Diner Slides- 1976-1988

Posted on June 4, 2009 by Spencer Stewart

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

Stops from May 26, 2009 Diner Trip

Posted on May 27, 2009 by Spencer Stewart

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

DC / MD diner trip – May 24, 2009

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Spencer Stewart

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.

Wolfe’s Diner – Dillsburg, PA

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Spencer Stewart

The outside of the diner. It appears as it did when new; a real time warp.

Bikers at the diner

The wonderful original neon sign. It still works. Hand painted signs advertise the $1.25 breakfast specials, Daily Specials and Lunch & Dinner.

The original neon sign over the entrance.

Jerry O’Mahony, Inc.
Dining Car Builders
Elizabeth, NJ

The incredibly clean and well preserved interior of the diner.

Sugar and Seeburg 200 Wall-o-matic. The 200 wall-matic was only made from 1955 to 1956, from what I’ve been able to find.

“P_ _ H”

Breakfast Specials (granted, this picture was taken three years ago or so, so prices have probably gone up) They were all ridiculously inexpensive, and what we had was excellent, and served in large portions.
#1 Two Extra large any style eggs, homefries, toast and jelly – $1.25
#2 Two Hotcakes and two strips of bacon – $1.95
#3 Cereal with milk and fruit juice – $1.25
#4 “Big Mess” – Three eggs, Homefries, onions, peppers and ham all mixed together, with toast – $3.95
Sausage Gravy and Biscuit – $2.50
Double order – $4.25
With Two eggs- $4.95

A row of stools, terrazzo and formica

Back-lit back painted Restrooms sign, inset into the stainless work

Ford pickup rusting out back in the parking lot of Wolfe’s

Prairie City Diners

Posted on January 15, 2009 by Spencer Stewart

Queen’s Diner, the first unit by new diner manufacturer, Prairie City Diners, opened its doors in early December, 2008. Full Story on the Red Deer Advocate

Prairie City Diners

From the Prairie City Diners Website:
Here’s the first one of an exciting new chain of diner restaurants opening in Alberta, Canada. Made by ”Prairie City Diners“, this is a Shaw International and Medallion Structures joint venture. Each restaurant will have a different name, and this first one will be called ”Queen’s Diner“, named after the business park in which it is located. According to owners Scott Shaw of Shaw International and Jim Landin, of Medallion Structures, plans for the first 10 diners are already underway! Interest in this new product is high, so the sky is the limit! Built from the ground up, the diner itself has been patterned after the 1940-1950 silk city diners with round corners and roof lines.
Not all within this new chain will be diners. Some are bar cars and some ice-cream shops, but they are all in the diner style! What is so great about this new diner is that it is easy to move, they are built solid and can be moved anywhere. This first one shown below was moved from Medallion’s Shop 50 miles from Red Deer, using nothing more than a bed truck and trailer. Scott and Jim wanted to build a good product, and the result is that the diners have turned out better than they could have imagined! If you’re in the market for a ”real Diner” restaurant that is easy to move and is also turn key, look no further! They can even be sent to other countries around the world!

———–
A red model.

———–
Interiors:

some more pictures are found here: BarsandBooths.com, who provided furniture, laminates, banding and accessories for the new diner
—————-

I love that these are not the over the top caricature that so many manufacturers have been building in recent years. In concept and size, theses seem much truer to golden age diners. The design is clean and modern, but follows closely the lines of the classics. A late ’30s O’Mahony or a ’40s- early ’50s silk city is bought to mind.
It’s interesting to note that these are not being manufactured out New Jersey or Massachusetts, but out of Alberta, Canada, a province with no history of “real” diners.

Triangle Diner- Winchester, VA

Posted on January 14, 2009 by Spencer Stewart

The Triangle Diner- a 1948 O’Mahony, where Patsy Cline once worked. We visited it, and took these pictures several years ago when it was Lynette’s Triangle Diner
As you can see from the postcards, it went through several neon signs and vestibules over the years, which changed the look of the diner considerably. Eventually it was covered with dark wood, though much of the stainless can still be seen. A great, working vertical diner neon sign and clock is still in the parking lot. The windows still read air conditioned. Inside, the diner is a time warp to sixty years ago.

The diner is currently for sale. The listing can be found here.

The diner and addition have 1290 square feet, the lot is 6875 square feet. The diner seats fifty people.
The current price for the diner and property is $459,000.

The Triangle Diner is found at:
27 West Gerrard Street, Winchester, VA.

