The Barnes Foundation In Philadelphia To Present Survey Of Experimental Early Photography, February 24-May 12, 2019

Art 

From Today, Painting Is Dead: Early Photography in Britain and France

Featuring nearly 250 photographs, including works by Felice Beato, Julia Margaret Cameron, Roger Fenton, Gustave Le Gray, Étienne-Jules Marey, Félix Nadar, and William Henry Fox Talbot

February 24, 2019–May 12, 2019

Philadelphia, PA —For its second survey of photography, the Barnes Foundation is presenting nearly 250 early photographs—most of which have never been exhibited before—created by British and French photographers between the 1840s and 1880s. Curated by Thom Collins, executive director and president of the Barnes, From Today, Painting Is Dead: Early Photography in Britain and France is drawn from the private collection of Michael Mattis and Judy Hochberg and spans the invention of the daguerreotype to photography on paper and beyond. The show is on view in the Barnes’s Roberts Gallery from February 24 through May 12, 2019.

From Today, Painting Is Dead: Early Photography in Britain and France is sponsored by Comcast NBCUniversal.

Following the production of the first photographs in the 1830s, and before the advent of Kodak’s point-and-shoot camera in 1888 and the industrialization of photography, artists experimented with photography, creating innovative processes and uniquely compelling representational tropes.

“When the influential French painter Paul Delaroche saw a photograph for the first time, he proclaimed, ‘From today, painting is dead!’ This sentiment captures the anxiety with which photography was greeted by artists, though it would be nearly 50 years before technology evolved enough to approximate the work Delaroche and his fellow painters were already doing,” says Collins. “This exhibition explores the very fertile period in the early history of photography, when the medium’s pioneers were grappling with the complex inheritance of official, state-sponsored visual culture.”

For the better part of the 19th century—before rebellious groups like the impressionists challenged the status quo—powerful fine arts academies in Paris and London governed the official style for painting and even guided what subjects artists should depict. Some themes were considered more important than others, based on their cultural significance and the skill required to render them. Moralizing historical subjects were generally the most valued; next came portraiture, then genre (or scenes of daily life), then landscape, and finally still life.

Photography developed amid this stringent artistic climate. Between 1840 and 1870, photographers of all stripes—both amateurs and an emergent class of professionals, makers of vernacular pictures and those aspiring to create fine art—experimented with the new medium, not only its mechanics and chemistry, but also its representational potentials. In doing so, they inevitably absorbed—and transformed—the well-established tropes of the dominant academic painting tradition.

From Today, Painting Is Dead: Early Photography in Britain and France features over 60 photographers, including such masters as William Henry Fox Talbot—the scientist and inventor credited with developing the first photographic prints on paper; Félix Nadar, the great portraitist of Paris high society; Roger Fenton, the English painter turned celebrated photographer who achieved widespread recognition for his photographs of the Crimean War in 1855; Gustave Le Gray, the leader of 1850s French art photography; and Julia Margaret Cameron, whose literary and biblical-themed figure studies and captivating portraits were unprecedented in her time.

Exhibition highlights include:

• Original calotypes from 1840 to 1845 by William Henry Fox Talbot, including still lifes, portraits, landscapes, and street scenes from both England and France.
   
• The earliest war photographs, taken of the Crimean War by Roger Fenton, including his iconic Valley of the Shadow of Death as well as the 11-plate panorama of Sebastopol.
   
• An 1844 daguerreotype of Jerusalem—one of the first of the city—by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey.
   
• A full-plate daguerreotype of the Fontaine des Innocents in Paris by Baron Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gros from 1850.
   
• Some of the earliest existing travel photographs of the Middle East, Southern Europe, Africa, India, Burma, Ecuador, Mexico, and New Zealand.
   
• Portraits by Félix Nadar, Napoleonic Paris’s great portraitist and larger-than-life personality, with subjects ranging from literary legends—including an oversize 1885 deathbed portrait of Victor Hugo—to the first official Japanese delegation to France (1864). Also included are Nadar’s 1860s photographs of the Paris catacombs and sewers, which represent one of the first uses of artificial lighting in photography.
   
• Pre-Raphaelite allegorical portraiture by Julia Margaret Cameron.
   
• French physiologist Étienne-Jules Marey’s 1880s motion studies of athletes, which prefigure the development of motion pictures, much like Eadweard Muybridge’s motion studies in the US.
   
