Diner News and History

A blog about diners and other things encountered along the way.
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Saturday, August 30, 2008

Weekend Roundup

The Weekend Roundup feature draws from some of the postings we made during this past week. It's purpose is a quick summary and one area of the blog where we don't include map links. At times we may include other items here not making the blog that may be of interest to our readers. We'd like to hear your comments or suggestions.

Sunday, August 31st will mark the second anniversary of O'Rourke's diner fire. The diner reopened February 11, 2008.

This diner was added to the database:

Huck Finn Diner
2431 Morris Ave.
Union, NJ
- as seen on flickr here.

There were no reports of any diners sold, opening, being demolished, constructed, installed, or moved. Please let us know if we've missed something diner related that happened this past week.

We were on the road this past weekend visiting diners in Maine and New Hampshire. We've posted some and others are in process. The blog entry entitled "A Road Trip Begins" is the starting point.


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Thursday, August 28, 2008

Former Phil's Diner - North Hollywood, CA


Phil's Diner
Photo by flickr pro Usonian
and appears here under
Creative Commons
edited
Often community redevelopment doesn't include 1920's diners. In the 1990's Phil's Diner, a long standing institution in North Hollywood closed leaving its future in question. Construction projects eventually forced its move. The diner's restoration has been talked about over the subsequent years. flickr pro Fire Monkey Fish has three pictures (1 2 3) of the diner in storage, taken on August 19, 2005. Downtown NoHo Times' blog entry last year has pictures of the diner in storage off Weddington Street. Earlier this year plans were announced regarding Phil's.

Yesterday's Los Angeles Daily News posted an update on Phil's. After restoration and relocation, the diner is expected to reopen at Lankershim and Weddington Street in 2010. Another article about Phil's was posted in the Los Angeles Times here.



Red Rose Diner
Photo by flickr pro Navin75
and appears here under
Creative Commons
Compare the picture at right with Phil's. While not a Tierney diner, you'll notice many P.J. Tierney Sons, Inc. design influences in Phil's exterior. Be sure to visit Sweet Leilani's post about her visit to the Red Rose here. She includes several pictures of the diner in her message. The restoration of this 1927 Tierney took Gordon Tindall more than six years. He reopened it on July 1, 2005.

Earlier this month we posted a blog entry about our visit to another Tierney, the Tin Man Diner here.

We look forward to the reopening of Phil's and will post more information as it becomes available.


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Expected future location
Phil's Diner
Lankershim and Weddington Street
North Hollywood, CA
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Red Rose Diner
526 Main St.
Towanda, PA
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Tin Man Diner
70 County Rd.
North Falmouth, MA
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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Former Mack Diner - New Brunswick, NJ

Although this 1941 Fodero Dining Car Company diner hasn't served food for many years, that could change. A recent news article here speaks of a possible move. It last saw duty as All Ears' Records store until closing in 2005.

We found several pictures of the diner online:

Agilitynut's diners website here

flickr pro lawrence_smith_3's picture taken June 7, 2005 here

flickr member ah334's picture taken December 28, 2005 here

flickr pro Brooklyn Bridge Baby's picture taken July 26, 2008 here.

The Former Edgemere diner in Shrewsbury, MA is a similar diner. Though the colors are different, these pictures from 2006 will give you an idea of what the Mack may have looked like at one time.



Closed
Mack Diner
150 French St.
New Brunswick, NJ

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Saturday, August 23, 2008

Palace Diner - Biddeford, ME

We took the I-95 exit for Route 111 toward U.S. Route 1 and then into Biddeford. In looking at the Palace's database entry, our last visit was at the end of June 2005.

Upon arrival at this 1926 Pollard Company diner it was already closed for the day. Walking up the stairs to both entrances allowed a good look inside. We aren't sure if any cooking is still done behind the counter. As evidenced by the wear in the counter edge, many people have occupied the fifteen stools over the years.

We took a few pictures of the diner, one of only two Pollards remaining. Considering this it makes a comparison of the Palace a little more difficult. Diners may change over the years as they are sold, moved, renovated, or as new models and features are introduced.

In the picture to the right, the tile size, shape and color used on the front of the counter is similar to what we've seen in other late 1920's diners. The geometric pattern reminds us of the design seen in Tierney diners. Look at the counter picture in our post about the Tin Man diner here.

