#18: Complete Hot Meals
At the height of America’s enthusiasm for automation, inventors did not stop at soup or sandwiches. Some vending systems attempted to provide combinations substantial enough to resemble complete meals. Mid-century “automatic cafeterias” could use banks of machines and heated compartments to offer entrées, vegetables, desserts, beverages, and other selections without a traditional serving line. This overlapped with the famous Automat concept associated with Horn & Hardart, although an important distinction is necessary: Automats were not completely machine-operated restaurants. Customers opened coin-operated compartments, but employees and cooks worked behind the scenes preparing and replenishing the food. Later vending technology pushed automation further through refrigerated meals and equipment capable of heating prepared dishes before serving them. Factories and institutions were especially attractive markets because workers needed meals during shifts when operating a full cafeteria could be expensive. Contemporary advertisements sometimes portrayed this as a glimpse of tomorrow’s food service, where machines could feed large numbers of people efficiently at any hour. The fully automated restaurant never eliminated human kitchens, but the dream never entirely disappeared either.
