Automat
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An automat is a fast-food restaurant where food and drink are served through a vending machine, typically without waitstaff. The world's first automat, Quisisana, opened in Berlin, Germany, in 1895.
The first automat at 13 Leipziger Straße in Berlin, Germany
A food ticket machine in Japan in 2022
An automat in East Berlin, 1954
An automat in Efteling
Horn & Hardart
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Horn & Hardart was a food services company in the United States noted for operating the first food service automats in Philadelphia, New York City, and Baltimore. Horn & Hardart automats ushered in th
Automat
…best-known chain of Dutch automats, with some outlets open 24 hours a day. The first automat in the United States was opened by food services company Horn & Hardart on June 12, 1902, at 818 Chestnut St. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Inspired by Max Sielaff's automat restaurants in Berlin, they were among the first…
First Automat, 818–820 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia (1904 postcard)
818 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, site of first U.S. Automat, with original Horn & Hardart sign still up in July 2020
Horn & Hardart postcard, circa 1930s
Automat in Times Square, circa 1939