My mom took me to a H&H in the late 60s. I guess I was seven or eight. The place had a sort of run-down air to it. Not dirty, just worn and past its prime. I had some kind of dessert item; might have been pie.
The NY Public Library had a wonderful exhibit about “Lunch” a few years back. Essentially a small temporary museum exhibit. A good chunk of it was devoted to the automat. They had a screen showing scenes from movies in which an automat figured, and a bank of slots which you could open and take recipe cards from. Original H&H recipies for creamed spinach and the like.
