The American cafeteria started in 1885, when a New York self-service restaurant opened, or in 1893, when a Chicago restaurateur named his business a “cafeteria” (actually Spanish for “coffee shop,” though the American version of the term is now in use around the world).
California’s cafeteria explosion began in 1905, when a restaurant boasting self-service advertised itself as “food that can be seen” and “no tips.” The idea was so popular that by the 1920s, some called L.A. “Sunny Cafeteria.”
The Industrial Revolution also spurred the cafeteria’s growth. A new class of workers had emerged who looked down on bringing steel lunch boxes to work. And unlike the saloons that offered free lunches, cafeterias were open to women.
By the 1960s, though, the popularity of McDonald’s and other fast-food restaurants had rendered the stand-alone cafeteria to near obsolescence.
Here below is a set of vintage postcards that shows the inside of American cafeterias in the 1950s and 1960s.
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| Alabama. Britling on the Highlands Cafeteria at 2173 Highland Avenue, Birmingham |
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| Arizona. Ferguson's Cafeteria at 3030 East Thomas Road, Phoenix |
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| Arizona. Holiday House Cafeteria at 1145 N. Alvernon Way, Tucson |
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| Arizona. Holland House Cafeteria, East Camelback Mall, Phoenix |
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| California. Clifton's Brookdale terraced dining levels, Los Angeles |
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| California. Clifton's Cafeteria, Eastland Shopping Center, San Bernardino Freeway at Citrus Ave., West Covina |
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| California. Clifton's Cafeteria, Lakewood Shopping Center, Lakewood Blvd. and Del Amo, Between Pennys and May Co., Lakewood |
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| California. Clifton's Cafeteria, Lakewood Shopping Center, Lakewood Blvd. at Del Amo, Lakewood |
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| California. Clifton's Midtown Cafeteria at 685 South Hoover, just south of Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles |
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| California. Ontra Cafeterias at 4137 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles |
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| Florida. Boulevard Cafeteria at 5084 Biscayne Blvd (U.S. Route 1), Miami |
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| Florida. Driftwood Cafeteria at 101 34th Street South, St. Petersburg |
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| Florida. Driftwood Cafeteria at 101 34th Street South, St. Petersburg |
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| Florida. Driftwood Cafeteria at 101 Skyway Boulevard (Highway 19), St. Petersburg |
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| Florida. Driftwood Cafeteria at 443-445 First Avenue North, St. Petersburg |
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| Florida. Moore's Allapattah Cafeteria at 1500 N.W. 36th Street, on the way to the airport, Miami |
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| Florida. S & S Cafeterias, Daytona Beach |
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| Florida. S&S Cafeteria, Britton Plaza Shopping Center, Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa |
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| Florida. S&S Cafeteria, Searstown Mall, Clearwater |
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| Florida. Town House Cafeteria, Lake City |
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| Georgia. S&S Cafeteria, Lenox Square Shopping, Atlanta |
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| Illinois. Moorman Manufacturing Co. Cafeteria - East Room, Quincy |
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| Indiana. Goodie Shop Cafeteria at 666 Ohio Street, Terre Haute |
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| Missouri. Heritage Cafeteria at 1310 S. Glenstone, Springfield |
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| Nebraska. Brandeis Cafeteria, Omaha |
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| New Jersey. Woolworth Company Boardwalk Cafeteria at 1315 Boardwalk, Atlantic City |
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| North Carolina. Bailey's Cafeteria, Cotswold Shopping, Charlotte |
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| Ohio. Harvest House Cafeteria, Upper Valley Mall, Springfield |
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| Oklahoma. Glass House Cafeteria and Dining Room, Will Rogers Turnpike, Vinita |
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| Pennsylvania. Bonanza Sirloin Pit #811, Franklin |
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| S&S Cafeteria, corner of Volusia and Palmetto Avenues, Daytona Beach |
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| South Carolina. Bailey's Cafeteria in the Pinewood Shopping Center on Highway 176, Spartanburg |
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| Tennessee. Mark Twain Family Cafeteria at 4320 Summer Avenue, Memphis |
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| Texas. Countdown Cafeteria inside the Astrodome, Houston |
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| Washington. Manning's Cafeteria and Buffet at 5505 15th N.W., Seattle |