Perhaps this diner was renovated over the years. As we are lead to question everything to the left of the counter. Seen in the picture to the right, the foot rest is covered in what looks to be large terracotta colored tiles. In the 1920's diners we've seen so far, there's a foot rail connecting the stools. We think the stool style is a little out of place.

The floor tile also raises questions about its originality. 1920's tile floors we've seen in O'Mahony, Tierney, and Worcester diners typically had the tiles laid in a honeycomb pattern with intricate mosaic borders. However, the pattern seen here we mentioned in our post about the Fish Tale Diner. The center square is a light green almost matching the wall tile. On the inside walls are square tiles rather than the rectangular as used on the front counter.

Kyle and Debbie Quinn purchased this diner in September 2004. The diner has limited morning hours and is closed on Sunday. It's currently listed for sale.

Previous stop Chubby's next is Rock 'n Roll.


Palace Diner
18 Frankin St.
Biddeford, ME
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Chubby's Diner - Salisbury, MA


Chubby's Diner
2008 DinerHistory.com file photo
Chubby's is another diner we've been to before. Since we were in the area, we thought we'd make a quick stop. It seems the diner has been closed for a while and is storage lot for shipping containers.Chubby's is a 1940 O'Mahony with a monitor style roof. It's similar in size and color to Collin's Diner. Though it looks like the exterior was renovated. We couldn't help but notice it looks like the four wide horizontal porcelain enamel bands below the windows were removed.

Inside the diner the counter front is tiled. The six rows alternate in dark and light blue color. It's interesting to note that the walls are also tiled. Below the window is a half row of light blue and a full height dark blue tile row. Then six rows of light blue and a bottom row of dark blue tile.

Our previous stop was at the Fish Tale. Now it was back on the the road towards the Palace Diner.


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Closed
Chubby’s Diner
Salisbury, MA
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Fish Tale Diner - Salisbury, MA

Leaving Supreme Roast Beef the trip continued on Route 133. When we reached the intersection of U.S. Route 1 and Route 133 in Rowley, MA, we saw the diner that prompted the former Agawam to move to Salisbury in 1970. What stands there today is a 1954 Fodero diner. The trip continued about another seven and half miles. Traffic came to a halt on the Newburyport side of the Merrimack River, across from the diner. Shortly thereafter, the deck of the bridge raised allowing three or four sailboats through.


Upon arrival this 1940 Worcester Lunch Car Company diner looked about the same as when we last visited it at the end of June 2005. It was a bright and sunny day, so everyone chose to sit outside on the deck overlooking the Merrimack River. Diner fans know the best seat is always at the counter. Though there's no opportunity to chat with the grillman here. The Fish Tale is another diner utilizing an attached kitchen for all food preparation and cooking. The back bar is used for a mix of coffee machines, drink dispensers, refrigerated units and storage.

As we sat waiting for our late breakfast we looked over the diner. This diner returned to the Worcester Lunch Car Company seven years after its manufacture for refurbishing. While the Fish Tale retains many of the essential diner elements, it does have something not often seen in Worcester diners--Seeburg Consolettes. Notice the Gumwood ceiling in the upper right of this picture.

On the diner design drawing above, it noted the lineoleum table and counter top being Crimson Red. Currently the pattern is a fresh looking white with grey and black flecks. Car #762 was meant to be as economical as possible. It has the porcelain enamel walls instead of tile. No cushions was specified for the booth seats.Perhaps the seat cushions were added when it returned to the factory. The stool tops and seat cushions are covered in the same burnt orange color. Orange is also the color in the stained glass above the windows.

Not often seen is this particular floor tile pattern pictured at right. We usually see an offset pattern of four rectangular tiles with a small square center tile. The design drawing above notes the same pattern was used in Sherwood's diner.

Centered in this picture is the refrigerator. The surfaces are #12 Ivory and edges of the doors are black. In the right corner of the photo, next to the refrigerator is a common feature. A work counter with color matched six storage drawers below. Just visible at the top right of the photo is the hood. Two bill of fares are installed on the hood. Each Lynn Sign Company bill of fare has a wood framed door covering the three panels underneath.

Time was of the essence and we were back on the road toward our next stop.


Fish Tale
420 Bridge Rd.
Salisbury, MA
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* The original Worcester Lunch Car Company diner drawings are held in a private collection. Copies were provided to us by Randy Garbin.

