I took my daddy's car and drove to The Varsity before I had a license.

[NewWaveChick1981]

21. You bad girl!

You knew what was good, didn't you? LOL :rofl: Couldn't get enough grease and salt, eh?

[In_The_Wind]

25. I was 14.

It was more about the Georgia Tech students than about The Varsity Fries. :evilgrin:

[NewWaveChick1981]

30. A-HA! So that explains it...

... My first love was a Georgia Tech student. I guess there's no accounting for taste. :crazy:

[In_The_Wind]

34. Yep! I never lost my love of braniacs ~ hold the fries.

Even when I was 14 I didn't want the jocks or the BMOC.

[NewWaveChick1981]

40. LOL!

You're a girl after my own heart. :D I was always into nerds too. In fact, my GT boyfriend was a science fiction geek just like me, and he was in Mensa. Sadly, it didn't work out, though. :(

That's OK, though---I married a geek I met at UNC-CH! :rofl:

[In_The_Wind]

43. geeks make wonderful lovers and husbands for girls who don't party

I never liked discos but do you remember the Mony building?

Were you ever in The Midnight Sun? I loved their cascading waterfall better than the Polaris Room at the top of the hotel.

[NewWaveChick1981]

47. I remember both the Mony building AND Midnight Sun!

Loved, loved, LOVED the waterfall!

And you're exactly right about geeks---the great thing is that most of the time, geeks who don't party or aren't into sports only have one thing on their minds (sex, of course!), and they take the time to educate themselves about it. ;)

[In_The_Wind]

54. I didn't expect a walk down memory lane this morning. Thank you.

Did you eat catfish at the Rio Vista? Isn't the Zoo wonderful? I remember concerts on Sunday afternoons in Piedmont Park.
I climbed Stone Mountain with my friends brother the next day after his senior prom. That was my last year in Russell High. We bought a new house and moved that summer. It was a bummer to be a senior in a new school.







BTW ~ Exactly my point, geeks make better lovers.

[NewWaveChick1981]

57. Neither did I, LOL!

It's all Sugar Smack's fault. :P Never ate at the Rio Vista---but do you remember the oh-so-politically incorrect Mammy's Shanty restaurant? My parents took us to eat there, and thinking back on it, it was incredibly Old South. However, the food was to die for! :) I'm glad it's not there any more because of the theme, but I do miss the food.

You'll get a kick out of this---we went to an arts festival one Sunday afternoon in Piedmont Park. I was about ten (around 1973). We walked by the pond, and my dad heard a girl screaming. She had waded out to the middle of the pond and couldn't swim, and she started to drown. Dad dove in fully clothed and saved her. Her family (African-American) didn't know what to make of a white man saving their daughter and basically couldn't say anything---they were stunned. They later mumbled thanks, but they were so overrwrought about her nearly drowning.

And Stone Mountain was THE place to have fun! I remember going up in the cable cars and buying stuff at the gift shop on the top of the mountain. I walked out the door of the shop and nearly got blown away once! lol

Yeah, it was a bummer when we moved too. I was 12, and I had to start all over again in a new city. My friends were all back in Decatur, and I missed them terribly. Truth be told, I wish we'd never moved, but I can't change the past.

[Sugar Smack]

64. You two have no idea how much I'm enjoying this!

Your descriptions make me feel like I'm THERE!:bounce:

[NewWaveChick1981]

65. That's too cool! :)

I'm enjoying the hell out of this myself! Hey, we all need to make an Atlanta road trip soon. We'd have a great time! And I need to make a CH road trip again soon. :bounce:

[Sugar Smack]

71. I can definitely see that happening. Can you imagine

how cool it would be to meet up there? I would love that! :D

[NewWaveChick1981]

72. Me too!

That would be an incredible amount of fun! :toast:

[Sugar Smack]

50. I love geeky guys too!

I met one RIGHT HERE at DU and I'm as happy as a clam! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[NewWaveChick1981]

52. You're definitely "one of us"! LOL

Ah, it's great to find like-minded people here! :D

[NewWaveChick1981]

22. We lived in Decatur...

...Where did you live in the Varsity days???

