"For several decades, spanning from Prohibition to the suburban exodus of the 1950s, Horn & Hardart's Automat was where millionaires and the less fortunate sat elbow to elbow at lacquered tables and dined on a three-course meal and a fantastic cup of joe for less than $1.50. With 180 locations, mostly in New York City, it had a varied menu of nearly 400 items - anyone could plunk a few nickels into the imposing wall of glass cubbyholes that dispensed piping hot meals in seconds."
"The food was cheap, but it was also astonishingly good, thanks to founders Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart, for whom quality control was gospel, and the diligent workers behind the glass wall, who constantly refilled the dispensers with freshly prepared food, as depicted in the Cary Grant-Doris Day film, "That Touch of Mink." Despite the Automat's extraordinary success, Horn & Hardart filed for bankruptcy in 1972 and again nine years later."
Horn & Hardart's Automats operated hundreds of locations, primarily in New York City, offering nearly 400 menu items dispensed from glass cubbyholes for a few nickels. The Automats served affordable three-course meals and renowned French-style drip coffee from ornate dining palaces staffed by workers who refilled freshly prepared food continuously. Founders Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart enforced strict quality control and Frank Hardart created the coffee recipe. The chain inspired Howard Schultz's Starbucks vision. The business faced bankruptcy in the 1970s and 1980s as customers shifted toward fast-food drive-ins and inflation raised food costs, making the low-price model unsustainable.
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