I didn’t move to New York City until 1985, after the Automats were gone, and I wish I could’ve seen them. Here’s a hilarious movie clip with an Automat scene from “Easy Living” with Jean Arthur and Ray Milland (1937), a kind of Depression-era anarchic fantasy where all the little food doors swing open to hungry New Yorkers.

Assuming the above clip made you laugh, I recommend the whole film, linked to here in a good print via youtube.