15 Comments

When I moved here in 2008 there was still an automat on St Marks between 2nd and 3rd. It closed shortly after- and it was NOT as nice as the Horn & Hardart Automat.

BTW that font reminds me so much of the font "Broadway," or something similar. Meaning the one that says "sandwiches" and "pies." It strikes me as familiar but I can't place why. Maybe an aura of the lobby of the ESB? Maybe a theatre? Hmmmm.

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Yup def gives off those vibes! I remember BAM! I never did go but I thought it was so cool. Remember Eatsa? Had a similar gimmick and wasn’t that far from the last H&H.

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I don’t remember it! Don’t think I ever saw Eatsa

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Speaking of Ponce, this commercial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnSkNHuHBmw aired in ATL unchanged from the 1950s until the 1980s, when Plaza Drugs sold out to Treasury Drugs. Treasury Drugs kept the pharmacy unchanged, even through a sale to Big B Drugs. Now it's been stripped of its charm as an Urban Outfitters. https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7735895,-84.3527318,3a,75y,177.04h,87.71t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sO6DFgtpCAa1h2DKFZMThIA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DO6DFgtpCAa1h2DKFZMThIA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D247.45212%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu

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2) If you want to stick out in ATL as "not from around here", use the proper Spanish pronunciation of "Ponce de Leon", i.e., "pon-SAY day lee-OWN".

Locals say "pontz duh LEE-on".

If you really want to look like a local, just call the road "Ponce" ("pontz"), as in Ponce City Market in the old Sears.

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I did not know that -- and noted for my return trip! (I shot the Krispy Kreme late at night in 2020, and didn't realize the Kodak sign was right behind me!)

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Be sure to check out Ponce City Market on your return trip. They've done a good job preserving the old Sears. https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7736529,-84.3655801,3a,75y,186.69h,105.07t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAfQTn-axEbako5srC5repQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu

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Will do!

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Couple items of interest:

1) Loft's Candy bought a bankrupt Pepsi-Cola when Coke apparently wouldn't give Loft enough of a deal (Coke had also turned down an overture to buy Pepsi, out of antitrust concerns, although Pepsi was a bit player at the time). Loft put its candy experts to work to tweak the mediocre formula, into the one used today. Eventually the now-renamed Pepsi-Cola Company spun off the candy business.

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Fascinating and sweet bit of history!

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Honestly thought an Automat comeback would make a ton of sense in these economic conditions. Can compete on price when you don't need to have front-facing customer service and cashiers. You could probably leverage data nowadays and use predictive analytics to make an Automat more efficient in its operations.

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(Late to the party but I found your wonderful page via Pizza Hut.) They recreated this for Mrs. Maisel! https://untappedcities.com/2022/10/26/marvelous-mrs-maisel-recreates-automat-season-5/?fbclid=IwAR0SEfqVYZs7908_PPBIa4w5mNF7q3o6_59fR1pU3tHppW6rq5-knkHIoeU

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Thanks Rolando … Joseph the geographer here. We visited Ponderosa and sirloin stockade about every six months growing up in western Colorado. That was our one “fancy “dinner out every half year. By the way, there’s a new Bucees in Colorado as you probably know - it is I believe the largest of them all and the only one in Colorado. I have a video on my our earth channel about my visit there. One of the interesting things about it is that there were at least 500 people in the parking lot and in the store… And not one single table… They must not want you to loiter.

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