[In_The_Wind]

29. East Point and Forest Park

[NewWaveChick1981]

32. Cool!

My family moved from ATL to NC in 1975, but I went back frequently to see my friends. I met my GT boyfriend in 1980 and dated him until 1985, during which time I was at UNC-CH. He graduated from Tech in 1981.

I still go back as often as I can. I have a really good friend that still lives in the ATL area, and we've known each other since second grade. :)

[In_The_Wind]

36. The last time I was there was 18 years ago.

I took my second ex-husband to meet my Aunt Betty and my Uncle Roy.

[Sugar Smack]

28. I could see you doing that!!

;-) :rofl:

[In_The_Wind]

35. The funny thing is: Daddy never knew.

When you're good, you're good at everything.
I got away with damn near everything.

[rug]

10. I went to many of them all over midtown Manhattan.

You had to be careful though. If you got up to get something else from the window, your stuff would be cleared from the table if you weren't fast enough.

[Sugar Smack]

17. Hey, rug!

:hi:

Did you frequent them? Did you see any activity behind the doors, like people preparing the food?

[rug]

75. Hi sug!

The trays behind the windows rotated and the servers would replace the food in the empty windows from a tall wagon. I went a lot in high school and sometimes the woman (they were almost all women) would give me a sly smile and put a higher priced item in the window. I got a lot of slices of pie but only paid a muffin's price. (Don't post this in GD or I'll be accused of not respecting private property.)

[progmom]

18. many times

I lived in Holland for a few years, and they were at every train station. Croquettes were fine, but the frikadelen were NASTY. :)

[Sugar Smack]

24. Lucky! I personally know Europe is crawling with Automats.

I'd almost forgot. We saw several in Paris, down in the Paris metro. The metro in Paris is more of a city underground than I've ever seen. What's frikadelen? :-)

[progmom]

27. that's the question everyone asks

...but I personally don't want to know the answer. It's a long, greyish, wrinkly sausage that smells horrible.

So, the Dutch mock the Belgians much like Americans tell Polish jokes. The one joke I remember is:

Q: What's the difference between Belgians and afrikandellen?
A: Frikandellen have brains.

[Sugar Smack]

42. You take your chances when you order meat in Europe, I've noticed.

My family & I went to The Hippopottamus in Paris, and I ordered a burger. When it arrived, there hadn't been the slightest pretense of it being flattened. It was a ball which was charred on the outside and raw on the inside. Just like Oma used to make. *ACK*

[progmom]

46. and my dad ordered shish kabob in the Loire Valley

...it was all organ meat. :puke:

[bridgit]

19. nope, not in that classic, antique'y sense; but i think it would be a...

great place to get a sammich, a bowl o'soup, a beverage; maybe two, and a piece o'pie while dispensing corporate or military secrets, or exchanging money for stolen sammich sized antiquities in that 'whack a mole' sort of environ

i heard Al Frankin's show broadcast from Chapel Hill last week or so...maybe it's time for a Auto-mat :shrug:

[Sugar Smack]

26. BWAAAHAHAHA!

Jeebus, you made me crack up before 9 am!:spray:

dispensing corporate or military secrets! :rofl: :yourock:

I may start thinking of what I'd like to call it.

[swimboy]

23. On a trip to New York when I was little.

I was really impressed by all the pie cubbies.

[Sugar Smack]

31. That's all I get to see in the pictures- pie cubbies.

It makes me wonder what else an automat serves up. :-)

[In_The_Wind]

44. Oooo! You must have had a wonderful time.

:loveya:

[Fredda Weinberg]

38. The sandwich was awful

and the homeless people eventually took over the last H&H. The prices were right though and it was a neat trick - though we could see the hands replacing the dishes.

[Sugar Smack]

53. I've heard that there is only one automat left here.

I think I'm going to do a little more google investigation.