• Seascapes, landscapes, photographs of military maneuvers, and other works by Gustave Le Gray, the leader of the 1850s French movement of fine art photography. 

EXHIBITION ORGANIZATION:
All works are from the collection of Michael Mattis and Judy Hochberg. This exhibition was organized by the Barnes Foundation in association with art2art Circulating Exhibitions. The presentation at the Barnes Foundation is curated by Thom Collins, executive director and president of the Barnes.

This exhibition was produced as part of a new educational venture between the Barnes and the University of Pennsylvania led by Thom Collins and professor Aaron Levy, with curatorial contributions from students in the 2018 Spiegel-Wilks Curatorial Seminar “Ars Moriendi: Life and Death in Early Photography.”

SPONSORS:
This exhibition is sponsored by

Generous support for this exhibition comes from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Exhibition Fund, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, and Aileen and Brian Roberts.

Critical support for all exhibitions comes from contributors to the Barnes Foundation Exhibition Fund.

ABOUT THE BARNES FOUNDATION
The Barnes Foundation is a non-profit cultural and educational institution that shares its unparalleled art collection with the public, organizes special exhibitions, and presents programming that fosters new ways of thinking about human creativity. The Barnes collection is displayed in ensembles that integrate art and objects from across cultures and time periods, overturning traditional hierarchies and revealing universal elements of human expression. Home to one of the world’s finest collections of impressionist, post-impressionist, and early modernist paintings—including the largest groups of paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Paul Cézanne in existence—the Barnes brings together renowned masterworks by such artists as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, and Vincent van Gogh, alongside ancient, medieval, Renaissance, and non-Western art as well as metalwork, furniture, and decorative art.

The Barnes Foundation was established by Dr. Albert C. Barnes in 1922 to “promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts and horticulture.” Since moving to the heart of Philadelphia in 2012, the Barnes has expanded its commitment to teaching visual literacy in groundbreaking ways, investing in original scholarship relating to its collection and enhancing accessibility throughout every facet of its program.

The Barnes Foundation is open Wednesday–Monday, and tickets can be purchased on-site, online, or by calling 215.278.7200. Ticket prices and current hours are listed on our website.

Ski Trip Packing Tips From GetSkiTickets.Com

You’re Going Skiing!

And you probably need help.

Going on a ski trip requires a lot of planning and herding cats, but consider us your ski trip therapist — we are here to help. Have you thought of all weather conditions, all the evenings out in town, and all the ways to get your skis or snowboards from point A to B? If so, wonderful. You should be a travel agent. If not, pay attention to the list, check it twice, and try not to stress too much.

Remember: You’re going skiing! Now let’s make sure you don’t forget anything at home.

Step 1: Ski/Snowboard Clothing

When suiting up for any mountain you only need to know one word–layers. No matter where you’re skiing–Colorado, Washington, Vermont, or even Tennessee–you need to be prepared for anything. That means dressing in layers not made of cotton so you don’t become a frozen dummy for Ski Patrol. Please don’t become a frozen dummy, dummy.

• Base Layer (Top) – 1-2 tight fitting & moisture wicking i.e. wool, polyester, etc.
• Base Layer (Bottom) – 1-2 see above
• Socks – 2-4 thin, wool, tall socks
• Mid-Layer (top) – 1 fleece or thin down vest/jacket
• Jacket
• Pants – insulated for deep winter and light skiing, non-insulated for early/late season & aggressive skiing
• Gloves or Mittens
• Glove/Mitten Liners
• Buff, Neck Gaiter, or Balaclava – to protect your neck and face from wind & snow

Step 2: Gear

Packing ski & snowboard gear to bring with you on your travels can be a bear. There is tremendous benefit to bringing your own equipment, especially your boots, but if you don’t want to deal with the hassle you can always rent the gear when you get to your destination.

We recommend Black Tie Skis. They will come to your room, personally fit your equipment to you, and delivery is totally free.  They will even come find you and service your gear on the ski run that you just took a tumble on because you thought you “still had it” after not skiing for three years.

Now for the list.

• Skis and/or Snowboard
• Boots
• Poles
• Goggles
• Goggle Lenses – important for changing light conditions
• Helmet

Step 3: Casual Clothing

Ever tried driving in ski boots? Maybe it’s best you bring another set of footwear. Resorts have great towns to walk around in, and it would be a shame if you didn’t have something other than your ski gear to wear. Besides, you have to look nice for dinner.

