Bob’s in Bainbridge, NY was a homebuilt dating to 1935, following the design and proportions of factory build models but wider. It’s been remodeled several times and the original barrel roof shape is no longer recognizable.
Read the tragic tale of this diner’s move to Washington DC and subsequent demolition. HERE
I just ran across additional photos of it from when it was still operating in Pennsylvania in the courtyard of Adam’s Antique mall.
The Harris Diner is an old homebuilt diner, located at 79 North Ave, Owego 13827. It replaced a Ward and Dickinson.
We stopped in for breakfast once, about five years ago, which is when these pictures are from. They really know the dying art of counter showmanship here. The breakfast was timed so perfectly that the toast was caught mid-air as it popped, just after the eggs finished on the griddle, as the plate made its way from behind the counter to in front of us.
You would never know to look at it from the street. For years I’ve been going to Potter’s and Weaver’s violin shop, which share a back parking lot with Peter’s. For years I’ve been going to the Tastee just a few blocks away, and I’ve stood under the awning of Peter’s to shield my camera from glare while taking pictures of the former Little Tavern located right across the street. But for whatever reason, I’ve never looked inside.
But sure enough, back in behind the facade of this little shopping strip lies a surprise. A long row of stools and a barrel roof. Whereas all the other buildings in this strip have basements, Peter’s does not. The barrel roof visible on the inside of the diner, is finished for exterior use on the top side, in a space which is now an attic, with the long ago addition of a flat roof, flush with the rest of the businesses on that street. Google satellite photos show a clear seam on either side of Peter’s. All that confirms that Peter’s was not built on site, but was something “other” from the fabric of the streetscape, brought in from somewhere else and set up.
Now let’s take a look at the building itself. Old newspaper articles talk about Maryland being a haven for streetcar-turned-diner conversions in the depression era. Most disappeared as soon as the owners were able to scrape together enough money to buy a proper factory built diner. Take the fomer State Diner in Baltimore, for example, which was a trolley diner until it was replaced with the current secondhand 1930s Silk City in the early 1950s (the Silk City was the original Laurel Diner- now the Tastee). Here’s another interesting Maryland trolley to diner conversion.
With a trolley conversion, like the White Diner or the Crossroads Dinor you would expect to find curved ends. While the original front wall of Peter’s has been punched out to allow more light from the storefront and more seating, it’s clear that the end walls (the one in back as well) are flat, but with curved corners, which makes me think it is far more likely that this was a factory built-purpose built diner.
The ends of the diner have a curve running perpendicular to that of the main barrel, similar to a Silk City roof, not like, say, a ’20s O’Mahony or Tierney. The roof has a distinctive profile- not a smooth curve, but one that has steeper slopes on the sides and a flatter roof. The closest thing I can think of with this particular roofline is a very early, narrow Silk City model. A surviving example would be the West Shore Diner. There is also an abandoned diner of this Silk City model in Montana (formerly Gordy’s) and the Miss Jersey City diner, now long gone.
Here is a picture of the interior of the West Shore for comparison. The Silk City is wider, but the similarities in the barrel roof are notable. Same profile, same curve at the ends. With all the years of modification and renovation at Peter’s, though, the definition of the barrel profile could have been somewhat lost, making real identification difficult. The shape, though, is undeniably that of a diner.
The backbar gives insight into its history, but not its origin. Custom-Bilt National Toddle House, Inc.
The patent numbers, from 1933 and 1934, correspond to the backbar equipment which was found in all Toddle House restaurants at the time. And sure enough, this building had a long stretch operating as a Toddle House.
Toddle House was yet another diner-concept early fast food place, similar in its early days to White Tower, Little Tavern, etc. Like Little Tavern, they used a very small tudor cottage style building. While Little Tavern had the counter oriented perpendicular to the front facade, Toddle House had theirs, diner style, parallel to the front. So for a restaurant which was just stools and a grill, it’s easy to understand why, and how they would take over a barrel roof diner like this. It also means that the first of many renovations, disguising the diner’s true origins, took place 75 years ago, when the diner itself was still relatively new.
And here are some news stories from the late 1950s, mentioning it as a Toddle House.
Peter’s Carry out has a website!
It’s located at 8017 Wisconsin Ave, Bethesda, MD 20814
http://thebluedolphinny.com/Welcome.html
There’s nothing left of the interior of this ’30s Kullman turned upscale restaurant, and the Mansard roof dominates the facade, nevertheless, it’s a very rare diner with a mostly in-tact exterior and neon.
