The White House Lunch opened in Cumberland, Maryland in 1904, originally sited at the corner of Liberty St. and Baltimore St. In 1905 it moved nearly one block to an address near the corner of North Liberty St and Frederick St. It may have shuffled over a lot or two in 1907 to accommodate the offices of Charles. H. Wolford, but it didn’t go far, remaining roughly at 41 North Liberty Street until 1919.

The Lunch Wagon was owned by George A. Wadsworth and his soon Lloyd F. Wadsworth, who took over the business upon his father’s death in 1908. The lunch wagon was put up for sale in 1919 to James and Earl Bucy, who moved it to the site of the new Kelly Springfield Tire Company plant, which was being built across the river, and a little over a mile away. Construction on the plant started in 1917 and it was opened in 1921, so it’s easy to assume that the diner had a good two year run under the Bucy Brothers before being sold or scrapped.

From the name, “White House Lunch”, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find that the place was made by T.H. Buckley of Worcester, MA. A date of manufacture of 1904 would put this right in Buckley’s heyday. The description of etched colored glass windows with portraits of great Americans points to Buckley’s style, as well.