The Shell Diner was a Bixler Diner, attached to a Shell gas station. It appears both buildings are there, in one form or another, but they’ve been remodeled nearly beyond recognition. Whether there is anything identifiable left of the diner is yet to be seen. I have my doubts.
Another diner find courtesy Mike Engle.
660 Fulton Avenue, Hempstead, New York. Now an American Dental Center. Looks like a late ’50s/ early ’60s model.
Mike Engle found a mention of a diner at this location in a 1933 newspaper. While greatly remodeled, this monitor roofed former diner is still recognizable. It is located on the Southeast corner of W. 1st street and Vista Place, Mt. Vernon, NY. Further info on the diner is being tracked down.
In 1930, the diner was owned by Joseph Rowall of Poland, who lived at 313 S. 6th Avenue. His roomer and fellow Polish immigrant, John Socker, was counterman in 1930, but would come to own the diner by 1936.
Edit: Found the name. As of 1931, it was the Joe and Larry, diner. By 1937, it dropped the full names and was called the J&L diner. The proper street address is 310 N. 1st St.
Ed Engel found a photo of this old barrel roof diner while searching through the 1980s NYC DOF tax photos online. Full record here. It’s still there, though as seems to be the case with these 80+ year old diners, it looks to be hacked to bits and barely recognizable.
1102 Flushing Ave, Brooklyn, NYC
The Spot Diner was located at 220 N. Franklintown Road, Baltimore, MD, an industrial neighborhood just off Rt. 40.
While the matchbook graphic obviously exaggerates the diner’s size, it does appear to be a representation of the diner itself, and not just a stock image. It looks like the diner was sold in 1954 and changed its name to the Franklintown Diner. It was sold again in 1962.
The site is now home to Calmi Electric. The windows and proportions are right for a covered diner, as is the foundation and window/door deletes on the other side of the building. But the setup and size don’t look consistent with what’s on the match cover, even taking into account the exaggeration. So at the moment- it’s a big who knows. Further investigation is necessary.
Matchbook from the collection of Spencer Stewart
Diner Hunter 