175 Katonah Ave nr Rt 35, Katonah 10536
Some more from the archives, in no particular order.
Short Stop Diner, now Irene’s pupusas. Wheaton, MD
It’s a 1956 Kullman. The neon was nearly as big as the diner itself, but has since disappeared.
Then:
Now:
Diner- Front Royal, VA
It’s a 1956 Mountain View. Front Royal used to be a hotbed of diners. It had this one, Nick’s Good Food diner, the Do-nut dinette, and another ’50s stainless model. The other three have been knocked down, and this one’s now a used car dealer.
Now:
Frost Diner- Warrenton, VA
The Frost is a 1955 O’Mahony.
Inside
Counter
A sign of the times- Disco Fashion T-shirts
Pork Chop- $1.25, Fried Chicken $1.75
Tastee Diner- Silver Spring, MD
Tastee Diner- Laurel, MD
a rare Comac brand diner
Bud’s Broiler – New Orleans, LA
Bud’s Broiler
Allen Theater
Current Photos
Flower Theater
Current Photos
Summit Diner– Somerset, PA
Summit Diner
Moody’s Diner- Waldoboro, ME
Moody’s Diner
Diner- MA
We stopped here this morning for a second breakfast, a “short” stack of pancakes and a side of bacon for me, an order of eggs, bacon, homefries for my dad. My short stack turned out to be two excellent pancakes the size of platters, which even I couldn’t finish. The bacon was tasty, the coffee fresh, and the grillmanship exciting.
Outside view of the diner. Though an angled front facade has been added, the complete barrel roof is still visible. You can see where the original front sliding door once was.
Inside view of the diner. Lots of later changes, but the tile work on the counter, the ceiling and the vent hood are original.
It looks from this period photo, taken after the move, that a white painted flat ceiling was added, preserving the original wood barrel roofed ceiling underneath.
Original window at the front of the diner. The other window has been removed to make way for a larger front door.
The ceiling of the diner has this design painted where the seam trim of the ceiling (now missing) meet.
Dan’s Diner of Spencertown, NY- same design.
Vent hood
The owners of the diner say that this is the nation’s oldest Silk City, built in the very early 1930s. Can anyone confirm Silk City as the builder?
Manufacturer of the diner has been confirmed as a O’Mahony.
Compare to this interior photo of Dan’s Diner of Spencertown, NY. Same vent hood, same sliding door (though the Kutztown one’s is gone, it’s visible in the old photos, and the doublewide delete on the wall), and the same ornamentation on the ceiling
Mac’s Diner Burns – Article in the Telegram
By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
scroteau@telegram.com
WORCESTER — For the half-dozen times a month Bob Hebb heads into Worcester from his hometown of Ayer, he makes sure to head over to Shrewsbury Street.
His destination is Mac’s Diner, where a large kettle of soup usually beckons and the stools are filled with patrons he knows by name.
But yesterday, Mr. Hebb arrived at his favorite restaurant only to learn that an overnight fire had damaged and closed the business.
The owners of the restaurant — which dates to 1931 — are unsure when they’ll reopen.
“You have never eaten in here? They have a kettle of soup that is about this high,” Mr. Hebb said, holding his hands a couple of feet apart. “I don’t know where I’m going to eat.”
As Mr. Hebb was left wondering where he’d get his usual soup and a sausage sandwich — made on the diner’s homemade bread — a crew of city Department of Public Works and Parks workers headed to the entrance at 185 Shrewsbury St.
Mr. Hebb soon informed them of the situation: “It’s closed. There was a fire.”
About noon yesterday, owner Chris McMahon of Holden walked around inside the diner and assessed the damage. Mac’s is said to be the oldest diner in the city.
He doesn’t know when it will reopen.
“I couldn’t even guess. I’m at the mercy of the Fire and Building departments,” he said. “Hopefully not that long. I have to make a living.”
The fire started about 12:30 a.m. in a storage area in the rear of the building, where there are freezers and refrigerators.
Mr. McMahon said the cause of the fire appears to be electrical but fire officials have not yet determined the cause.
Firefighters broke through a front window and doused the flames with water.
The upper diner area was damaged as well as a side area. The acrid smell of burnt wood replaced the normal smell of home-cooked meals yesterday afternoon.
The damage could have been worse, but the diner’s concrete and brick walls didn’t give the fire much to feed on. Holden police knocked on Mr. McMahon’s door early yesterday morning to notify him about the fire.
He raced down to Shrewsbury Street.
“When I first showed up here, I was in total shock,” he said. “I have come to assess it. It’s manageable, but it is definitely going to set us back.”
