L ifestyle /C ulture
‘The Automat’ to Show at Philadelphia Film Festival
FI L M
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
AT THE HORN & Hardart
Automat, a customer could
obtain a cup of coffee by sliding
a nickel into a thin brass slot
and pulling a lever below it,
allowing a steady stream of
chicory-blended coffee to pour
from a dolphin’s mouth (though
some argued it looked more like
a lion’s head) into a thick, porce-
lain cup. If one blinked, they
would miss the thin stream of
milk that trickled into the cup
from an unseen spout.

That 5-cent cup of coffee
became emblematic of the
Automat, a cafeteria-style
restaurant that boomed in
Philadelphia and New York in
the early and mid-20th century:
affordable, tasty and downright
enchanting. Though the last of the 157
Horn & Hardart establishments
closed its doors in 1991, its
legacy lives on in the minds of
many who visited the restau-
rant and, most recently, in “The
Automat,” a documentary by
Jewish filmmaker Lisa Hurwitz.

The documentary will be
screened at the 30th annual
Philadelphia Film Festival
on Oct. 23 at 9:30 a.m. at the
Bourse and on Oct. 31 at 1:15
p.m. at the Film Center.

Horn & Hardart’s business
model was unique in the U.S.

Borrowing German technol-
ogies, the Automat used a
waiter-less, vending machine-
style model. In exchange for a
couple of nickels, one could buy
a meal consisting of an amalga-
mation of dishes pulled out of
small, temperature-controlled,
glass-doored cubbies. Baked
beans, macaroni and cheese,
salisbury steak and strawberry
rhubarb pie were menu favorites.

But Hurwitz argues that the
restaurant’s magic transcended
the magic of its physical
operation. “The Automat” captures
the essence of the Horn &
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Hardart establishments through
the eyes of those who experi-
enced the restaurants firsthand:
Brooklynite comedian Mel
Brooks, with a near-photographic
memory of his cross-bureau trips
to the Manhattan Automats
in the 1930s; Supreme Court
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
who remarked on the automat’s
hallmark commitment to serving
everyone who walked through
their doors, regardless of race,
class or gender; and former
Secretary of State Colin Powell,
whose rare family outings to
a restaurant were defined by
Horn & Hardart’s affordable, yet
high-quality service.

Though neither founders
Joseph Horn nor Frank Hardart
were Jewish, Hurwitz insists
that the restaurant is a touch-
stone for American Jews.

“Jews just love the Automat,”
Hurwitz said.

With inexpensive, tasty
food and a business principle
of not turning anyone away,
Horn & Hardart mirrored the
values held by the many Jewish
immigrants it served.

“I really love how they
took care of people; they were
offering something that was
good for people,” Hurwitz
said. “They were like a model
company.” Hurwitz’s interest in Horn &
Hardart epitomizes the lasting
interest in the establishment.

Through her years eating
at her college dining hall at
Evergreen State College in
Olympia, Washington, Hurwitz
developed a fascination with
cafeteria food and culture,
something she was deprived of
while eating lunch from kosher
food trucks at her Jewish day
school while growing up in Los
Angeles. Several trips to the library to
learn more about cafeterias led
Hurwitz to stumble upon the
history of the Automat, which
snowballed into an idea for a
documentary that Hurwitz
began working on after gradu-
ating in 2013.

A New York Horn & Hardart
Automat in the 1930s
She quickly became familiar
with the establishment’s loyal
following among those who
visited the Automats, fueling
her to bring the film to fruition.

“It’s kind of ironic because
one of the most amazing parts
about the Automat was this
social element — how people
sat at communal tables and
just hung out there; it was a
great meeting place,” Hurwitz
said. “This film became a great
meeting place for me, and that
was what drove me to keep
pushing and pushing over eight
years.” Though many remember
the coffee and pie from Horn
& Hardart, Hurwitz contends
that it was really the social
component that made Horn
& Hardart a memorable and
lasting institution.

The experience of the
Automat is what inspired
Starbucks founder Howard
Schultz to bring “theater and
romance” to his coffee shop
experience. Though it inspired future
business models, the Automat
remains unparalleled, Hurwitz
said. In the film, Hurwitz poses a
question to architectural dealer
Steve Stollman about whether
something similar to the
Automat exists today. Stollman
said no — and Hurwitz agrees.

“People are always pushing;
they want me to say that these
modern-day vending machine
JEWISH EXPONENT
Starbucks founder Howard Schultz holds a framed photograph of the
Automat, which hangs in his office.
Courtesy of A Slice of Pie Productions
Jews just love the Automat.”
LISA HURWITZ
restaurants, these automatic
restaurants or whatever, are
like modern-day incarnations
of the Automat,” Hurwitz said,
“And I don’t feel that they are,
because it was really about the
environment.” But Hurwitz is at peace with
the Automat’s finite lifespan.

Within the story of the Horn
& Hardart Automat, there’s
a lesson about the imperma-
nence of some things, no matter
how beloved.

“Sometimes we have to let
things go,” Hurwitz said. “We
can’t save everything. Things
don’t always last forever.”
The Philadelphia Film
Festival runs from Oct. 20-31.

The schedule and tickets for
the film festival are available at
filmadelphia.org. l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
OCTOBER 21, 2021
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