• Snow Boots
• Winter Coat
• Winter Hat
• Gloves and/or Mittens
• Sweaters
• Shirts
• Pants
• Wool Socks
• Rain Coat
• Underwear
• Pajamas

Step 4: The Rest

There’s a laundry list of things you could supplement this list with. Do you have children coming along? Do you require medication, medical equipment, or a CPAP? Photos of your dog? From this point, it’s about planning for a trip anywhere. Take it away almighty packer.

• Ski Tickets – from us, of course
• Sunglasses
• Swimsuit
• Toiletries
• Charging Cables
• Headphones
• Batteries
• GoPro and/or Camera
• Deck of Cards
• Insurance Cards
• Toys and books – are you bringing children?
• Snacks

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Travelore Report, Monthly In Print Since 1971: Some Exceptional Essentials That You Should Consid...: Whether you’re visiting family across the country or taking a vacation during your kid’s holiday break, traveling can get messy. Between...

Noted Rabbi Plans Bar/Bat Mitzvahs On The Island Of Rhodes, Greece, In Historic Synagogue Dating Back To 1577

“The most meaningful, magical, and joyous day you can imagine!”

 If you look at words written in Hebrew for the first time you might exclaim, “It’s Greek to me.”

Now, an Italian-American Rabbi, who over the last 15 years has officiated at hundreds of bar and bat mitzvahs in the U. S., Italy and Greece, is inviting families who are planning these milestone events during 2019 to consider holding the ceremony in one of Europe’s oldest and most historic synagogues – on the Isle of Rhodes, Greece.  The Rhodes Bar/Bat Mitzvah week is set for August 19-28, 2019. Some dates have already been reserved, but still open are August 20, 21, 25, 26 and 27. Reservation deadline is Feb 15 to allow time for tutoring and planning.  A bar (son) or bat (daughter) mitzvah is the religious initiation ceremony of a 13 year-old Jewish boy or girl.

A Chance to Make Your Own History

Rabbi Barbara says, “History is tangible on Rhodes. Most likely there were bar mitzvahs on Rhodes shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple by the Romans in the year 70 CE, and the subsequent scattering of the Jews throughout the Mediterranean region. Today, some 2,000 years later, boys and girls have the unique opportunity to follow in those historic footsteps and mark this important birthday in accordance with tradition on a scenic island.” Among well-known students who studied on Rhodes were Julius Caesar and Cicero.

As for logistics and advance planning, Rabbi Barbara handles the religious, ceremonial and historical aspects.  Arranges a welcome meeting and a practice session with the student, and leads the service.  Rabbi Barbara encourages the bar/bat mitzvah teen to select the name of a Greek child who, as a Holocaust victim, did not become bar or bat mitzvah. Most of Rhodes’ Jews were deported and killed by the Nazis during WW II.

Parents are responsible for securing the services of a local (hometown) tutor for their child. The Rabbi coordinates tutor guidelines and Skypes some lessons. She ensures that Hebrew readings are adapted to the students’ needs  and abilities, so that regardless of learning style or disability, every child succeeds. She says, “Interfaith and non-traditional families are welcome to participate. This is a wonderful way to introduce Jewish tradition, bringing Judaism to life in a loving and meaningful way.”

Memories to Last A Lifetime

Ceremonies are held in the Kahal Kadosh Shalom synagogue, the oldest in Greece, built in 1577. It has been renovated in the style reminiscent of Old Spain, the ancestral home of Rhodes’ Greek Jews. Each youth receives a commemorative certificate, Kahal Shalom Synagogue lifetime family membership, and a ceremonial Kiddush cup created by a Rhodes ceramic artist. Each family pays an honorarium that helps to support the synagogue and the local Jewish community. The ceremony can be shared with siblings, family members or friends in a group of up to four. 

One grandfather reminisced about his granddaughter’s ceremony: “Our children study the Holocaust, but to have the service in the very same synagogue from which these young Greek Jews were deported personalizes our history and makes the bar mitzvah more meaningful. My grandson not only dedicated his bar mitzvah to a boy who died in the Holocaust, he also learned about the boy’s family and what happened to them.”  Thanks to the photos, ritual objects and family treasures on display in the adjacent museum, families come away with a deep connection to this unique community and a strong sense of personal Jewish identity.   