“In 78 years, we’ve never had a fire here,” Mr. McMahon, 31, said.
“We plan to fix it as soon as we can because we are all going to be out of money.”
Customers continually called the diner yesterday asking if the owners needed help and to say they were sorry. The diner is normally open Monday through Friday for lunch, with dinner also served Thursday through Saturday.
Many customers favor Mac’s because of its BYOB standing.
“April, May and June are our busy season,” Mr. McMahon said.
“It’s not a good financial time, and our employees are also out of work. We’re missing out on our money time.”
Mac’s Diner is/was a 1931 Worcester Diner.
I bought this online with the intention of sharing it here. I’ve typed the copy up for easier reading. Enjoy!
If there is anything that people are more fastidious about than the food they eat, it is the environment in which it is served. Because of this fact the modern Jerry O’Mahony dining car fulfils one of the most insistent demands of the general public.
A modern Jerry O’Mahony dining car is more than just a casual eating place, – it’s the kind of place that people enthuse about and return to frequently.
Public approval of Jerry O’Mahony dining cars is more than a passing fad. The fact that the dining car offers its guests rapid service, cleanliness, comfort, and an opportunity to see the food prepared, justifies the rapid rate of increase in dining car patronage.
Jerry O’Mahony dining cars are recognized by every community as a distinct addition to their particular neighbourhood.
Owners of Jerry O’Mahony dining cars are prosperous business men. Proven figures show them to have an actual net income of $5,000 – $10,000 per year.
The success of the modern dining car is firmly established. Take advantage of this opportunity to attain financial independence.
** The modern dining car interior – monarch type, Bakelite ceiling and stainless steel back wall **
OPPORTUNITY AWAITS YOU
Present day business conditions are more favourable for dining car owners than ever before. Be your own boss!
People have become “dining car conscious”. They are seeking modern, sanitary, streamlined food service, and are aware that a dining car is the best place to get it. Jerry O’Mahony dining cars are a rapidly growing institution.
The dining car field does more than assure you a comfortable income. It gives you an opportunity to establish your own business. Many owners of Jerry O’Mahony dining cars who started out with just this thought in mind are now successful business men.
Desirable locations are plentiful. Hundreds of miles of new highways and innumerable towns throughout the country await the establishment of these modern eating places.
Study the dining car field. Assure your independence; – earn a larger income than most salaried men ever receive! Place yourself among the more prosperous members of your community.
Statistics prove that the initial investment in the dining car business will be returned to you yearly.
** Victory Type. Size: Ten feet, eight inches by forty feet. * Equipped with sliding doors. Delivered via freight. *
AMOUNT OF PROFITS
Twenty-five to thirty cents of every dollar received by the owners of Jerry O’Mahony dining cars is clear profit.
Periodic surveys among owners of dining cars prove the average well managed Jerry O’Mahony dining car yields a profit of 25% to 30% on gross sales.
A modern Jerry O’Mahony dining car, in an average location, will serve between 500 and 700 customers a day. Statistics reveal that each person eating in one of these diners spends on the average of twenty to twenty-five cents.
Assume your Jerry O’Mahony dining car serves 500 customers a day, and the sales average is twenty cents. Your daily receipts will be one hundred dollars. With this basis of figuring, conservative though it is, your weekly profit, after deducting the cost of food, help, and overhead, will approximate one hundred and seventy-five dollars.
Study these figures carefully, – see for yourself how YOU can earn $5,000 to $10,000 a year operating a modern Jerry O’Mahony dining car.
** Interior, Victory Type. Size: Ten feet eight inches by forty feet, equipped with ventilators. Freight delivery. **
YOU CAN OWN A MODERN JERRY O’MAHONY DINING CAR
A small amount of capital will establish you as the owner of a prosperous dining car business.
Many competent people, ambitious to start businesses of their own, are handicapped by the lack of sufficient cash. The Jerry O’Mahony Purchase Plan is a straight-forward arrangement of deferred payments, so regulated that you, as a good operator, can easily make the payments out of your dining car’s profit without working any hardship upon yourself. You pay as you earn, and after a short time you become the sole owner of a highly profitable dining car business. The dining car pays for itself.
Of course, many people have sufficient capital to buy their dining cars outright; but if you haven’t, no matter what your capital may be, investigate the Jerry O’Mahony purchase plan. Let us review your particular problem.
