The Vintage Diner

Ken that Schlitz beer sign in your pic caught my eye and brought back memories......the last time I drank Schlitz was in Vietnam.
 

Gardner Streetcar Dedication
streetcar-new4.jpg

"The Diner, a restaurant that began as a horse drawn-streetcar operated by the Kankakee Transit System. It first was owned by George Kaldem. His mother and the cook, Minnie Springborn, was praised as the woman whose pies, stew, fried chicken and homemade bread were considered some of the finest that could be found anywhere".



"Later, it was moved behind a residence and was used to house workers at the armory during World War II. Then it was moved to the rear of the Riviera Roadhouse, where it was used as a place for family reunion picnics, a house for local fishermen and a storage shed".
 
Falls Point Diner, from the movie, The Diner, 1982.
Starring Steve Guttenberg, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Ellen Barkin, and Paul Reiser.

diner-banner.jpg


..was filmed at the Hollywood Diner, Saratoga Street, Baltimore, MD (shown below in 2015). It also appeared in the movie Sleepless in Seattle.

saratogaStBaltimore2015.gif

The Diner, 1982, Trailer 
 
The Palace Diner, in Biddeford, Maine, is supposedly Maine's oldest diner. It has ten seats at a counter, with no other seating, in an old Pollard[SUP]1[/SUP] Dining Car.

Is there a shortage of women in Maine? I'm going. :playful:

palace.jpg

[SUP]1[/SUP]The Pollard Company, Lowell, MA, 1926 - 1927, built a handful of barrel-roofed diners. The Palace Diner of Biddeford, Maine, and the Riverside Diner of Bristol, NH, are the only two survivors from this manufacturer.
 
I had gone to the Tom Sawyer Diner when it was still open in Wescosville, near Allentown, PA but it closed in 2002. It sat unused and unloved until 2006 when it was moved to Harrisburg, where it is now a combo diner and club. The beautiful neon sign, alas, has yet to be restored.

tomsaw303.jpgtomsaw3033.jpg
TomSawyerDiner2.jpg
 
Signs with just the word "EAT" were common at small diners when I was a kid. Always thought they were funny. More like a command, than an invitation. Less expensive I guess. :)

9071429541_fbfd7375e4.jpg
eat.jpg

eat1.jpg
 
logosm.png


Valentine Diners began their nearly 40-year career in Wichita, Kansas--an idea born of the Great Depression. They were constructed as eight-to-ten-seat diners that one or two people could operate.

master_10stool.jpg


Susie Q's is one of the last operating Valentine Diners (Iowa).

FoodDude.jpg



"These serialized, or sequentially numbered diners came with a little metal lock box that was installed outside of the front door. Proprietors were instructed to place the first fifty cents of every day’s take into a small envelope and to drop it down into the slot. Without fail, a traveling representative from the Valentine Company came by at the end of every month to collect this "rent!" Upon finding this pay box empty, many a diner was hastily closed down and pulled from its mooringsthe whole kit and caboodle carted back to the factory in Kansas." ( Wall safes were phased out on new models by around 1960.)

Vsafe.jpg


Locate Valentine Diners in other states

 
 


Back
Top