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Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Guide to the Horn and Hardart Records
Summary
- Collection ID:
- NMAH.AC.0922
- Creators:
-
Hardart, PaulHardart, TomHorn and Hardart.
- Dates:
-
1895-2002
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
2.5 Cubic feet9 boxes
- Repository:
The collection documents the Horn and Hardart chain of restaurants and retail stores.
Scope and Contents note
Scope and Contents note
The collection includes the business records for the Horn and Hardart chain of restaurants and retail stores. The records include business correspondence, photographs, annual reports, operating manuals, sales materials, and printed materials, such as employee newsletters and clippings. The collection documents changes in marketing, in restaurant technology, in customer feedback and in editing habits in urban areas in the United States. Documents changes in marketing, restaurant technology and service styles, evolution of food options based on customer feedback and eating habits in urban areas in the United States.
Arrangement
Arrangement
Materials are arranged in chronological order. The collection is arranged into 8 series.
Series 1: Administrative Files, 1895-1987
Series 2: Financial Records, 1911-1979
Series 3: Horn and Hardart Family Papers, 1901-1987
Subseries 3.1: Joseph V. Horn, 1937-1941
Subseries 3.2: Frank Hardart, Sr., 1901-1918
Subseries 3.3: Frank Joseph Hardart, Jr., 1905-1962
Sub-series 3.4: Thomas R. Hardart, 1938-1987
Series 4: Employee Materials, 1927-1972
Series 5: Company Publications, 1938-1961
Series 6: Automats and Eating Establishments, 1912-1987
Series 7: Magazine Articles and Newspaper Clippings, 1918-2002
Series 8: Miscellaneous Materials, 1957-2002
Biographical/Historical note
Biographical/Historical note
Horn and Hardart was co-founded by Frank Joseph Hardart, Sr. and Joseph V. Horn, who became restaurant partners in 1886. They opened the first automat in the United States in Philadelphia in 1902. It opened in New York between 1010 and 1920, eventually becoming, for a period of time, the world's largest restaurant chain. It also had retail stores. Automats were popular well into the 1960s, but they began to decline with the rise of fast-food restaurants. Horn and Hardart did expand their operations in 1981, by acquiring Bojangles' Famous Chicken n' Biscuits restaurants, but they sold it in 1990. The last Horn and Hardart automat closed in April 1991.
Joseph V. Horn was born in Philadelphia in 1861 and died in Philadelphia in 1941, aged 80.
Frank Joseph Hardart, Sr. was born in Sondernheim in 1852, and he emigrated to New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, in 1858. He married Marie Bruen in 1878, and they had six children. Their eldest child Frank Joseph Hardart, Jr., born 1884, graduated from St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia in 1905, and he took over for his father at Horn and Hardart. Frank Joseph Hardart, Jr. married Evelyn Marie Roche, and they had four children. Their eldest child Thomas R. Hardart was born in New York, Queens, New York, in 1918. He was the president and chairman of Horn and Hardart from 1967 to 1972.
Frank Joseph Hardart, Sr. died in 1918, at the age of 66. Frank Joseph Hardart, Jr. died in New York, New York, on September 15, 1972, when he was 88 years old. Thomas R. Hardart died on November 1, 1988, at the age of 70.
Administration
Author
Bryanna Bauer
Ownership and Custodial History
Donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History by Paul and Tom Hardart in 2006.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Bryanna Bauer, intern, 2018; supervised by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, archivist, 2018.
Using the Collection
Restrictions on Access
Collection is open for research.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Preferred Citation
Horn and Hardart Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Paul and Tom Hardart.
Keywords
| Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Newsletters -- 20th century | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Annual reports -- 20th century | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Photographs -- 20th century | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Magazines (periodicals) -- 20th century | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Manuals | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Correspondence -- 20th century | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Food industry and trade | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Restaurants | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Clippings -- 20th century | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Retail trade | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Business records -- 20th century | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
archivescenter@si.edu