** Interior, monarch type, Size 10’8” by 45’. Booths at end in addition to counter. Shipped by freight*
HOW TO GET STARTED
For thirty years Jerry O’Mahony, Inc., has been helping people get started in the dining car business. Our engineers and experts, rich in their knowledge of dining car technique, are available to help you start and succeed in this rapidly growing field. They will advise you in the choice of your location, recommend the type and size dining car best suited to your needs and suggest methods of operation and finance.
We cordially invite you to visit our plant to see how the modern Jerry O’Mahony dining cars are constructed. Come in and talk with us. You will benefit by our vast store of facts pertaining to your success in the dining car business.
Arrange a visit at your convenience. A brief note to our Service Department will bring you further information.
Remember, you can earn from $5,000 to $10,000 a year operating a Jerry O’Mahony dining car. The time to start is NOW!
*** Interior, Monarch type, size fifteen feet by forty feet. Showing kitchen and two toilets ***
OPENING MADE SIMPLE
Preparations for opening a modern Jerry O’Mahony dining car are simple. Four connections are all that are necessary. When the gas, water, electricity and sewer are connected, your dining car is ready for use.
Provisions for efficient ventilation assure the proper de-humidification and elimination of all odors from our dining cars, – a vital factor in all good eating places.
Every individual item of equipment selected for use in Jerry O’Mahony dining cars is chosen only after extensive research for durability and efficiency.
Built to stand many times the stress and strain of transportation and daily use, modern Jerry O’Mahony dining cars are ready to use shortly after delivery.
Consult our engineers. Their advice concerning the establishment of successful dining cars is important to your success as a dining car owner. Benefit by the years of experience that have mad the opening of a Jerry O’Mahony dining car a simple matter.
*** Monarch type with gothics and deck sash. Size, fifteen feet by forty feet***
COUNTER AND BOOTHS
The counter and boots are modern in every detail. The counter provides seats for twenty-six customers. Seventy- four may be comfortably seated in booths. The efficient arrangement of the modern equipment in the back bar speeds service throughout the dining car.
THE WORLD’S LARGEST DINING CAR
The Fairview diner is the world’s largest dining car. Eighty feet in length and sixteen feet in width, it is equipped to servie one hundred persons at one time. This dining car is air conditioned throughout. Its streamlined beauty, unusual capacity and extraordinary ease of operating is a true endorsement of our slogan: “In Our Line We Lead the World.”
The DINING ROOM
This spacious dining room accommodates seventy-four persons. The furnishings are especially arranged to facilitate the service of parties of six, eight, ten and twelve people. An ideal arrangement for dining cars catering to business men or family groups.
SIZES and TYPES
Jerry O’Mahony, Inc., builds dining cars to meet every individual requirement. Most popular among the many types of modern Jerry O’Mahony dining cars are the MONARCH and VICTORY. Modern in every particular, these dining cars are creating a sensation throughout the country.
Both types have porcelain-enameled exteriors, trimmed with stainless steel. Bakelite or stainless steel doors and extruded Aluminum window sashes with Alumilite screens provide a sparkling exterior that requires no painting or redecorating.
The streamlined beauty of the exterior of any Jerry O’Mahony dining car is greatly enhanced by rounded corners; a feature developed by our engineering department with a view toward added attractiveness and durability.
Both types of dining cars have ceramic tile floors and Bakelite ceilings. Side walls are of mosaic tile trimmed with lustrous Mexican mahogany.
Every detail of these dining cars clearly demonstrates the careful planning and craftsmanship for which Jerry O’Mahony, Inc., is famous.
*** Monarch type, size fifteen feet by forty feet. Enamel and stainless steel exterior. ***
STYLED TO SAVE
Jerry O’Mahony dining cars embody more than just the practical equipment for food service. They have an appealing architecture and a distinctive design which is attractive and will remain so throughout the years. Our designers carefully avoid the dangerous extremes of fads, favouring always the lines and decorative mediums which are of lasting good taste.
Jerry O’Mahony dining cars are permanent assets. Our thirty years experience in the styling of dining cars has given Jerry O’Mahony dining cars the permanence of appeal that assures operators an enduring, profit-making investment. Renovating or redecorating is seldom if ever necessary; resulting in extremely low up-keel cost and a minimum of depreciation. Many operators of Jerry O’Mahony dining cars, after receiving their original investment many times over, have turned in their diners on larger, newer dining cars after as long as twenty-five years of service. Jerry O’Mahony dining cars are styled to save.
