Automats are like vending machines where you insert coins or swipe a card to get hot food. They boomed in the US in the middle of the last century but have now disappeared. They are thriving in the ...

In 1902, Horn & Hardart opened the first automat in Philadelphia. The concept, which was a precursor to modern fast-food establishments, featured rows of coin-operated vending machines, which would ...

There once was a time when a hungry wanderer, short on cash and suddenly in need of a meal, could stop by a machine, slide in a few nickels, and get something more substantial out than a Snickers bar.