The Automat (2021)

Lorraine Diehl: Self - Co-Author, 'The Automat'

Quotes 

• Self - Co-Author, 'The Automat' : What is in effect, the first Horn & Hardart cafeteria, was not really efficient. Fortunately, Horn & Hardart had a chief engineer named John Fritsche.

  Self - Automat Historian : Fritsche developed a lot of patents related to the Automat technology. He introduced the fundamental innovation of the drum. He found ways to make them hold both hot and cold food. He changed the way the coin slots worked.

  Self - Co-Author, 'The Automat' : Fritsche came up with the vending machine wall and all the little doors.

  Self - Automat Historian : America at this time had a real fascination with machine age technology and anything that acted like that had a big attraction. And very quickly, Horn & Hardart's new Automat was a success in Philadelphia. And the decision to expand to New York was an obvious one. It was the next, really large, industrial urban center.

  Self - Co-Author, 'The Automat' : And that was the beginning of one of the most successful restaurant chains in America, ever.

• Self - New York City Historian : Social custom was changing slowly. Women started being able to go out to eat on their own. And women of the 1920s went to Horn & Hardart.

  Self - Co-Author, 'The Automat' : It was a place a woman would feel comfortable and safe and they had good quality food.

• Self - Co-Author, 'The Automat' : Jack Benny liked the Automat. He decided to launch a TV series there. He had a reputation of being cheap. And he invited all the celebrities, Helen Hayes and people like that, in their long gowns and their tuxedos. And when when they got to the Automat, Jack Benny gave them a roll of nickels.