November 29, 2022 marks 42 years of Diner photographs

Well, it’s that time of year where I mark the anniversary of taking my first 35mm photo of a diner. As regular readers of this blog know, that first Diner photo was the following photo…

By-Pass Diner of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

November 29, 1980 photo by Larry Cultrera

In looking back on these last decades there was an unofficial pattern of going on road trips over Thanksgiving weekend. So I did some digging and found some images of diners I had photographed on the Thanksgiving weekends in the years from 1980 until now. It seems there were actually only 10 of those weekends between 1980 and 2022. Now granted, on some of those weekends in the early 1980s that I photographed more than a handful of places, so I will only choose one diner from each of those trips to be representative from the year.

Olympia Diner, Newington, Connecticut

November 27, 1981 photo by Larry Cultrera

Ed’s Diner, Brattleboro, Vermont

November 26, 1982 photo by Larry Cultrera

Market Diner, New York, New York

November 25, 1983 photo by Larry Cultrera

Libby’s Diner, Manchester Center, Vermont
(never opened here)

November 27, 1987 photo by Larry Cultrera

Andros Diner, Belmont Massachusetts

November 27, 1993 photo by Larry Cultrera

Old Lunch Wagon /derelict cabin, Brookfield, Massachusetts

November 24, 2006 photo by Larry Cultrera

Roundabout Diner, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
(former Howard Johnson’s Restaurant)

November 23, 2012 photo by Larry Cultrera

Minuteman Diner, Bedford, Massachusetts

November 29, 2019 photo by Larry Cultrera

Center Harbor Diner, Center Harbor, New Hampshire

November 25, 2022 photo by Larry Cultrera

Power Point Presentation on Diners for The Marlborough (Massachusetts) Historical Society, November 15, 2022

After three years I am finally doing a “live” Power Point Presentation on Diners. Titled “From Lunch Carts to Mega-Restaurants, the Evolution of Diners”. The host for this presentation is The Marlborough Historical Society and the event will be held in conjunction with the Historical Society’s monthly meeting on Tuesday evening, November 15th at The Main Street Cafe , 182 Main Street in downtown Marlborough. The society’s business meeting starts at 6:00 pm and my presentation will start directly after the meeting’s conclusion.The event is open to the public and there will be parking available in the area.

The Main Street Cafe, 182 Main Street in Marlborough, Massachusetts

Holy Crap, time flies – Diner Hotline blog is 15 years old

I almost cannot believe 15 years have gone by since I started this weblog !!!!

I know I have been writing this blog for a while and sometimes the posts are not too regular, but we just passed October 31st and I suddenly realized that day marked 15 years of this weblog! I would have posted something yesterday but my schedule was filled with various appointments. Also I have been getting a revised Diner Presentation together for The Marlborough (Massachusetts) Historical Society that I will be doing in exactly 2 weeks. The presentation is actually 99 percent together but as these things go, I keep on adding to it when something occurs to me that should be in the show. This will be the first “LIVE” presentation since before COVID happened and the first one for an Historical Society in quite some time.

Anyway, as I do every year at this time, I like to acknowledge the day I started writing the blog as it still is my one semi-steady outlet to impart info on diners and other roadside stuff, as well as show off my photos in a place other than Facebook. As I look toward finishing my seventh decade coming up in just over a half a year, I sometimes cannot believe that this little interest (all right, it is an obsession) with diners has gone on so long. As most people who follow this blog know, that interest in diners goes back to my childhood and really took hold when I started getting into 35mm photography and took photos of some of the diners I was visiting in 1980. All I can say is, thanks for following along and maybe we can sit down at a local diner somewhere and enjoy a meal and some camaraderie in the future!

P.S. the presentation on Diners will be on November 15, 2022 at The Main Street Cafe, 182 Main Street in Marlborough, Mass.. The Marlborough Historical Society will hold a business meeting at 6:00 pm and I will be going on right after…. there will be another post here with all the details and some photos within the next week or so.