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A Road Trip Begins

During this road trip we plan to visit diners in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire. In addition, we'll stop in at a few diners we've already visited in the past.

Our trip began just outside of Boston, MA, when we started driving on U.S. Route 1 and continued northeast. We navigated over to Route 128 and followed it to the traffic circle exiting onto Washington Street. From there it was over to Main Street for a few pictures of a circa mid-century O'Mahony diner.

Currently not a diner, the restaurant operates as the Supreme Roast Beef. On their sign it says "Since 1973." We aren't sure if that refers to their restaurant in business or the building physically being there since 1973. In the past it has been known as Chick's Roast Beef and Michel's Cape Ann Diner.

At right is an example of the unique O'Mahony styling. Wrapping around the roof line is stainless steel sheets with a accordion fold. This is bordered by a piece of steel above and below. In the piece above we noticed there is one embossed horizontal line and below there are two. These elements give an almost streamlined appearance to the roof line. At the base of the diner, another piece is used, however this contains three lines. The Fodero Dining Car Company had a similar design. Though Fodero seems to have standardized on pieces with three lines. Reference the former Forbes Diner as an example. While not factory, notice the clock on the front of the vestibule near the roof line. Some O'Mahony diners would have the clock on top and centered near the front edge. Fodero placed their signature "winged" clock where you see Supreme's.

We spotted an easily overlooked feature. From this angle of the picture, you might not be able to see it. Notice the pattern in the steel below the corner window. In the vestibule a sheet of this is to the left of the entrance.

While some diner manufacturers boasted no two diners exactly alike, the picture shows another common O'Mahony exterior feature. The diner has five horizontal blue bands between the curved steel below the windows. Angelo's Orchid, Bishop's 4th Street, and Makris are examples of other O'Mahony diners with five red bands. A side note is Bishop's were painted blue within the last couple of years. There is something else to consider when identifying mid-century O'Mahony diners. Olympia in CT has four bands, and those are made of green flexglass. Vertical fluted panels are used in Zip's and the Shawmut diner.

Above the entrance door in O'Mahony diners, you'll find the diner's "tag." On it you may see the phrase, In our line we lead the world. O'Mahony diners were thought to be the best built diners. When looking at the interior, we've yet to see a pop rivet.

We invite you to tag along with us on our road trip. Next stop is the Fish Tale diner.



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Angelo's Orchid Diner
805 Rockdale Ave.
New Bedford, MA
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Bishop's Fourth Street Diner
184 Admiral Kalbfus Rd.
Newport, RI
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Closed and in storage
Forbes Diner

Makris Diner
1797 Berlin Tpke.
Wethersfield, CT
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Shawmut diner
943 Shawmut Ave.
New Bedford, MA
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Supreme Roast Beef
218 Main St.
Gloucester, MA
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Zip's Diner
Routes 101 & 12
Dayville, CT
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Friday, August 22, 2008

Weekend Roundup

The Weekend Roundup feature draws from some of the postings we made during this past week. It's purpose is a quick summary and one area of the blog where we don't include map links. At times we may include other items here not making the blog that may be of interest to our readers. We'd like to hear your comments or suggestions.

The Liberty Elm celebrated its first anniversary this week.

Closed: Smyrna Diner

There were no reports of any diners sold, being demolished, constructed, installed, or moved. Please let us know if we've missed something diner related that happened this past week.

Diner History staff is on the road this weekend visiting diners in the Northeast.


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Cheyenne Diner - NYC

Although the Cheyenne Diner is closed, the lights are back on for a brief time. According to this report, scenes are being shot at the diner for the film, "An Englishman in New York."

Cheyenne joins another diner in the news with a Hollywood connection. The former Ken's Diner of Birch Run, MI is being used for scenes in the movie "Whip It!" Ken's is a 1955 O'Mahony diner and came to Birch Run from Yorkville, NY in 1993. flickr pro Agilitynut has a picture of the diner when it was open in 2007. Renovations were made to the diner prior to filming. Read the entire article here.


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Closed
Cheyenne Diner
411 9th Ave.
NYC
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Closed
Ken's Diner
11740 Gera Rd.
Birch Run, MI
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Today In Diner History. . .

On this date in 1893, Worcester, Massachusetts resident Thomas H. Buckley was issued design patent number D22743, titled "Design for a Lunch-Wagon Body." Here is a quote from the patent.

