“Carfeteria” Serves Motorists at Wheel, 1949

Eating was made easy for motorists who patronize the wheellike Los Angeles Motor-mat in 1949. Spokes of the wheel are tracks along which run small carriages. You drive into one of the 20 stalls, where a carriage and menu are waiting, make your selection, write the order, and press a button.

Presto! the carriage whizzes into the kitchen, stopping along the way only long enough for an attendant to figure the cost. In a few minutes the meal is shot back to your car. When you have finished eating from a lap tray, you put the empty dishes back in the carriage-plus the price of the meal.