Tag Archives: formica

Cindy’s – New Eastern Market- York, PA

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We stopped at 201 Memory Lane, York, PA for breakfast yesterday at Cindy’s restaurant. It’s a nice old family restaurant. Two tone brown and green tile floors, green formica counter. I had the special of the day, cream chipped beef on toast. I added a side of homefries (cream chipped beef over everything. Yum.) and a cup of coffee. Dad went the pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast route. Delicious and fast on all fronts.

Overheard some great counter chatter, “Obama- more like Osama- you think them rhyming is just a coincidence?”. That goes up there with the half hour conversation amongst farmers overheard at a Perkins concerning the durability of different jeans brands, the man [potentially] on the run from police over a domestic dispute at Lancaster’s Neptune diner several years ago, and one about drinking formaldehyde at a dive in Virginia.

Fortified with a great breakfast, we headed down the road to Reading, PA.

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I’m not sure as to the date on this one.

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Aberdeen Eagle Diner- Aberdeen, Maryland

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Exterior of the Aberdeen eagle. The corner stainless and the curved window are still visible, but that’s about it. Brick and a red mansard roof disguise the true nature of the diner.

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Aberdeen Eagle- All baking done on premises. The sign states that they’re open 24 hours, something becoming rarer all the time.

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The rooftop neon. Presumably original to the diner, and not added at the time of the remodel.

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The interior. Very boxy- lots of hard corners, almost no curves, other than that of the counter and the scalloped edges by the menu-board. It’s leaning towards the more space-age and environmental designs yet to come, while still staying within the confines of a classic 1950s stainless model.

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Spindly stools with octagonal bases. Also interesting to note the use of an entirely tile floor. With the design of this diner, I would have expected terrazzo, and not older style mosaic tile.

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Blue is the overwhelming color.

You don’t see too many of this model diner; not many with interiors with this kind of styling. What I have been able to find says it’s a mid ’50s Kullman. I’ve seen Kullman dinettes with similar boxy interiors, but this is the only full-sized diner I’ve been to quite like this. It has been covered over, years ago, with tan brick, with a dining room on the right, making it less recognizable from the road, especially when compared with the New Ideal Diner, just half a mile down the road and across the street. Inside it is essentially in-tact.

Peppi’s Diner- Pittsburgh, PA

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Peppi’s is a “National” diner built in the 1940s. It was originally Scotty’s Diner. It is currently operating as a location of Peppi’s Old Tyme Sandwich Shop, but it is still very much a diner in setup and feel. Most importantly, the food is still cooked behind the counter. When I was there, I had one of the best cheesesteaks I had ever eaten. The food is truly delicious. The diner itself is a little rough around the edges, as you can see, especially the outside panels, but it has character. Photobucket

The interior is a beauty of design, with the geometric patterns in the formica, the stainless work, seen here, photo by Brian Butko, or the winged clock, seen here. It’s interesting that the door frames are still very old style dark stained wood with molding. The diner has original tiny bathrooms to the right, as you can see in the exterior shot from the window delete.

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The diner is located at 7619 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA

Bridge Diner- Havre De Grace, Maryland

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Here’s another one of the Maryland Diners. It’s changed a bit since it was built.  Take a look at the postcard and take a look at what it looks like now.

Here’s how it looked when it was new, probably late 1930s. The tag is gone, it was probably removed or covered over when renovations were done in the 1950s. It was called the New bridge diner then. I like the awnings. A nice touch of class.
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Here is is now. The original lettering reading, “Bridge Diner” is still present, though not visible in this shot because of the cars. There are holes drilled in the enamel on the left hand side, where the lettering reading “new” was originally bolted on. As you can see, the windows were redone at some point, removing the top part. A vestibule and roof were added as well, completely changing the look of the place
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Inside the old Silk City
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A shot showing the old mural painted on the ceiling. There is one on both end, both with similar scenes. This also shows the ’50s renovation, with boomerang formica replacing the dark wood window surrounds, a stainless bump out for lighting fixtures, and the end door delete.
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The bridge diner is located at 801 Pulaski Hwy, Havre De Grace, MD