In addition to speaking and teaching in Florida, Rabbi Barbara hosts ‘The Radio Rabbi’ program. She spends part of each year as the first and only woman rabbi in Italy where she heads congregation Ner Tamid del Sud, The Eternal Light of the South, the first active synagogue in Calabria in 500 years -- since Inquisition times. Her grandfather and father were actively involved in its renovation and rebirth.  She also officiates at destination weddings in Italy and throughout Europe.

She says, “As your teen becomes a bar or bat mitzvah in this magnificent synagogue, your entire family will feel deep sense of pride in Jewish traditions and enjoy an historical and spiritual experience that is certain to enhance Jewish identity that will last a lifetime.” This note from a bat mitzvah mom that came soon after their family’s Rhodes bat mitzvah, sums up the experience:

"Emma’s bat mitzvah was the most meaningful, magical, and joyous day of our lives – and it was all because of your warm, kind, intelligent, loving, strength and guidance. It not only celebrated our miraculous daughter but the diversity and love of our family. It allowed cousins and friends from across the world to have precious time together and even repaired old, painful wounds. I don’t know how you bridged languages, cultures and religions to make everyone involved – from my Catholic husband and children – to my observant brother and sister-in-law –to feel the love, power and significance of the tradition, the history and the moment in Emma’s life.”

For more about bar and bat mitzvahs on Rhodes under the auspices of Rabbi Aiello in August 2019, email rabbi@rabbibarbara.com  or visit www.RabbiBarbara.com . To learn more, visit https://rabbibarbara.com/greece-bar-bat-mitzvah/

Travel arrangements may be coordinated with award-winning travel pro Ellen Paderson of Smiles and Miles Travel. Contact Ellen at www.barmitzvahvacations .com .  The Rhodes trip can be combined with a Greek island vacation or any other destination.

                                                    - By Stanley Hurwitz  /   508-269-0570  /    stanhurwitz@gmail.com

The World’s Most Luxurious Airport Lounges

Layovers can be a hassle, or they can be a slice of heaven. If you have the opportunity to visit one of these airport lounges, you may keep your fingers crossed for flight delays. Lounges have gone way beyond free cocktails and Wifi.

Now, you can savor your trip by indulging in spa treatments, taking a nap, or enjoying a gourmet meal, blogs

Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge, Singapore Changi International Airport

Known as one of the top airport lounges in the world, the SilverKris Lounge at Changi airport is huge and accommodating. Fish tanks, orchids, low lighting and great food help make this lounge a soothing oasis. Take a hot shower, get a massage at the spa, or take a nap in your own slumberette.

British Airways Concorde Room, London Heathrow Airport

Decadent Swarovski crystal chandeliers illuminate the gold leaf “Gold Bar” at the elegant British Airways Concorde Room in Heathrow. Fireplaces, gourmet dining, and luxurious furniture create a relaxing pre-flight retreat. You can enjoy a complimentary massage at Elenis Travel Spa, or chill out in your own private room that features a TV, chaise lounge, desk, and shower. For fun, sit in a chair pulled from a Concorde jet made into seating for the Boardroom.

Air France La Premiere Lounge, Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris

Have a massage, enjoy a fine French meal with wines from France’s premiere wineries, take a shower, lounge in a chaise, and then be escorted via Mercedes to your plane.

Swiss Lounge EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse, Freiburg

Relax in a leather recliner surrounded by palm trees under a giant glass dome while you enjoy the views. Hot and cold buffets and a bar offer plenty of sustenance in a bright uplifting atmosphere.

Star Alliance Lounge, Los Angeles, Tom Bradley International Terminal

Enjoy cocktails by the outdoor terrace fireplace and take in panoramic views of the Hollywood Hills while you wait for your international flight at the LAX Star Alliance lounge. Amenities include a library, shower suites, food and beverages, and iPads upon request.

Qantas First Lounge, Sydney

Luxe Italian marble, Swiss quartzite, glass, stainless steel and modern furniture juxtaposed against vertical foliage make a dramatic yet soothing atmosphere for pre-flight relaxation. Qantas First lounge in Sydney boasts complimentary spa treatments, concierge service, shower suites, gourmet dining, private business suites, and spectacular views of Sydney and Botany Bay.

Virgin Atlantic JFK Clubhouse, JFK International Airport, New York

Mood lighting, a brassiere dining area, and a spa with hair salon are all part of Virgin’s unique Clubhouse experience. Fun, vibrant furniture, like a ruby-red ball sofa and bubble chairs make this lounge seem a little futuristic, and is simultaneously soothing and invigorating.

