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

39 years of photographing diners (and other roadside stuff)….

On this day, 39 years ago (November 29, 1980) I took one 35mm photograph of a diner… namely, the By Pass Diner of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This event, small in comparison to others in the greater scheme of things, steamrolled into a multi-decade long odyssey that encompasses thousands of photos of 870 plus diners throughout the northeast United States down through the mid-Atlantic states as well as small pockets in Tennessee and Florida.

The By Pass Diner of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Photo from November 29, 1980

I have been in the process of scanning and in some cases, re-scanning the library of 35mm prints and slides, to digitize the archive. In looking back on some of the older photos, including that first one, I am delighted in how these have held up as time goes on. The slides have been scanned but the prints are only partially complete. My hope that now that I am semi-retired, I can make more inroads in the scanning project.

Now when I started this little research project of documenting diners, I will confess that I was a “diner-snob”. Of this I mean that I would only take photos of classic factory-built (prefabricated) diners. The ones built between the 1920s through to the 1950s. Initially, I sort of ignored the newer ones (1960 -1980) and have been kicking myself ever since for not including more of these. As time went on, I did get quite a few of the newer ones and just wish I had gotten more. I also started including storefront and on-site built diners as subjects for my photos.

That being said, in honor of the 39th anniversary of taking my first diner photo, I decided to take some photos of a “Diner” that is about to open within the next month.The Minuteman Diner, located on The Great Road in Bedford, Massachusetts had this honor. I had been reading earlier this year that Ed & Diane Cohen were taking over the spot in a commercial strip-mall that had housed a D’Angelo Sub Shop and planned to open it up as a diner after renovations and updates to the spot were complete. The Cohen’s plans were to open sometime in August, but these plans had a slight detour due to unforeseen building code requirements that set them back a few months. These problems have been alleviated and they are waiting for the town to sign-off and allow them to open.

The Minuteman Diner, Bedford, Massachusetts.
An exterior view from November 29, 2019

The Minuteman Diner, Bedford, Massachusetts.
An exterior view from November 29, 2019

The Minuteman Diner, Bedford, Massachusetts.
An exterior view from November 29, 2019

The Minuteman Diner, Bedford, Massachusetts.
An interior view from November 29, 2019

The Minuteman Diner, Bedford, Massachusetts.
An interior view from November 29, 2019

I had contacted Diane the other day and told her I was planning on showing up this morning to take photos. When I got there, I had a nice conversation with both her and Ed and am excited to see them do well as there are no other breakfast and lunch places in town other than McDonalds, Dunkin’ Donuts and various sandwich places. I am definitely planning to make a return trip or two when they open up soon….