Washington DC Signage

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Spencer Stewart

I made a mini-roadtrip this morning to DC for some good old fashioned neon.

Clock Hands pointing down.

A&R Auto Parts. The neon appears it originally read something else.
1824 Bladensburg Road NE
Washington, DC 20002

http://www.aandrautoparts.com/

Ride With Safety – Yellow Cab Company.

http://www.dcyellowcab.com/

Ohio Restaurant
1380 H St. NE
Now Closed
More pictures, including ones of the interior, can be found here.

Atlas Theater
1331 H St. NE
Built 1938
Architect John J. Zink.

S and S Shoe Repairing
1126 H St. NE

Storefront
New York Ave NE

Budget Motor Inn
1615 New York Avenue Northeast

Syd’s Drive In Liquor Store
2325 BLADENSBURG RD NE

Automatic Transmission

Former Roy Rogers?

Barn shaped building

Publick Playhouse
5445 Landover Road
Hyattsville, MD 20784
Opened 1947

Modern Dry Cleaning/ Electric Maid
Takoma Park, MD

Rayco Auto Seat Covers
7998 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910

Glenmont Arcade
Formerly home to “Tuffy” Leeman’s duckpin Bowling alley. Tuffy, a pro football hall of fame member, played for the New York Giants from 1936 to 1943. The duckpin alley closed several years back.

Little Tavern Design

Posted on October 11, 2009 by Spencer Stewart

The first Washington DC Little Tavern, located at 814 E Street, NW, opened its doors in 1928. It appears the site is now the home of a twelve story apartment building and a Bank of Georgetown.

Early Little Taverns seem to have had a design similar to that of 1920s White Castles and White Towers.

By 1931, the Tudor Cottage Design had been adopted

In 1937, it was updated with a bit more of a moderne syle

Typical Plans and detail

A design from 1949

And a later, simplified design. What I’ve found on this one points to a date of construction in 1974

This one was found in Silver Spring, Maryland until relatively recently. When it was torn down, it had been painted yellow and was operating as a Chinese restaurant.

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

Little Taverns past

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Spencer Stewart

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

As it is now

Little Tavern – Georgetown, Washinton D.C.
that’s him on the right.

As it is now

White Oak Bowling Lanes

Posted on May 29, 2009 by Spencer Stewart

I stopped in here yesterday for a few games. They are celebrating their fiftieth year in business. I’ve been going to these lanes for as long as I can remember.

Duckpin lanes are disappearing all the time. Tuffy Leeman Glenmont Lanes used to be just down the road, but they closed several years back, and I’ve heard reports that the location is now being used to dump garbage.
How To Play

While there, we had a quick bite to eat at the snack bar, a half smoke, fries and a burger for dad.

Suburban Trust Bank. Founded in 1951.
Suburban Trust Building – Rockville.

Entryway mat. The bowling alley is in the basement of the shopping center

Loitering

The shopping center’s had many new facades over the years

For more, see:
Duckpin Bowling @ Boomer Twilight
“Duckpin” – a documentary

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.

Tastee Diner, Silver Spring, Maryland

Posted on August 28, 2008 by Spencer Stewart

This one is the first diner I remember going to, back when I was four or five. When it was moved on July 17, 2000, I was there. I was there when it re-opened at its new location, two blocks away from the old one. Prior to their move, it had that wonderful homey diner feel; small, old. When they moved it, the original factory kitchen was left at the original site, and demolished with the dining room addition, to make way for the new Discovery Channel headquarters. It was cleaned, and re-installed down the road and around the corner with a new dining room addition. A new sign was put up. And the diner feeling that’s so present at the two other Tastees is gone.

Here are some pictures of it, spanning its years.

’70s night shot

Old awning with stitched sign and telephone booths

Front shot

The diner, a few years later. Different awning, sign on the front and on the sign, different color scheme.

The diner at its old location and brown color scheme

Today

The diner, dwarfed by the 2000 additions

The cleaned exterior and new neon

The diner is now used as mostly a waiting area for the dining room, and a place for the cash register line to assemble. Most of the booths have been removed to make room for that function.

Tastee Diner, Laurel, Maryland

Posted on August 26, 2008 by Spencer Stewart

As far as diners within a reasonable drive go, the Tastee in Laurel is my favorite. Great food, served fast in a nicely designed diner by a rare maker, Comac. The Tastee sits on an island of land between US 1 North and US 1 South, with entrances to the parking lot from both sides. It sits with the old train station to its right, and the old Little Tavern to its left. The kitchen, a small dining room, and the T.D. Lounge are all housed in the original brick addition.