"In my design for a lunch wagon body, a row of windows extends entirely around the wagon body at the top portion thereof, just below the roof, except where there is a door in each side of the wagon body."


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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Zemo's Diner - Fairfield, CT

Back in November 2005 the former DeCoven Diner was moved from Duncannon, PA to storage in Monroe, CT. A vintage picture of the diner may be seen in flickr member dinerhotline's photostream here. While in storage plans were made to reopen this 1954 O'Mahony diner at a site on Duka Avenue in Fairfield, CT. Today's news reports the move is on hold until next year. Read the entire article here.

The approximate future location of Zemo's Diner, is four tenths of a mile from the former Fairfield Diner and Vegetarian Enclave in Fairfield, CT. That diner closed in October 2005. We have a picture of the Fairfield on our flickr site here.



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Future location
Zemo's Diner
Duka Ave.
Fairfield, CT
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Monday, August 18, 2008

In the News - Ken's Diner

The former Ken's Diner in Birch Run, Michigan is open again. According to WNEM, the former diner is being used as a set location for Drew Barrymore's movie "Whip It!"

We'll post more information as it becomes available.


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Saturday, August 16, 2008

Weekend Roundup

The Weekend Roundup feature draws from some of the postings we made during this past week. It's purpose is a quick summary and one area of the blog where we don't include map links. At times we may include other items here not making the blog that may be of interest to our readers. We'd like to hear your comments or suggestions.

These diners were added to the database:

Liberty Diner*
819 N. Main St.
Providence, RI
- from this auction.

Riverside Diner*
Riverside, NJ
- from this auction.

Sold: Red Wing. Read our blog entry about it here.

Please let us know if we've missed something diner related that happened this past week. There were no reports of any diners closing, being demolished, constructed, installed, or moved.




(*) Added provisionally pending further investigation. If you have information on these diners, please let us know.


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Thursday, August 14, 2008

Former Red Wing Diner - Walpole, MA

Daily News Transcript reported the Red Wing restaurant is under new ownership.

In looking at the exterior, you might not know there's a 1930's Worcester Lunch Car Company diner in there. In fact it's been quite some time since it was used as a diner. The picture at left shows it's almost completely encased on the right side of the restaurant. Looking closely near the roof line is the diner's original arched solid orange stained glass in the windows. Other 1930's Worcester Lunch Car Company diners in Massachusetts such as Arthur's Paradise, Boulevard and Kathy's also have the orange stained glass. Though Arthur's and Boulevard have a slightly different style.

During our last visit, we noticed the former diner functions as the bar for the restaurant, retaining its counter, stools, and tile floor.

The Daily News Transcript article is here.



Arthur's Paradise Diner
112 Bridge St.
Lowell, MA
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Boulevard Diner
155 Shrewsbury St.
Worcester, MA
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Kathy's
6 Strong St.
Northampton, MA
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Red Wing
2235 Providence Hwy.
Walpole, MA
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Today in Diner History. . .

On this date in 2007 the Victory Diner was moved from 1781 Richmond Road to storage at the Parks Department in Midland Beach, Staten Island, NY. Prior to this move it had been there since 1964. Here's a picture of this 1940s Kullman Challenger model diner at its Richmond Road location. The Staten Island Advance posted a video of the diner moving.

The diner's appeared in Easy Money and The Education of Max Bickford.


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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Cheyenne Diner - NYC


Cheyenne Diner
Photo by flickr pro maryatexitzero

and appears here under
Creative Commons
The Cheyenne diner, a 1940 Paramount, closed on April 6th. At that time there was an indication it had been purchased and would go to the Red Hook section in Brooklyn, N.Y. An article was published in The Brooklyn Paper about it yesterday. Reportedly the diner is moving next month to Reed Street in Red Hook. The map below shows the general area of it's new location.


Future Location
Cheyenne Diner
Reed St.
Brooklyn, NY
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Curley's Diner - Stamford, CT

For Maria Aposporos and Eleni Begetis, the struggle against the city to keep their diner open continues. The Advocate published an article with the latest information here. Curley's is another diner that stands in the way of "progress."Although this 1949 Mountain View diner has seen it's share of renovations since Herluf "Curley" Svenningsen opened it, the diner retains many characteristics of a local diner. On the right side of this photo, you can see the fence that goes around the diner.

