A Bite of Nostalgia. And pie.

I used to live in New York  (mid 1960's)... well ... Long Island, but I would go to visit my brother in the Big Apple, and we would eat at the Automat down the street from his tiny apartment (the exposed pipes in his ceiling were great for hanging laundry to dry). In the Automat, there was a bank of glass panels on each wall, with food items inside. Not packaged food as with a vending machine, but fresh food that included pie, sandwiches, Jello, ... it was a comparatively cheap place to get a meal, while we sat debating the superiority of the Beatles over the Rolling Stones, or vice versa. And the Automat was open 24 hours.
I've never seen one outside of the City, and these days when I mention the coin-operated self serve restaurant, I get blank stares. I'm sure that some of the Moe's clan has eaten at an Automat .... anyone....?

For the youngsters, here's a 3 minute primer on the whole Automat experience.