Finnair Lounge, Helsinki Airport, Finland

Finnair Lounge is known for its fabulous midnight buffet, perfect for those on their way to Asia. Marimekko tableware and Nordic design fill surroundings with a relaxing modern aesthetic.

Etihad’s Diamond First Class Lounge, Abu Dhabi International Airport, United Arab Emirates

Drop the kids off with their own personal nanny and head for the spa. You can relax and get a massage while the children enjoy the colorful playroom.

Lufthansa First Class Lounge, Frankfurt

Located in its own terminal, Lufthansa’s First Class Lounge offers concierge service, fine dining, showers and bathtubs (sometimes with Lufthansa’s coveted rubber duckies). After an over-the-top lounge experience, you will be driven to your plane in a Porche or Mercedes. Very James Bond.

Check our AirGuideAirports – Top 50 World Airport Maps displayed with popups, including POI search capability for the busiest airports in North America, Latin America & Caribbean, Europe, Middle East & Africa, Asia Pacific.

Source: www.airguideonline.com 

Luxury Hotel Built In Former Pit Mine To Open In China

SHANGHAI (AP) — A luxury hotel opening outside Shanghai is offering guests with deep pockets the chance of a very deep sleep.

The 18-story Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland Hotel has been built into the side of a huge hole in the ground left by a former pit mine. Sixteen of its floors are below ground level, looking out onto the rest of the former quarry. Two floors are underwater.

“I designed many different types of buildings in U.K., in Europe, in Dubai, and so on but this one was totally different and became almost life work, so that’s why I’m saying it’s probably the most important building that I have designed,” said chief architect Martin Jochman, who is known for the sail-shaped Burj Al-Arab skyscraper in Dubai.

The project began in 2006 and construction got underway in 2013. The team faced delays and a host of technical challenges, including meeting strict earthquake regulations and maintaining water levels.

UNESCO representative Michael Croft described the 336-room hotel as a model for sustainable development.

“It’s a model that has been inspired by a vision of a better future, and a present that looks to its past for answers,” he said at a news conference introducing the hotel Thursday.

The hotel, which is in Songjiang near Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, opens Tuesday. Rooms are priced from 3,666 to 6,000 yuan ($530 to $860).

“We could have abandoned this quarry,” said Xu Shitan, vice chairman of Hong Kong property developer Shimao Group, which developed the hotel. “But we didn’t. We turned it into a treasure.”

1 of 2

This Nov. 13, 2018, aerial photo and released on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2018 by Xinhua News Agency, shows the Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland Hotel in Songjiang district of Shanghai, east China. The 18-story hotel has been built into the side of a huge hole in the ground left b

Racing For Your Flight But Need A Winter Coat? Try The Airport Vending Machine

Benefits Cosmetics has vending machines at 35 U.S. airports. PHOTO: BENEFIT COSMETICS

Efforts to lure passengers to shop before boarding get a new twist with machines that go beyond soft drinks to offer gloves, makeup and fresh salads

By 

Alison Sider. www.wsj.com

Zara Harding had a nagging concern as she walked to her gate after an airport layover in June. She had run out of time to buy a coat for the glacier hike in Washington’s Cascade Mountains she was heading to and was “worrying about being cold in the snow.”

There, at Hollywood Burbank Airport, she found her solution. “Lo and behold,” she says, “a Uniqlo brand vending machine appeared in my path.”

Ms. Harding, 39, a group fitness instructor from Northern California, paid $69.90 for an ultralight down jacket made by the Japanese retailer owned by Fast Retailing Co. She recalls swiping her card and exclaiming, “Take my money!”

Uniqlo last year started placing vending machines selling jackets, vests and other clothes in airports around the U.S. Uniqlo declines to discuss its sales. San Francisco International Airport officials say the machine there brings in around $10,000 a month. Later this year, the airport plans to add a Yo-Kai Express Inc. machine that sells ramen noodles.

Vending machines selling clothing, makeup, electronics and high-end foods are cropping up at U.S. airports where officials are competing for passengers with improved amenities.

Airports have long tried with shops to get passengers to open their wallets before boarding, but they have to keep things fresh: specialty retail sales, which exclude duty free as well as convenience and newsstand items like gum and magazines, have fallen 10% since 2012 to $1.66 per departing passenger at North America’s top 50 airports last year, according to trade publication Airport Experience News.

Now, airports are using vending machines to test the appeal of more unusual products, airport operators and vendors say. The machines can be stationed in unused corners of an airport and make sales around the clock. Some new machines have touch screens and robotic suction arms to deliver expensive products.

