Movies for Grownups Screening: THE AUTOMAT
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
From 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Watch this documentary on the iconic restaurant chain Horn & Hardart from the early 1900s, featuring appearances from Mel Brooks, late actor Carl Reiner and more. Join AARP Movies for Grownups and attendees from across the U.S. for a FREE screening of THE AUTOMAT on WEDNESDAY, May 25 at 8:00 p.m. ET. AARP membership not required.
To register for the event, click REGISTER and follow the steps on the movie page. Please note that you MUST sign in to your AARP.org account to register. AARP Membership is not required to create an account.
“The Automat” recounts the lost history of the iconic restaurant chain Horn & Hardart, which served affordable-priced quality food to millions of New Yorkers and Philadelphians for more than a century. Found by Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart in 1888, it revolutionized the nation’s restaurant scene with comfortable interiors, quality food, and state of the art technology for the early 20th century. The chain welcomed those who had been ignored, including immigrants, the working-class, Blacks, and women, all of whom were often not welcome in restaurants. Horn & Hardart’s technology captured the public’s imagination like nothing else in 1900’s— the customer put nickels into slots and little windows opened to reveal the customer’s pick, be it a slice of pie, macaroni and cheese, or a Salisbury steak. The gleaming glass and stainless-steel windows looked “sanitary” and like nothing else in existence. “The Automat” illustrates how the company both served the public with great food and at the same time treated its employees with fairness and integrity.