Today in Diner History. . .

On this date in 2006, Skee's Diner in Torrington, CT was added to the National Park Service's, National Register Of Historic Places. In January 2008, the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce announced their plans to purchase and relocate the diner. After restoration the structure will serve as a tourist information center.

Our last visit to this 1926 O'Mahony diner was in March 2008.


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Skee's Diner
589 Main St.
Torrington, CT
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In the News - Emerald Diner

After operating for many years in Norwich, Connecticut, it closed in the 1980's and subsequently moved to a field. Perhaps it would have remained there and decayed if not for the efforts of J.P. Marsh in the early 1990's. He brought the 1939 O'Mahony built diner to Hubbard, Ohio in 1994. In April 2005, after a series of renovations, the Emerald Diner opened.

Fast forward to the end of 2008 where we found an advertisement listing the business for sale. Based upon the description, though inquiries made to the broker weren't returned, we knew this was the Emerald. Asking price was set at $90,000.

Today's Vindy.com reporter John W. Goodwin Jr. writes the diner's been given a new lease on life. Long-time employee Erika Saadeh now holds the keys to the diner.

We do take issue with Mr. Goodwin on a few points. His article makes such statements as, a "...shiny silver, old-fashioned railroad caboose..." and a "...1930s-era railroad caboose with the 1950s theme..." when referring to the "Monarch" style O'Mahony diner. Several pictures of the diner are available on flickr here. The exterior has been renovated over the years and with it's extensive use of stainless, it resembles diners of the 1940's/1950's. A good example of the O'Mahony "Monarch" style diner is one we stopped at along our Pennsylvania diner trip last month. flickr pro Agilitynut has two pictures of the diner we visited--the former Reading Diner. We know of two other "Monarchs," though they are in storage, awaiting restoration: Serro's and Barr's.

We wish Ms. Saadeh all the best in her venture.


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Erika's Emerald Diner
825 N. Main St.
Hubbard, OH
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Diner For Sale

Many people inquire about purchasing a diner. While it can be a daunting proposition, it's a chance to be your own boss. Add to the fact it's a great opportunity to preserve a piece of history.

We have posted some new diners for sale. If you are interested in purchasing a diner, take a look at buyadiner.com. Is there a classic manufactured diner currently for sale that would benefit from the exposure to a targeted market? Let us know about it. There is no guarantee how long these will last, as some of these diners may be on the brink of avoiding demolition. Contact the sellers directly for further information.


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Weekend Roundup

The Weekend Roundup feature draws from some of our postings during this past week. It's purpose is a quick summary and one area of the blog where we usually don't include map links or pictures. 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.

On the 21st, Floyd's Diner in High Springs, Florida closed. The five-section Starlite built diner was delivered mid-2001. Current economic conditions are listed as the reason for closure.

Starlite itself was going through changes around this time too. It had been sold in 1999, and then sold again to another company that went out of business. Starlite's original founders started building diners again in 2002, though under the name Valiant Diner Company. That company closed in 2006.

There were no news reports of any classic diners being demolished, constructed, installed, moved, or sold. Please let us know if we've missed something diner related happening this past week. On a related note, we've noticed an increase in people searching for diners to buy. We'd like some suggestions on how to integrate a for sale type feature into the site. For now we'll put them in the right column.

The following diner was added to the database:

Manheim Diner
Schuylkill Haven, PA



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(*) This diner was added provisionally pending further investigation. If you have any information on them please write us.

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Today in Diner History. . .

On this date in 2005, the Reading Diner was carefully extracted from Fegely's Family Restaurant. Amongst the spectators were representatives from the History Channel. They recorded the event for a episode of their Mega Movers show. A clip of the move is available here.

The diner itself was built in 1938 by the Jerry O'Mahony Dining Car Company. It was moved to a prepared foundation on Carsonia Ave. in Wyomissing, PA, where it awaits restoration by the Archbury Foundation. Visit Agilitynut's page for pictures of the diner she took in May of 2007.


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The Archbury Foundation
Wyomissing, PA

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Former The Diner - Kent, OH

10/12/2008 Update: New article about the diner here.

9/22/2008 Update: On October 11th there will be a gathering of those that frequented the diner throughout the years. The city has decided to auction off the building, though a date hasn't been set. Read the entire article here.

Originally posted 8/8/2008

We've just received word of this diner being threatened with demolition. We would like to hope that someone out there would take on this project and restore the diner. The information we have on file for the diner is it's a vacant O'Mahony diner dating back to the 1920's.

This article speaks of the diner's history and includes an exterior and interior picture.


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The Diner
205 S. Water St.
Kent
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Today in Diner History. . .

On this date in 2006, Skee's Diner in Torrington, CT was added to the National Park Service's, National Register Of Historic Places. In January 2008, the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce announced their plans to purchase and relocate the diner. After restoration the structure will serve as a tourist information center.

Our last visit to this 1926 O'Mahony diner was in March 2008.


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Instructions on sending this address to your GPS.


Closed
Skee's Diner
589 Main St.
Torrington, CT
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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.

Supreme Roast Beef

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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Road Island Diner - Oakley, UT

Tommy's Deluxe Diner
photo courtesy of
photosonflickr

Today is the grand opening of the Road Island Diner. When Tommy's Deluxe Diner left Middletown, Rhode Island in July 2007, we followed Keith Walker's restoration of the 1939 O'Mahony diner into the Road Island Diner through its website gallery. It was an ambitious project and there's nothing finer than a restored diner. We're anxious to visit. Read the entire news article here.

At left is Tommy's after it had closed. External and internal pictures of the restored Road Island diner are in firstyearta's flickr photostream here.

For more pictures of diners, we invite you to visit our flickr photostream here.


Road Island Diner
981 Weber Canyon Road
Oakley, UT
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