[Fredda Weinberg]

59. I remember hearing the last one closed in NYC eom

[redwitch]

39. Dad took us when we were little to the H&H in NYC

I remember thinking it was very cool. But what kid doesn't like vending machines? :hi:

[Sugar Smack]

45. Good point! And I'm still a kid at heart.

:hi: My father took us to Stuckey's when we were little. It was on the way to Greensborro. I remember there being tons of vending machines. There was a tiny toy slot-machine with a working arm I got for a quarter out of one of them. Stuckey's also had great pecan nougat rolls. :9

[Bridget Burke]

41. Yes. I visited the last one--probably not long before it closed.

We stayed nearby, at the Tudor Hotel on 42nd street (42nd STREET!). I think the Tudor is now a Crowne Plaza & a lot more expensive.

The Automat was a bit cruddy--but it was THE AUTOMAT! Not far from the newspaper with the giant globe in the lobby--the model for The Daily Planet? And just down the street from the Chrysler Building. (THE CHRYSLER BUILDING!)

Houston's a big city & has its share of tall buildings but NYC can turn anyone into a yokel. Remember to comb the hay out of your hair. And close your mouth when you look up the famous landmarks--there are pigeons!

[Sugar Smack]

48. *LOL* I love the way you said that-

"but it was THE AUTOMAT!" Likewise! I'd be thrilled to just walk around inside one. Someone mentioned upthread about it being very stylish and full of Art Deco inside.

[LibertyLover]

55. Years, and I do mean years, ago

I wanted a bow. So, my dad and I got on the bus, went in to New York City and went to a sporting good store that he knew of to buy me a bow. Now, why in the name of heaven we didn't just hop over to Paramus, I have no clue. No, we had to schlep into the city from northern New Jersey. Anyway, we got the bow and some arrows and then we went to the Automat for lunch. It was lots of fun. The food was pretty basic, but not bad. (Actually at the time, there was a Horn and Hardart retail store at the Garden State Mall in Paramus. My mom went over there almost every week to get a type of roll they made which she liked. They used to sell half cakes and pies, which were just right for our family of three.) I have to laugh now - an 11 year old girl walking around NYC carrying a bow and nobody even blinked an eye. Less paranoid times, that's for sure.

[Sugar Smack]

58. That was a great story! Thanks for that.

:applause: Love the image of a little girl carrying a bow.

[LibertyLover]

61. Hee hee

and now I'm a big girl carrying around a bow. My husband and I do medieval re-creation and one of the things we both really like is archery. He shoots a crossbow, while I still prefer a recurve. He is very good, while I am mediocre at best, but it's a great sport.

[AirmensMom]

56. Hey ... PDQ Bach wrote a musical piece

for the Horn and Hardart! That pic made me think of it. :rofl:

[Sugar Smack]

69. Oh, NEAT! *lol*

:rofl:

[Iniquitous Bunny]

60. I never knew anything like this existed.

I'm not even all that young.

It sounds like more of an east coast thing and I grew up in the midwest. Funny, I've seen automated food thingies, but I had no idea there were whole restaurants of them. Wow! Learn something everyday.

[Sugar Smack]

62. I found this picture

from theautomat.net :)

[GalleryGod]

66. As RebelOne said, H&H Automat on Market Street,Philly...was great.

I guess 1972 was the last time I was in there.

[Sugar Smack]

74. I like this picture...

from asyouwish.jixemitri.net

[atomic-fly]

67. i could go for one of those right about now...

all we have is stupid vending machines.

[Sugar Smack]

70. Same here. This is from smithsonian.com:

[DancingBear]

68. But of course!

We used to go to Horn & Hardart all the time whenever we went into NYC.

In the late 60's/early 70's we would take the train from New Haven CT to Grand Central ($2.65, r/t). Mostly we'd either to go the Fillmore East or to the Village, but back then there used to be rock concerts at Carnegie Hall as well. H&H was always on the bill for lunch, unless we found a bar that would serve underage kids, in which case lunch was a very distant second. :)

[Sugar Smack]

73. It sounds as if you've got some really fond memories

of that place. Especially if you were a regular there! :9

[DancingBear]

84. Oh I used to love that place

Before they got their first dollar bill changing machine they had a change booth, where a woman would sit and give you change for you paper money, since of course none of the automat "choices" took anything but coins.

They had the best chocolate cake there - well, actually it was probably pretty bad but for a 16 or 17 year old it was the best!

