The Automat In 1946
Things were looking up for the Automat in 1946. The vets were back and looking for jobs and cheap eats. Shortages persisted but were not as bad as they had been a year before. Meat had disappeared from butcher shops on Easter week, but some was getting through to restaurants.
The wife of the president of France visited the Automat on her trip to New York City in April and pronounced herself impressed. Actually Europe had automats before the US, but they had never been the rage that they were in New York.
A New York Times story in March showed that it paid to be careful about striking up a romance at the Automat. The article reported that a newlywed was a surprise witness against her husband, a man she met over an Automat coffee spigot. Back in January, the middle-aged widow was about to put her nickel into the coffee dispenser when gentlemanly Leon Glass, big-time spender that he was, insisted he be allowed to buy it for her. He led her back to a table and regaled her with phony tales of his military exploits and great wealth. They were married a month later. It turned out Glass had a criminal record, including time spent in jail for bigamy. The flashy diamond in the engagement ring he gave her was glass and her wedding ring came from a five-and-dime. He talked her into giving him $3,000 and now he was on trial for depositing a bogus $31,000 check. Jeez, all that aggravation for a nickel cup of coffee.
Later in 1946, Horn & Hardart increased the price of milk to a dime, but they said it was still good value since the glasses were bigger and they now would be serving that new and improved homogenized milk. The company resisted raising the price of coffee or changing the brew even after the OPA sanctioned a price increase.
The Automats thrived for another decade. Then changing tastes and attitudes in America led to a slow decline as the newly suburbanized middle class stopped coming to the city to shop or catch a movie and white collar workers no longer tolerated the poor people or chatty seniors with whom they sometimes had to share tables. In the 1970s, Horn & Hardart converted several Manhattan locations to Burger King franchises. The last Automat closed in 1991.