created 2025-05-20, & modified, =this.modified
tags:y2025technology
rel: The Machine As Seen at the End of the Mechanical Age - MoMA
The automat is a type of fast-food restaurant where food is served through a vending machine. The first, Quisisana opened in Berlin Germany in 1895.
Originally, the machines in U.S. automats only accepted nickels. A cashier sat in a change booth in the center of the restaurant, behind a wide marble counter with five to eight rounded depressions. The diner would insert the required number of coins in a machine and then lift a window, hinged at the top, and remove the meal, which was usually wrapped in waxed paper. The kitchen was located behind the machines and used to replenish them from the rear.
Closure and Leasing to Burger King
At one time, there were 40 Horn & Hardart automats in New York City. The last one closed in 1991, when the company had converted most of its New York City locations into Burger King restaurants. At the time, customers had been noticing a decrease in the quality of the food.
Quissisana
Opened in 1895 in the Berlin Zoological Gardens.
Sold 5.4K sandwiches, 9K glasses of wine and cordial, and 22K cups of coffee on the first Sunday of business.
Name means in Italian here one is healed (qui si sana).