Support your local diner!


Curley's Diner
67 West Park Pl.
Stamford, CT
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Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Today in Diner History. . .

Checking through our records, we noticed on this date in 1997, Paul Tassopoulos reopened the Mattapoisett Diner. He operated it for about a year. Dana and Richard Barrows took it over and the renamed Nest Diner opened November 30, 1998. The diner changed hands again and Barbara and Randy St. John continue to operate this 1951 Mountain View Diner.

Prior to moving to Mattapoisett in 1964, it was located in Wareham and before that in East Providence, RI.


The Nest Diner
81 Fairhaven Rd.
Mattapoisett, MA
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Former Rib Restaurant - NYC


NYC - West Village: RIB
Photo by flickr pro wallyg

and appears here under
Creative Commons
A few weeks ago we read Rolando Pujol's article on the former Market Diner. We emailed him about another closed diner in NYC. This one last operated as the Rib Restaurant. amNY posted an article yesterday with an update on that 1950's Kullman diner. It's another diner with a Michael Perlman connection.

Be sure to visit Tom Fletcher's site for pictures of the diner when it operated as Lunchbox Food Company and several owners before that as the Terminal Diner. Agilitynut has pictures as well as a short history here.


former Rib Restaurant
357 West St.
NYC
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LaBarge Moondance Diner - LaBarge, WY

A year ago yesterday, the diner left its long standing home at 6th Ave and Grand Street in New York City, bound for LaBarge, Wyoming. It was another case of the land below the diner being worth more than the building or the memories it contains. We found an article stating that parcel of land was one of three properties in a package bought by a developer. Purchase price was about thirty-three and a half million dollars. The diner itself sold for seven thousand five hundred dollars.An article about the diner's reopening appeared here. Though delayed, the diner is expected to open in September.

You might wonder where the nearest other diner is located? About one hundred fifty-five miles southwest is the recently restored and reopened Road Island Diner. We just noticed they have a new website.


LaBarge Moondance Diner
6th Ave and Main Street
LaBarge, WY
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Road Island Diner
981 Weber Canyon Road
Oakley, UT
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Sunday, August 10, 2008

Blogging at Prospect Mountain Diner - Lake George, NY

edited 8/12/08
As with all our diner trips, we mapped the route in Garmin's nRoute.

Prospect Mountain Diner was our first stop of the day. We had a lot of ground to cover so our stop here was for pictures only. This 2007 Dinermite diner looks smaller than the 1950 Silk City it replaced. We had read of a planned addition to the right side of diner. At our visit we noticed this has yet to be started and additional seating is under a tent.

The smell of pancakes and syrup in the air wasn't going to distract us from the task at hand. Onto Bolton Beans.


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Prospect Mountain Diner
Canada St.
Lake George, NY
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Thursday, August 7, 2008

Palace Diner - Biddeford, ME

8/7/2008 Update: Today the diner was mentioned online as being for sale here. Included in the article are pictures and some background information on the diner.

Original blog entry posted 5/30/2008

A reader sent us an email after they saw this diner listed on an Internet classified ad site. The Palace Diner, built by the Pollard Company of Lowell, MA came to town in 1927. It spent time about a mile away and later moved to its current location.


Palace Diner
18 Frankin St.
Biddeford, ME
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Mayberry Drive-In and Diner - Moneta, VA

Update: A link to a YouTube video of the diner being lowered onto the trailer is here.

On Tuesday the former Cosmo's diner was moved from Chesapeake, VA. Yesterday it was lowered onto it's new foundation off White House Road in Moneta, VA. We first spoke of Cosmo's in our June 23rd post. If all goes well, they expect to be up and running by Labor Day.

A picture of where the drive-in portion will be located is here.


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Tin Man Diner - North Falmouth, MA

This past Saturday, we made another trip to this 1927 P.J. Tierney & Sons, Inc. manufactured diner. Upon arrival we noticed the parking lot was full—a good sign. Following the yellow bricks up the ramp led us to the entrance in the attached building. Once inside we looked around and there was not an empty table or stool to be found. Being that a diner's the original fast food restaurant, it was only a short wait. Although the purpose of this blog is not about food, on the way toward our seats at the counter, we took a peek to see what the locals were eating. We'll get to that in a moment.

