I went through some my dad’s slide archives and turned up a few more Little Tavern shots.
Little Tavern- Laurel, MD
now
The sign of this one has been rescued and restored.
Little Tavern- Silver Spring, MD
Little Tavern – Silver Spring, MD
Little Tavern- Route 1, Alexandria, VA
Little Tavern – Georgetown, Washinton D.C.
that’s him on the right.
Airport Diner – 15110 Kutztown Rd. – Kutztown, PA.
The Airport diner is a 1960 Silk City, serial number 6027, with zig-zag stainless
Philco sign – Pauley’s Electric Shop
222 Dutch Lanes Bowling
Emmaus Bowling Center – 16 Lanes – AMF – Emmaus, PA
Plaza 2331. Dig that plaid.
Trivet Family Restaurant – Breinigsville, PA – 1970s DeRaffele
Trucking Sign- Emmaus, PA
5th Street Diner – Temple, PA. Kullman replacing a Silk City
Giant Penguin
Backside of the Prospect Diner- Columbia, PA, a 1955 Kullman, as seen from the highway
This was my first real diner trip in a while. I met up today with Mike Engle, author of Diners of New York; the man behind NYdiners.com, and roadside buff and frequent Zippy the Pinhead contributor Ed Engel at the American City Diner, and headed out from there.
The first stop of the day was the American City Diner of 5532 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC. It’s a late ’80s Kullman, one of the early retro-styled diners, and one of the ones that did it right. For some photos as it appeared when new, click here. Since then, it’s been added on to, with a large side addition, and a front porch which obscures everything to the left of the vestibule.
The Left side of the diner- 2009
The left side of the diner – 1989
The former Howard Theater. Great rusty marquis on this one.
The now abandoned Wonderbread / Hostess Factory
Ran into a little excitement along the way between these two stops, but all’s well that ends well.
Northeast Academy of Dance Neon sign. Look at the detail at the left hand corner of the sign.
We hit up the Capital City Diner, which was moved here on the 20th. Watch the video of it being moved. This Silk City, formerly of Avoca New York, has made its way to the Trinidad neighborhood of Northeast DC.
Photos at its original location and some backstory can be found at :A Real Historic Diner Coming to DC!
This next leg of the trip had some neat neon and signage
A&R Auto Parts
Syd’s Drive In / Liquor
Cross Roads
Tesst theater
Hyattsville Hardware / Franklin’s
Calvert House
Silver Spring’s old Canada Dry bottling plant
A quick stop at the Silver Spring Tastee was made.
Now
Then
More old photos can be found here.
Then a side trip to Forest Glen, parts of which have deteriorated greatly since my last visit.
Dinner at the Tastee Diner in Bethesda
Then
And the trip’s final stop at Bethesda’s former Little Tavern. A 1990 photo of it, when it was still a Little Tavern, can be found on the Diner Hotline.
My apologies for the poor photos, but here are some shots of the All American Diner of 10590 Front Beach Rd, Panama City Beach, Florida, which I took today from the car. It’s a 1996 Starlite.
http://www.dinosaurland.com/
I visited this gem a few years back. This is a classic tourist attraction at its best, populated with giant fiberglass statues of creatures both real and imagined. It was built in the 1960s by Joseph Geraci, and has been in operation ever since.
The attraction features such creatures as the:
Allosaurus
Ankylosaurus
Apatosaurus
Corythosaurus
Diatryma
Dimetrodon
Ground Sloth
Iguanodon
Moschops
Plateosaurus
Polacanthus
Praying Mantis
Protoceratops
Psittacosaurus
Sabre Tooth Tiger
Seventy-foot Octopus
Struthiomimus
Trachodon
Twenty-foot King Cobra
Tylosaurus
Yaleasaurus
Muffler men were made between 1962 and 1976 by International Fiberglass of Venice, California. This example was repainted in fatigues during or shortly after desert storm.
911 Pulaski Hwy., Havre de Grace, MD
The Milford is a 1956 Fodero. It was originally part of the same regional chain as the Hollywood Diner, just up the road in Dover, which is from about the same era. Apparently, there were originally six in that chain. The Milford has not fared quite as well as the Hollywood in terms of preservation, but that didn’t affect the food, which was excellent. From the vestibule to the right has been covered over, with a large addition added. The interior is recognizable, but much has been changed or is missing. The owner was a true diner guy, however, and seemed to really appreciate what he had despite its condition.
Photos we took in 2006, during the installation of the then newly restored Tom Sawyer Diner. In the two and a half years since these pictures were taken, the Tom Sawyer housed a diner, a party bar, a Asian/ Mediterranean fusion restaurant called Konnichiwa, and a Mexican cantina.
The Tom Sawyer, a 1962 DeRaffele was originally located in Allentown, PA.
There are plans to replace the diner with an 18 story business complex.
Business owners take high-rise-development plan in stride
Konnichiwa
Sawyers Cantina
Tom Sawyer Diner- RIP 2006-2008
The Happy Day Diner, is a 1959 DeRaffele, which in recent years, has been redone in recent years with a retro, back to the ’50s theme, complete with Elvis Presley on the vestibule, an a giant smiley face. Interesting that the smiley face wasn’t designed until 1963, and not really popularized until the ’70s, but then again, none of the rest is anything you would have ever seen in a diner in the ’50s, so it kind of follows.
From the Happy Day Diner website:
Back to the 50’s
back on time at the happy day diner, one of the maryland’s unique diner that trully represents de 50’s, bring you back to the old happy days. while you and your family enjoys the food, you also have a chance to take a look at the classic road riders, that hang around at every saturdays nights.
elvis look foward to see you soon .
One of the first diners in Maryland, funded in 1951 and still capted at the original 50’s atmosphere.Those are just a feel of the things that makes the happy day diner, a long time neighborhood favority, pleasent dining, and great cusine. The staff at happy day diner, prides themselves in serve you and your family, and they will ensure that our visit to the restaurant is a pleasent and memorable experince. unlike another restaurant, our menu is disigned to please everyone, at any time of the day. that means you can enjoy your dinner, while our partner eat breakfast, or enjoy some of our italian dishes, that will make you forget that you are not in little italy for while, with a big difference on the price. and your partner enjoing a delicious home made chicken pot pie, that not even mama could do better.
You can find the Happy Day Diner at:
8302 Pulaski Highway
Baltimore, MD 21237
Thanks to a comment, I entered my blog for the Search Maryland top blog award, and as it turns out, I was selected as a top blog.
Thank you Kathleen, for the tip.
Diner Hunter 
