Postcard History

If you believe that fast food was invented by McDonalds, sadly, you’re wrong. The Woolworth lunch counter? Wrong again.

The roots of America’s first eat-in, fast food restaurant are in a Philadelphia lunchroom. The tiny (11 x 17 feet) establishment had no tables, just a counter with seats, which was normal at the time. Food selection was limited and was prepared and quickly delivered to the customer by counterman.

In upscale restaurants there were tables with linens and menus. The customer’s selection was individually prepared by a large kitchen staff and delivered by waiters.

Joseph Horn, a native Philadelphian had started the lunchroom. In 1888 he needed a partner and advertised to find one. Frank Hardart, a German immigrant who had grown up in New Orleans, answered Horn’s ad.

In those days, coffee was boiled. Hardart was an enthusiast of New Orleans style French drip method of making coffee. With that the partners introduced the new coffee in their lunchroom and it was soon in high demand.

The business expanded to greater selections and by 1898 the partners incorporated as the Horn and Hardart Baking Company on expanded premises.

Horn had travelled in Europe and was struck by a German style of a “waiter-less” restaurant service in Berlin called an “automat.”

The concept was simple. Instead of waiters, customers went to a bank of windows that allowed them to see exactly what was available for purchase. By inserting a coin into a slot and turning a knob, the window opened and the customer removed the food and took it to a table of his choice.

The partners bought the necessary equipment from a German manufacturer and by 1902 they opened their first “Automat” at 818 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia.

Hardart’s French drip coffee and Horn’s selection of Italian style tables and decor, including the French-drip coffee flowing from a silver dolphin-shaped spout, drew customers from all parts of the city.

The choices were extensive and served on real china plates. The customer could eat using solid silverware. The counters and floors were marble. There were stained glass decorations and if the coffee lingered in the dispensers for more than 20 minutes, it was discarded.

The partners expanded to different parts of Philadelphia and in 1912 Joseph Horn opened their first Automat in New York City while Frank Hardart stayed in Philadelphia.

One critic groused in 1914 that “eating and drinking are rapidly entering the category of lost fine arts,” but office workers battered by shrinking time allowed for lunch flocked to the Automats.

The food was freshly prepared in central kitchens and arrived at the stores in company trucks. The staff behind the windows kept an eye on what was sold and quickly refilled the empty spaces. There was even a cashier who would change a bill into nickels. And, if a customer wished, he could buy a nickel cup of coffee and linger for hours with a newspaper.

In 1922 the company opened retail bakery stores where harried customers could buy Horn and Hardart food to take home.

Frank Hardart died in 1918, but Joseph Horn lived until 1941.

At its height, the Horn and Hardart chain of Automats had 171 sites in New York and Philadelphia and the company estimated that they served over 750,000 people a day.

The company had some suburban locations and even a World’s Fair location.

Eventually, tastes moved away from restaurant-styled eating and chains like McDonald’s offered more limited menus, little if any seating, and drive-through and take-out service. The company shrank and in 1991 closed its last restaurant, at 200 East 42^nd Street in New York City.