Frazer Diner- Frazer, PA

Posted on November 23, 2008 by Spencer Stewart

I was sent these pictures by my old man, who visited on Friday.

The Frazer diner is a 1935 O’Mahony, originally located in and named the Paoli diner. (Paoli is also the home of the Philadelphia curling club, where I’ve spent a lot of time). It was moved in 1957 to its current location, just down the road, in Frazer. It was renovated/restored in 2002.
A photo of it before the work was done, showing the old awnings, can be found at:
http://www.agilitynut.com/p/frazer.jpg
A photo of the old neon sign can be found at: The American Roadside

The Charcoal Pit- original location – North Wilmington

The Charcoal Pit Tradition dates back to September 1956 when it first opened its doors. The “Pit” – referred to by loyal customers, became such an instant success that only after three months from the grand opening, it was decided to build more room for its long line of hungry customers. The “Pit” went from a small four table and a counter burger joint to a 115 customer-seating establishment.

http://charcoalpit.net/

More Halifax

Posted on October 26, 2008 by Spencer Stewart

Cousin’s Diner. Great food, nice owners, fast service, and a great looking place to boot. Certainly worth a stop if you’re ever in the area.

Windsor Park Market. Old Pepsi and Kit Kat signs

Armview Food Shop – Old Pepsi signs

Old Coke Sign

Transmission shop mural

And, going past it today, I found that the Quincy’s neon is gone.

Halifax Continued

Posted on October 19, 2008 by Spencer Stewart

Here’s some shots from this morning.

Great old well kept neon and clock on Pilcher’s Flowers

Robie Food Chop Suey. Old place. The sign sure is to the point.

Video Difference- New, but a neat modern take on some old styles

the UFO of God

Snowman

My Art

Posted on October 7, 2008 by Spencer Stewart

I paint what I like.

Harold’s Furniture, Lebanon, PA.
Notice that the neon of the sign reads, “Furniture”, while the enamel reads Harolds. Photographed this one on a Lebanon diner trip. Unfortunately, most of the diners from that trip have now either been moved or are closed.

Abandoned Silk Mill, Columbia, PA.
Saw this while driving down the highway on the way to Lancaster. Pulled off at the exit and took some quick snaps in the early morning mist. The roof’s long since caved in, and the entire thing’s fenced off. That’s probably a good idea, it looks about ready to fall down, and I’m sure there are enough people like me out there who are just curious and stupid enough to go in.
This is a fairly massive painting, done on a big piece of plywood. I finished in less than a week, working day and night at the Maryland Summer Center for the Arts at Salisbury University, to get it ready for a show.

Abandoned Travel Trailer, Oatman, AZ
This is just outside tourist trap central, Oatman, Arizona, famous for its wild donkeys. The trailer’s an old model, filled with light wood and broken bottles.

Music Store, Kingman, AZ
Kingman Arizona was the first stop of our Arizona trip. We stayed at a restored hotel across from the railroad tracks, owned by a French gentleman. The town’s a hotbed of neon.

Nash, Cool Springs, AZ
A rusty old nash sitting outside the Cool Springs gas station, on the road from Kingman to Oatman, one of the most beautiful and winding stretches of road you’ll ever have the pleasure to drive.

Gas pump detail (work in progress) Cool Springs, AZ
A detail from a large painting of a mobilgas pump at the Cool Springs Gas Station.

Tiki

Owl Diner – Lowell, MA
The most diner-enthusiast accommodating establishment I’ve visited. Homefries to die for. A great worcester semi-streamliner.

Palace Diner – Maine
Hit the palace while it was closed, but took pictures, and did the drawing. The owner saw this drawing posted on Roadside, and got in touch with me about using it on their menu. Gave to go ahead, and never heard back after that.

Diner – Winslow, AZ
Across the street from LaPosada. Closed.

Diner – Winslow, AZ
It’s still for sale, all these years later.

Motel- Holbrook, AZ – Painting won 2nd place at a Johns Hopkins art competition.
American Owned. Broken windows.

Celebrating my win.

	Jack Ferguson on Little Tavern Stools
	Glenn Wells on New York State Thruway rest…
	Kathleen on Ablah Hotel Supply Co.
	Amber Danner- Havers… on The Club Diner – Harrisb…
	Hamburger Helper on White Castle, Minneapolis,…

Diner Hunter

Tag Archives: neon

Stops from May 26, 2009 Diner Trip

DC / MD diner trip – May 24, 2009