*** Interior, Monarch type. Size, fifteen feet wide by forty feet long. Equipped for booth service. ***
There’s the Westbury diner in the foreground, I’d assume it’s the same diner as this one. Also identifiable is the Franklin Diner. Note the rounded corner monarchs and the squared corner, stained glass windowed monarchs side by side.
IN OUR LINE WE LEAD THE WORLD
Jerry O’Mahony, Inc. Operates the largest, most up-to-the-minute dining car factory in the world.
Large though our plant is, all building operations are so co-ordinated that every detail in the construction of a Jerry O’Mahony dining car is carefully supervised by one of the founders of this firm.
Many of the men who build Jerry O’Mahony dining cars have “come up from the ranks” in our employ. After years of apprenticeship these men have become craftsmen unexcelled in their trade.
To build a dining car for you, that is to last for thirty years, and to incorporate, as we do, all of the modern improvements, we employ the ultimate in craftsmanship, and use the best materials obtainable. Modern machinery and up-to-date methods assure lasting construction.
Come, visit our plant. Watch our craftsmen at work, notice the materials, – the tools they use. See for yourself why we can say, “In Our Line We Lead the World”.
DURABILITY
Jerry O’Mahony dining cars are built to last for thirty years! In the selection of materials, the first consideration is durability. Only the finest material is used in construction.
The steel structure and the fabrication of West Virginian oak is the result of years of research in the building of better dining cars.
The exterior, which is porcelain-enameled, trimmed with copper or stainless steel, perfectly insulates our dining cars against moisture and imparts the lustrous beauty for which jerry O’Mahony dining cars have become famous.
The interior of every Jerry O’Mahony dining car is designed both for beauty and practicality. Floors of ceramic tile and side walls and counter step of mosaic tile in color combinations that harmonize with the Bakelite ceiling and Mexican mahogany trim, make a beautiful, long lasting interior. Alumilite window sash, stainless steel equipment and backwall, and the built in Bakelite hood all combine to make Jerry O’Mahony dining cars the most attractive and easily maintained of eating places.
COFFEE MAKER
Coffee is your most important item. With this in view we have designed an economical, automatic coffee maker that achieves the ultimate in the consistent brewing of good coffee. The self controlled features and our drip system assure the brewing of good coffee at all times, with a minimum of effort. This coffee maker is thermostatically controlled.
STEAM TABLE
Easily accessible, the stainless steel steam table or electric food container in each Jerry O’Mahony dining car is complete with insets, covers, roll cover and double-walled warmer. Thermostatic control permits the prolonged storing of cooked food without shrinkage or loss of flavour.
Storage cabinet and display case
Modern Jerry O’Mahony dining cars are equipped with a large, modernistic, stainless steel refrigerator. In addition to this, a new feature in our dining cars is the reach-in storage and display case. Centrally located behind the counter, its accessibility speeds service. Equipped with stainless baine-marie pans and an overhead glass display case, with sliding doors and slanting mirrors, this auxiliary refrigerator keeps your supplies fresh and increases the sale of your most profitable items.
O’Mahony was founded in 1913, so celebrating 30 years would date this to c. 1943.
Some closeups from other pages If you have any idea as to where any of these diners were located, or if any are still around, please comment.
Barrel roofed “Victory” model. Older style stools, and a sliding door. I wonder what the actual date of manufacture of this particular diner was. Interesting that this barrel roofed style with the skylight vents on the roof, that is so associated with 1920s and early 1930s diner style is still offered in the early 1940s.
Interior with washrooms.
The terrace grill, a square cornered monarch model. Interesting that they’re advertising this older style monarch alongside the newer, streamlined one. I wonder how the demand for this type was at the point the brochure was published.
dining room setup
interior of the fairview
Fairview diner, an extra long monarch model
Westbury Diner, a monarch model with curved and an end door
It seems that the monarch name is used exclusively now to describe O’Mahony’s like this one, but the way the copy is worded here, it seems more like monarch was O’Mahony’s general model name for any monitor roof diner they produced, while “victory” was the model name for their barrel roof models.
More photos of the West Shore Diner of Lemoyne Pennsylvania from another trip.
Inside the West Shore- Notice how the backbar has been bumped out into the kitchen area, with the front of the back counter being flush with the back wall of the actual diner. Narrow deuce booths on the right.
The backbar setup, with drink machine and passthrough to kitchen. Old woodwork trim. Support our Troops.
The entire length of the diner. Blue, creme and black tilework. Worn salmon formica.
exterior, with air conditioning unit.
It’s a very narrow diner.
The West Shore Diner. They saved my life.
empty
Diner corner with air conditioner cut-out
Diner Hunter 