This Tastee Diner was built by Comac in 1951, and replaced an earlier monitor roof diner at the location. The manufacturer is rare as they were only in business for four years or so. Their tag is found above the door. It opened as the Laurel Diner, but was bought by the local diner chain, Tastee Diner, which once had locations in Fairfax, Va, Rockville, MD, Bethesda, MD and Silver Spring, MD, as well as sponsoring an award winning duckpin bowling team after WWII. The Fairfax location is now known by its original name, the 29 diner, the Rockville location is long gone, but the Silver Spring and Bethesda ones are still going strong.

The two original neon signs still stand on either end of the diner, a silhouetted chef perpetually beckoning hungry travelers. The sign’s original neon reading “Laurel” is long since replaced with “Tastee”. The sign also originally read “Air Conditioned / Steaks-Chops / Cocktails / Patron Parking”. By the 1980s, “chops” had been replaced by “pizza”, and a sign for the adjacent motel had been added. Those have been gone for years, though.

The outside of the diner has changed very little in all the years since it was installed, with the exception of the usual wear and tear. Inside is also in good condition, with some changes made over the years, but nothing, with the exception of televisions, which detracts terribly. They are now smoke-free, which is nice.

The “New” Laurel Diner- Restaurant and Liquor Store – “Before and after the races, as always your best bet.. is the Laurel Diner

The Laurel Diner showing the neon

Later postcard from the Laurel Diner

an early ’80s view of the . Copyright Michael G. Stewart

The sign c 2007

The Tastee Diner c 2006

Comac Inc. Builders of Better Diners – Irvington, NJ

Inside the diner. Note the newer stools and tile floor over the original terrazzo. Booths are presumably original old-syle dark wood.

2007

Me in the diner yesterday. The double cheeseburger was gooey and delicious on a perfectly toasted bun, with a side of homemade mashed potatoes. The refills on the crushed ice filled cokes came before I could finish even half of the previous one. The name of the diner says it all.

Laurel Little Tavern

Posted on August 25, 2008 by Spencer Stewart

Here’s the current status of the Laurel Little Tavern, Now the Laurel Tavern, post remodel.

January 2006

March 2007

August 2008

To see some older photos of this one, look at the Diner Hotline, a wonderful blog, and a wonderful resource.

According to wikipedia,

Little Tavern(Laurel Md.)was closed by Little Tavern Shops LLC.(Parent Co.)All Use of Licensing Agreement and Trade Marks canceled for said Property at said time. Little Tavern Shops has nothing to do with present on site operation and the (new on site operation)is not licensed to operate as Little Tavern Shops or use any of Little Tavern Shops Logo’s, Sayings, or Trade Marks. As of April 30.2008, the last little Tavern Shop was closed, with all othes being closed over the past two years as leases expired, under a long term plan for a New Little Tavern Store Operation, to fit within Fast Food Market Resturant Operation of today. Little Tavern Shops is now moving ahead with It’s New Operation’s and the planned Licensing of, Free Satnding and Shoppiong Center Stotr Loction in, Md-Del-Pa-Va-Area’s. But Still Maintaining It’s old time Qualtiy of “Style and Food Service” For Futher Information please contact Little Tavern Shops LLC. C/O (Marketing) Jecco Co. Inc. 410-661-4394 Fax 410-661-4394 The Hereof statement has been prepared, approved and authorized by James E. Cumbest Jr. T/A Little Tavern Shops LLC. Carroillton Bank Building 1740 E. Joppa Rd. Balto. 21234

– – – – – – – –

– – – – – – – –
The original is gone. The beautiful original neon signage, the last remaining is gone. The backbar with the green mirrored panels, built as per Harry F. Duncan’s original 1933 Patent, D89950, is gone. The stools, the tile, everything that made it the original is gone. The rest, closed, their buildings converted or torn down. We lost the Silver Spring Little Tavern, the one with the yellow roof, just a few months ago.

I am saddened by the passing of the original, the real Little Tavern. May she rest in peace.

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Diner Hunter

Tag Archives: Silver Spring

Little Tavern Design

Little Taverns past

White Oak Bowling Lanes

DC / MD diner trip – May 24, 2009