Back in June, Barbara Lind spoke of the many issues they encountered. The diner's condition had deteriorated over the years and it sat unoccupied for last three years. In our previous post we didn't discuss the repairs performed prior to reopening the diner. At first, we considered using the word improvements, however that word sometimes has negative implications for the diner purist. While not enumerating each issue or repair, let's take a look at some.

Exterior


Tin Man Diner Exterior,
© 2008 DinerHistory.com file photo
Over the years styles changed and exteriors of diners were modified to give them a "fresher look." In the picture to the right, it would appear that the exterior is close to the original. The roof line retains its barrel shaped curvature. We found out that behind the new screened door, the original pocket door was repaired and now slides open and closed. Similar work was performed on the windows allowing them to be operable once again.

Interior



Tin Man Interior,
© 2008 DinerHistory.com file photo
During the removal of the diner's end wall, small blue glass windows in the arch were discovered. These may be seen in the upper center of the picture at left. Removing the wall allows unrestricted access to the attached building. In this section there's additional table and booth seating. While Tierney diners were noted for bringing the restroom inside the diner, an accessible restroom was constructed in this part of the building.

A tile floor mentioned here, would have been common in this diner's era. Typically it was small hexagon ceramic tile laid in a honeycomb pattern with a mosaic tile border. As an example, see pictures of the Red Rose Diner, a restored 1927 Tierney here. A side note, the Red Rose is for sale. More research would need to be done to ascertain whether the diner originally had a tile floor and its particular style. Admittedly, the dark wood grained flooring seen in these pictures is an interesting departure from tile.

Counter and Stools,
© 2008 DinerHistory.com
file photo

Pictured at right are the counter stools connected by a foot rail. Stool posts are glossy white porcelain enamel. The thirteen rotating stool tops are covered in a light blue denim like pattern. In our Foster Street Diner post we compared the counter and stools of both diners. Considering the narrow marble counter below the windows, along with the diner's width, this diner may not have had duce tables like the Red Rose.

Missing wall tiles were replaced with similar ones salvaged from a subway station. The front wall of the counter and has an inlaid dapple green tile geometric pattern. Notice the same pattern below the windows on the right. The Worcester Lunch Car Company had a similar geometric until the late 1930s, when they adopted the contrasting tile stripe with inlaid stainless steel above and below.

Out of view in the picture to the right are the marble counter tops. These were wet sanded, bringing back their original beauty. Seeing them reminds us of the counter top at the Liberty Elm diner, as pictured here. Speaking of counter tops, there was no cooking equipment in the back bar. In it's place a counter and storage area was constructed. The tiled back bar was covered in a Wainscot-like white panel. Over the original cooking area, the metal hood was sanded and remains in place. At either end of the back bar there's what looks to be original storage cabinets with the same marble top.

Also out of view in the picture above, at the end of the diner there's a doorway on the left. Look at the ceiling in there for a contrast with the main part of the diner. The white ceiling along with the new light fixtures really brightens up the entire diner. Also on the ceiling, you'll see another common feature in Tierney diners—a skylight.

An advertisement for Tierney diners is shown in Dinerman's post here. In the early 1930s, P.J. Tierney & Sons, Inc. ceased operations and subsequently became DeRaffele Manufacturing Company Inc. They continue to renovate and manufacture diners to this day.

At the beginning of this post we mentioned the food. We noticed many people were eating the pancakes. The large almost saucer sized fluffy pancakes looked tempting. Our breakfast was delicious and we appreciated the hospitality shown by Barbara and her daughter Susan. Next time we visit we'll sample their dinner menu.



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DeRaffele Manufacturing Company Inc.
New Rochelle, NY

Red Rose Diner
526 Main St.
Towanda, PA
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Tin Man Diner
70 County Rd.
North Falmouth, MA
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Monday, August 4, 2008

Garmin Communicator - GPS enabled blog

Diner News and History blog is Garmin Communicator enabled. What this means is, in our posts with a link to a Google map, you'll be able to save that diner's location to your GPS. Jim Steele's blog has a tutorial on the process of sending waypoints to your GPS. Thanks Jim for pointing this out!

For testing your GPS to PC connectivity, go to Garmin's website. Though you'll need to have the browser plug-in installed, GPS connected to your computer and powered on. This process worked well, though we did encounter an issue in the waypoint naming during some of our tests.

While we include addresses and GPS coordinates in our posts, we can't guarantee their accuracy. Use of such data is at your own risk.