[no name no slogan]

76. Open it, and they will come

at least for the kitschiness factor. You may have a hard time sustaining it for more than a year, but what the hell, at least you tried, right?

:loveya:

[Sugar Smack]

77. Especially if I'm the one doing the cooking! *LOL*

:loveya:

[no name no slogan]

78. yet another reason why

I love you so much-- you cook better than me! :D

Did you get my PM? I MUST TELL you all about it-- very pertinent. And only nine more days.... :loveya:

[Sugar Smack]

79. Oh, I meant I'd have a hard time sustaining it

if I were the one cooking! You & I know how good I am with a can opener & not much else! :rofl:

I got your pM!!:D Thank you!

[no name no slogan]

80. hey, most fast food is just reheated at the restaurant

it can't be much different from an automat. Just go to Sam's Club, buy a few cases of various Lean Cuisines and a commercial-grade microwave, and voila! Instant Automat!

:*

[CottonBear]

81. I went into one in Prague and drank beer (for 25 cents a mug!)

while standing at tall stainless steel tables with my fellow travelers and two guys (who we met there)who looked like Czech Mickey Rooneys! I think they'd just gotten off work.

I didn't have any food. Just beer. It was great! The automat was really big. It seemed very Eastern European 1950s.

[Sugar Smack]

83. How cool is that! You know, I've been googling pics

to find some really nice European places. :D I think I saw a beer automat in one of them, but it was a drawing.

[no name no slogan]

85. They have beer vending machines in Austria and Japan

Just like a Coke machine, only you can buy beer out of them.

Gotta give them commie lib socialists some mad props for that :thumbsup:

[Sugar Smack]

86. I saw some great photos of Japanese vending machines.

It was fascinating stuff. We need one of those where I work; maybe some people (Diana Ross over there) would calm down. }(

[no name no slogan]

87. Dirty Diana's at it again, huh?

You'll never make me stay
So take your weight off of me
I know your every move
So won't you just let me be
I've been here times before
But I was to blind to see
That you seduce every man
This time you won't seduce me

She's saying that's ok
Hey baby do what you please
I have the stuff the you want
I am the thing that you need
She looked me deep in the eyes
She's touchin' me so to start
She says there's no turnin' back
She trapped me in her heart

Dirty Diana, nah
Dirty Diana, nah
Dirty Diana, no
Dirty Diana
Let me be!

Oh no...
Oh no...
Oh no...

She likes the boys in the band
She knows when they come to town
Every musician's fan after the
curtain comes down
She waits at backstage doors
For those who have prestige
Who promise fortune and fame
A life that's so carefree

She's says that's ok
Hey baby do what you want
I'll be your night lovin' thing
I'll be the freak you can taunt
And I don't care what you say
I want to go too far
I'll be your everything
If you make me a star

Dirty Diana, nah
Dirty Diana, nah
Dirty Diana, no
Dirty Diana...
Dirty Diana, nah
Dirty Diana, nah
Dirty Diana, nah
Dirty Diana, no
Dirty Diana...
Diana!
Diana!
Dirty Diana!
It's Dia...aa...aa...ana!

She said I have to go home
'Cause I'm real tired you see
But I hate sleepin' alone
Why don't you come with me
I said my baby's at home
She's problably worried tonight
I didn't call on the phone to
Say that I'm alright

Diana walked up to me,
She said I'm all yours tonight
At that I ran to the phone
Sayin' baby I'm alright
I said but unlock the door.
Because I forgot the key.
She said he's not coming back
Because he's slepping with me

Dirty Diana, nah
Dirty Diana, nah
Dirty Diana, nah
Dirty Diana, no

[Sugar Smack]

88. I gotta watch out for you!

:spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray:

[LiberalEsto]

82. Yes, in NYC n/t

[Whoa_Nelly]

90. There used to be one at Wiley E. Post Airport in Oklahoma City

I remember my mom taking my sister and me there back in the late '50s. There were actually people behind the automat refilling the selection boxes. I found it fascinating!

[Sugar Smack]

91. I liked vending machines when I was a kid,

so I would have gone a little nuts in an automat, especially if you could see activity going on behind the windows. ;-)