“There’s only so many stores you can fit in an airport,” says Elias Bizannes, chief executive of ZoomSystems, which operates machines for brands including Best Buy Co., Benefit Cosmetics LLC and Uniqlo.

Sarah Skwire, a senior fellow at a think tank in Indiana was on her way to Washington, D.C., when she got a text message that she needed her own makeup for a filming. At Indianapolis International Airport, she found one of the pink, 59 bus-shaped Benefit machines that are parked at 37 U.S. and Canadian airports.

Uniqlo last year started placing vending machines selling jackets, vests and other clothes in airports around the U.S. PHOTO: UNIQLO

Before, she says, “I would make sarcastic remarks—who’s going to blow $40 on Benefit while waiting for a plane, from a vending machine?”

This time, Ms. Skwire, 47, bought a travel makeup kit to get herself camera-ready. A few months later, she was back at a Benefit machine after a compact of pressed powder came apart in her bag during a security screening. “I went from a skeptic to a minor enthusiast.”

At some airports, vending machines offer local flavor. Ted Drewes, a St. Louis frozen-custard institution, has been selling $6 “concretes”—custard so thick you can turn it upside down without spilling—from machines at St. Louis Lambert International Airport since mid-2015. Travelers bought 15,000 concretes in the machines’ first year and sales climbed 25% the next year, according to AVendCo, which operates the four frozen-custard machines.

At Pittsburgh International Airport, a vending machine operated by Arcadia Publishing sells books on the history of local neighborhoods for about $20.

Gloves, hats and socks are among the offerings in the Buffalo Wool Co.’s machines. PHOTO: THE BUFFALO WOOL CO.

Other machines offer products that are hard to find elsewhere, including Buffalo Wool Co., which sells gloves, beanies, socks and other goods made from bison wool online and at trade shows. Co-owners Ron and Theresa Miskin spend a month in Alaska each year selling at the state fair, so they knew they could find customers willing to pay $95 for bison-wool gloves at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

But the company is based in Texas, and Mr. Miskin said it didn’t want to hire employees or rent a storefront. So it got two vending machines. The Buffalo Wool machines in Anchorage can make sales of as much as $500 a day each, he says. “A lot of people fly up there and then fly out to much colder places.”

Airport vending has had its challenges. ZoomSystems filed for bankruptcy in 2015 after several customer projects hit delays and the company breached debt covenants. The company emerged later that year with a plan to repay debt and reduce costs. ZoomSystems was acquired last year, and Mr. Bizannes says it is investing in new robotic and sensor technology for retail.

In 2013 Flat Out of Heels LLC introduced a vending machine to sell flat shoes to women walking—uncomfortably—through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. But the machine was often offline because it couldn’t get a strong enough cell signal to process credit-card payments and was removed two years later, says Dawn Dickson, the Miami company’s founder.

Ms. Dickson’s other company, Columbus, Ohio.-based PopCom Inc., has spent two years developing an improved vending machine—the PopShop—and plans to use it to relaunch Flat Out of Heels and for other retailers at airports. “It’s a captive audience,” she says of the airport.

Some companies are also revisiting the vending machine’s original product line: food. Briggo Inc., a Texas company that operates automated coffee kiosks, largely in offices, recently installed a machine at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. It brews customized drinks that passengers can order on a touch screen or through an app while they’re waiting to get through security. Being at the airport, says CEO Kevin Nater, is “like being on the world stage.”

A salad in a jar from Farmer’s Fridge, which has seven vending machines in Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. PHOTO: FARMER'S FRIDGE

Farmer’s Fridge, a Chicago company that dispenses fresh salads, soups and sandwiches from vending machines around that city and Milwaukee, is considering additional airport locations in its plans to expand to new cities. The company’s seven machines at O’Hare International Airport have generated $600,000 in sales this year through August, according to Chicago’s Department of Aviation.

Daniel Burka, a 39-year-old designer who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., was passing through Chicago on his way from New York to Palm Springs, Calif., for his father’s 70th birthday when he spotted the refrigerator with a touch screen.

“I immediately thought of wilted brown salad in a sad refrigerator,” he says, but took a chance anyway. He was pleasantly surprised by the jar of fresh cauliflower salad and side of white cheddar cheese that popped out for about $9.

“The bar is low in an airport,” he says, and “the green fridge was an oasis by comparison to the usual junk.”

Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com