On Apr 4, 8:37*pm, "
wrote:

They still have automats in the Netherlands, mind you? But they are not
the same as the Horn & Hardart ones that you saw in New York in the 1930s..

The Automat concept actually started in Berlin, IIRC.-

Correct. I'm not sure of the city, but Mr. Horn and Mr. Hardart got
their original machines from Germany circa 1900.

Obrail: Lorraine Diehl, author of a book on Penna Station, also wrote
a book about the Automat.

Reading Terminal in Philadelphia had a large Automat in the first
floor. Many people stopped there before heading home.