Living Automatically (Jul, 1946)
Long before computer labs and internet cafes people had to make due with coin-op typewriters.
Living Automatically
New machines ready to serve at the drop of a coin
A New York restaurant has substituted machinery for waiters. The diner needs only to write out the order and drop the card into a slot in the table, as above (see PSM, Apr. ’40, p. 126). In a basement kitchen the food is prepared and, course by course, served through the center of the table, which operates like a dumb-waiter (right) by hand or hydraulic power, compressed air, or electricity.
The Transmeter Ticket Vending Machine prints, dates, records and delivers a railroad ticket in a few seconds. The commuter merely sets dial (right) to point of destination and inserts fare. Inventor R. V. Anderson, New York, plans trans-meters to sell tickets for theaters and sports events.This coin-operated typewriter will be available in hotel lobbies, railroad stations, and even drugstores. When a dime is inserted, the machine unlocks, setting a meter that measures 325 lineal inches—enough to fill a standard letterhead single-spaced and address an envelope or two. Marlyn C. Ford, of Jacksonville, Fla., devised the automatic machine.
“Long before computer labs and internet cafes people had to make due with coin-op typewriters.”
and weak, lousy, percolated coffee!