Fast Food reasonable price. Later on with the aid of an Automat Horn & Hardart introduced dealer from Groningen, hot Automats. The custom- Bamn! Food tried to bring ers could choose compo- the Automat back. The re- nents and thus compile vival was not successful. their own hot meals. Horn Three years after opening, & Hardart became a hot the Automat in the East Vil- thing. The hard-working lage closed. men and women of the fast- The glorious days of the growing city needed good, Automat never returned reasonably priced food. to New Amsterdam. Old Horn & Hardart grew to be Amsterdam, the capital of the biggest restaurant chain The Netherlands, took over, in the country. thanks to a Dutch family- In the middle of the 1950s owned business called Febo. Horn & Hardart had about fifty outlets in New York ebo turned 70 this alone. Horn & Hardart be- year. The Amsterdam came a New York icon. The Fcompany celebrated Automats were pictured on its birthday with the pub- postcards, America’s own lication of the book, Febo Rembrandt, Edward Hop- – A Phenomenon. Febo Au- per, made a famous paint- tomatieks can be found all ing of the Automat and Ir- over The Netherlands now- ving Berlin even honored adays, but the company was the Automat in his musical not the first in the country Face The Music, as Marilyn to sell hot and cold food in Monroe did in her hit song Automats. Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best TheAutomatiek conquered Wall food by Febo Friend. Around the time Amsterdam and the rest Monroe sang the song, of The Netherlands in the Horn & Hardart served 1930s, long before Febo Amsterdam: the automat capital of the world more than 800,000 New opened its first bakery in Yorkers each and every day, Amsterdam in 1941. BY UBEL ZUIDERVELD mainly through their self The bakery, started during service automats. But the company failed to innovate the German occupation near Amsterdam’s Olympic Sta- emember Marilyn Monroe singing her hit song the Automatiek is one of Amsterdam’s most outrageous in time and lost relevance for the growing middle class dium was an instant success. It was said in those war- Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend in the 1953 attractions, besides the red light district and the coffee population. McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s, time days of scarcity that entrepreneur Johan Izaäk de Rmovie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes? shops that sell soft drugs of course. Most of these tour- where the consumers could purchase hot food at drive Borst could even create tasty food almost without in- A kiss may be grand ists don’t know it, but sixty years ago not Amsterdam throughs, took over. gredients. But there was one product that his customers But it won't pay the rental but New York was the world’s largest Automat town. Horn & Hardart lost the battle and New York lost its liked in particular. Maison Febo became famous for its On your humble flat In 1912 two entrepreneurs from Philadelphia, Joseph position as the Automat Capital of the World. In 2006, hot meat croquettes. Or help you at the Automat. Horn and Frank Hardart, opened their first New York The Automat - millions of New Automat at 1157 Broadway. Af- Dutch fast food Yorkers used to eat there. But ter having pioneered a so-called McDonald’s is by far the biggest fast food chain in The Netherlands. But there they stopped doing that when waitressless restaurant in their are still about 4,800 typically Dutch snackbars, cafeterias and fritures. After McDonald’s and Burger King home town, Horn & Hardart many decades of growth, from 1997 on the number of these fry-shops started conquered the city. Nowadays came to the Big Apple with their declining by about a percent every year. But the typical Dutch fries and snacks buying hot food from an Au- cafeterias and automats (that are still popular. The most popular snack is the frikandel (see picture on fac- tomatiek is typically Dutch. they purchased in Germany). ing page), a sausage consisting of meat, flour and herbs. The Dutch mostly Without a doubt eating hot The novelty needed instruc- eat their frikandel with pieces of onion, mayonnaise and hot curry sauce. Sec- snacks at the Automatiek is as tions: ‘First drop your nickels in ond comes the good old kroket (croquette), mostly filled with a hotchpotch of ADE Dutch as windmills, wooden the slot. Then turn the knob, the R meat. Even McDonald’s in the Netherlands sells the McKroket (a croquette on a AND burger bun). Other popular Dutch snacks sold in automats are: cheese soufflés, shoes and tulips. Thanks to the glass door clicks open. Lift the E RG burgers, satay, egg rolls, meatballs, bami- and nasischijven (crusty snacks filled Amsterdam-based fast food door and help yourself.’ O chain Febo, the largest city of The Netherlands became Initially customers could only buy cold dishes at the J - with Indonesian style noodles or rice). EBO the Automat Capital of the world. Many tourists think Automat, like cakes, fruit and sandwiches, all at a very F 16 - DUTCH, the magazine November/December 2011 November/December 2011 DUTCH, the magazine - 17 Busy crowd at a Febo outlet near the Amsterdam Arena Soccer Stadium LELYSTAD FOR RENT Comfortable Apartments Johan Cruyff with a young fan in a Febo outlet Johan Cruyff Ask people around the world to mention someone fa- Fully furnished with tv, telephone & Internet mous from The Netherlands and, if they can, many will come up with the name of Johan Cruyff. No, not Vincent 1 person €33 per night van Gogh or Rembrandt, but Cruyff. He is considered one 2 persons €43 per night of the best soccer players ever. Cruyff won a lot of prizes includes sheets & towels - discounts for longer stays with Ajax Amsterdam, the club where he started his ca- For brochures, photos and reservations: reer, and CF Barcelona, his second home. Ria Luikink-van Uum Tel: +31 320 254316 In 1974 he played with the Dutch team in the final of the Moezelstraat 12 web: www.luikink.nl World Championships against the Germans (and yes, the 8226 LA Lelystad www.luikink.com Dutch lost the game.) He even spent two seasons in the Netherlands Email: [email protected] After World War II the Amsterdammers lined up in Again customers queued. The Febo croquette became USA, with the Los Angeles Aztecs in 1979/80 and with the long rows for the delicious snack. Maison Febo made so popular in all of Amsterdam. To keep up with the grow- Washington Diplomats in 1980/81. much money with croquettes that De Borst decided to ing demand, Febo opened more outlets in Amsterdam, Cruyff is a big Febo fan. He wrote the foreword for Mar- quit baking bread and pastry. He closed the bakery. In especially in the 1970s. cel de Jong’s book about the company. Cruyff’s Dutch of- Book your next cruise 1960, just around the corner from his former bakery, in For a long time Febo was bigger than McDonald’s in fice is in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. Opposite with Visscher’s Travel & Cruise Ltd fact in the family’s living room, he opened up his first The Netherlands. McDonald’s opened its first Europe- the arena are two Febo outlets. Broodje Halfom is one Automatiek. The number of Automats in The Nether- an restaurant in Zaandam in 1971 in cooperation with of Cruyff’s favorites. Broodje Halfom is a typical Amster- The Cruise Experts! lands was already declining and the Automatiek would Dutch supermarket giant Albert Heijn and this outlet, dam snack, a bread bun with salted beef, baked liver and probably have vanished if it wasn’t for Febo. Thanks to about ten miles from Amsterdam, inspired the founder sometimes pieces of bacon. The sandwich is said to have the company, drawing hot food from the wall still is a of Febo. De Borst introduced milkshakes, burgers and been invented more than a century ago by Jewish sand- common Dutch habit today. turned his business into a franchise organization, which wich shops in Amsterdam. The first Febo Automatiek was only a very small snack was rather unique in the Dutch catering business of bar without seats. It had some Automats and a buffet those years. Febo grew and grew. From Groningen to bo’s can be found in nearly all large cities in The Nether- where the customers could buy fries and ice cream. Den Bosch and from Arnhem to Sneek and Venlo. Fe- lands. Today, it has 65 Automatieks and is still growing. Also for all your other travel requirements! About ten years ago the third generation of the family Bible Land Christian Cruise Tour Customer loyalty joined the organization’s management. Four years ago March 7 thru 23, 2012 - starting at $ 00 cad VELD 4238 Jan van Boven was born in 1923. He is a Febo franchisee R Febo opened a brand new factory in North Amster- Includes: airfare from Toronto, taxes, excursions, in Amsterdam and he still works in his Automatiek every UIDE dam, the most modern Dutch snack production facility. Z meals and transfers. day. A remarkable man Jan is without a doubt the oldest Febo innovates but stays true to the principles of 1941. Add on airfare from Vancouver $39900 cad UBEL fast food entrepreneur of The Netherlands. - The Amsterdam company went on making top quality He tells about a couple that emigrated to America and snacks with the finest (and therefore not always cheap- Castles - you’ll love where we take you! BOVEN came back for their first visit to Amsterdam in a very long est) ingredients.