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Sunday, August 3, 2008

Live blogging from the Liberty Elm Diner

edited 10:30PM

We received word that something is in the works to mark the diner's first year anniversary. We stopped in at the Liberty Elm Diner about 2PM and asked them to share some of what they have planned.

On August 18th, the Liberty Elm will celebrate its first anniversary. Since the diner is closed on Mondays, there will be a musical variety show on August 17th.The driving force behind this event is the Liberty Elm Employees Fellowship, LLC. LEEF is made up of both employees and individuals. We'll post more details as we get them.

From the reasonably priced healthy food incorporating local or regional ingredients, to the live music, and wireless Internet access, you'll see this isn't your typical diner. On Sunday's the diner has a live music series entitled the Americana Breakfast Club. We arrived a little late for Ace Brown & the Ohio Valley Boys, but we heard the place was swingin'. Check out the diner's myspace page for information on the musical events.

This 1947 Worcester Lunch Car Company diner would have had a diner tag above the door bearing the serial #806. We'll talk about what it took to get this diner reopened in another article. Both Kip and the diner recently appeared in a segment for the Chronicle, Boston's ABC affiliate, WCVB TV Channel 5 nightly news program. Click to watch the video.

Hours: Monday - closed; Tuesday - Friday 6AM - 3PM; and Saturday and Sunday 8AM - 3PM.

Liberty Elm Diner
777 Elmwood Ave.
Providence, RI
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Today in Diner History. . .

On this date in 1937 Bertron G. Harley received three patents:

#2,089,058 - "This invention relates to portable restaurants known as "diners" and to building structure peculiarly adapted for housing the same. It also relates to improved features of knock-down construction for small buildings in general and to means for ventilating their interiors." View the entire patent here.

#2,089,059 - "This invention relates to portable restaurants known as diners and to buildin structure peculiarly adapted for housing the same and alalogous structures and is an improvement on the portable sectional diner shown and described in an application filed by me June 4, 1934, Serial No. 728,897." View the entire patent here.

#2,089,060 - "The invention relates to ventilating means for portable restaurants known as "diners" and is a continuation in part of an application filed by me June 4, 1934, Serial No. 728,897. It also relates to ventilating means for knock-down construction for small buildings in general and to means for ventilating their interiors." View the entire patent here.


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Saturday, August 2, 2008

Weekend Roundup

Whether you have sent us email or left comments in our blog entries, we'd like to take a moment to thank you. Hearing from you is an important part of this adventure. Over the last week or so, the blog has been a little quiet. Rest assured, we have several things in the works.

These diners were added to the database:

The Classic Diner*
Lansing, MI
- as seen on flickr here.

Classics' Diner
Hillsboro, OH
- as seen on flickr here.

Larchmont Diner*
Larchmont, NY

New Marina Diner & Restaurant*
Belford, NJ
- mentioned in this article.

Olga's Diner
Camden, NJ
- as seen here.

Olga's reopened yesterday.



(*) Added provisionally pending further investigation.


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Former Quintessence Diner - Albany, NY

This 1940's Fodero diner has been closed for several years. Today's article mentions the diner was purchased earlier this year by Joe Zappone, Patrick Fiore and Nick Riggione. Agilitynut has photographs of the exterior prior to renovations here. It's undergoing a renovation and it's expected to reopen late this fall. We'll post more information here as it becomes available.


Closed
Quintessence Diner
11 New Scotland Ave.
Albany, NY
View Map


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Diner Exhibit Diner Exhibit Diners: Still Cookin' in the 21st Century Culinary Archives & Museum at Johnson & Wales University
315 Harborside Blvd. Providence, RI View Map / Send to GPS*
Chuck Wagon Diner Chuck Wagon Diner Chuck Wagon Diner
655 Western Tpke. Duanesburg, NY View Map / Send to GPS*
Road Island Diner Road Island Diner Road Island Diner website
981 Weber Canyon Rd. Oakley, UT View Map / Send to GPS*
Tin Man Diner Tin Man Diner 70 County Rd. North Falmouth, MA View Map / Send to GPS*

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Whether you appreciate diner history, the architecture, or its contribution to American culture and the food service industry, this site will be a unique resource for you. This blog is part history, current news, road trips, and our staff's insightful commentary. We thank you for visiting and encourage you to join in, sharing your own diner adventures.

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