Forty one years since I shot that first photo of a diner in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania………

By-Pass Diner, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. November 29, 1980 – My first Diner photo

Monday, November 29, 2021 marks the anniversary of me shooting the first of thousands of “Diner” photographs. Most regular readers probably know I always acknowledge this date every year on the Diner Hotline blog. A couple of things have come together in recent months that sort of underline the importance to my life that this seemingly innocuous event that happened forty one years ago has loomed large in the scheme of things, at least to me.

Number one: I have completed the digitizing of all my 35mm prints and slides of “Diners”. This task in itself took all told at least 4 years to complete. I have also updated my database (digital Diner Log) to reflect the location of the original slides and negatives of those images as well as included two photos of each diner entry into the log. I am currently revamping the 35mm slide archive of “Diner” images to be housed in new archival boxes. This task is being done to get all images into a semblance of order to possibly facilitate the eventual donation of these slides to an institution that might want them as part of an historical record. Doing something like this to the 35mm prints (and negatives) might actually be a little more daunting. Not so much for the prints more than the negatives as other non-diner images are mixed in with the diner images. That is a problem to be attacked at another time.

new Archival Methods 35mm slide storage boxes for my Diner slides

Number two: the future of diners in general is still precarious and to place a spotlight on this fact, that first diner I documented with my photos, the By-Pass Diner of Harrisburg, PA is currently in limbo. The diner had changed hands in the 1990s and been operated as the American Dream Diner right up until the last year or so. It changed hands again earlier this year to become Harry’s Bistro. If you check it out online, it has gotten some great reviews and it gives the impression that it is still in operation. But someone I know recently stopped by and found it closed with an ominous notice taped to the window that says there were problems that have shut down the business. For how long, I do not know but the person who reported this fact said it looked like it had been closed for some time.

It turns out there are other diners I have documented over the last four decades that are also in jeopardy, including another Harrisburg diner, the East Shore Diner. The East Shore Diner is being threatened with possible demolition or at least in the best scenario moved to a new location because of a planned construction project to revamp highway on/off ramps adjacent to the property where the diner has been since the early 1950s when it was first installed as Seybold’s Diner.

Harrisburg, PA’s East Shore Diner is currently threatened with removal, either by demolition or hopefully moved to a new operating location.

Another diner threatened with demolition is Bishop’s Fourth Street Diner of Newport, Rhode Island as the property owner wants it gone to expand an adjacent business.

Newport, RI’s Bishop’s 4th Street Diner also threatened with demolition

Back at the end of July, 2021, it was reported that the Daddypop’s Tumble Inn Diner of Claremont, New Hampshire had suffered a suspected arson fire. They were reported to start repairs on the damage which affected the basement and electrical equipment. Unfortunately this may be complicated by the fact that Deborah Ann Kirby, the owner of the Tumble Inn passed away suddenly towards the end of October, putting the fate of this diner in limbo.

Claremont, NH’s Daddypop’s Tumble Inn Diner is in limbo after an arson fire and passing of owner Deborah Kirby

Another diner is also in limbo and slated for demolition is the former Ann’s Diner, operated more recently as Pat’s Diner of Salisbury, Massachusetts. Pat Archambault the owner for many years has had the diner up for sale for quite some time. She finally sold it at the end of July and unfortunately the owner of the gas station next door to the diner bought the property and has no intention of utilizing the diner. Ironically as I write this I just found out that Pat Archambault just passed away herself.

Salisbury, MA’s Pat’s Diner (when it was still Ann’s, circa 1989) is threatened also…

Two other Massachusetts diners future are questionable, the first is the Salem Diner which is currently owned by Salem State University. The university stopped using it as a food option within the last two years and is trying to get someone to buy and move the diner. As far as I know, no one has come forward with a likely proposal to move and reuse this very rare Sterling Streamliner.

The Salem Diner circa May, 1982

The second Massachusetts diner is a late model Worcester Lunch Car currently operating as the Breakfast Club in Allston, Mass. The diner sits on leased property which is slated to be redeveloped. The future of this diner is not looking good at this point.

The Breakfast Club Diner with a brand-new addition circa, 2012.

Within the last week or so we have heard that the 29 Diner in Fairfax, Virginia has had a very bad kitchen fire that miraculously has spared the diner in front but closed the business for at least 6 months.

Fairfax, VA’s The 29 Diner (when it was known as the Tastee 29 Diner circa 1990).

It’s not all bad news as the Edgemere Diner of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts which has been closed fairly recently was sold at auction within the last two weeks. The diner had been owned since 1995 by the town of Shrewsbury when the diner and property was taken for back taxes owed by the owner of the business. Since then the town has leased the diner out to numerous operators until now. The town finally decided that they did not want to be landlords anymore. The good news is that Michael Cioffi bought the diner and said he plans to move it from its location on U.S. Route 20 – which was a stipulation of the sale – to New York’s Catskills, where he already owns and operates the Phoenicia Diner.

Shrewsbury, MA’s Edgemere Diner is being moved to upstate New York.

So this post not only highlights that first photo of the By-Pass Diner but also sheds some light on the fragility of the American diner and the diner business in general. It points to the fact that my photos are my contribution to documenting diner history over the last forty one years….

Celebrating a major milestone – my 40 year anniversary of photographing Diners

This year November 29th falls on a Sunday. Who knew that a tentative single 35mm photo taken on this same date 40 years ago in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, would lead me into a multi-decade mission to document diners (at last count 875 in my database) throughout the Eastern United States with my photographs.

Now granted, I have always had a fascination with diners that goes back to my early childhood in Medford, Massachusetts in the late 50s and early 60s. I recall going with my dad to a few local diners like Bobbie’s Diner and the Star Lite Diner, both on Mystic Avenue in our hometown as well as the Victoria Diner in Boston.

Bobbie’s Diner, 33 Mystic Avenue – Medford, Massachusetts

colorized image of the Star Lite Diner,
383 Mystic Avenue – Medford, Massachusetts

Victoria Diner, 1024 Massachusetts Avenue – Boston, Massachusetts

I also recall after Easter Morning Mass going for breakfasts with my family to Carroll’s Colonial Dining Car on Main Street, a large “L” shaped diner delivered in the early 60s that was a brand new replacement for a smaller stainless steel diner that the Carroll family had operated previously in the city from 1948, that itself was a replacement for an even earlier diner started in 1929.

Carroll’s Diner, 101 Main Street – Medford, Massachusetts

Later on during high school as well as years after graduating, Carroll’s was the go-to meeting place that was open 24 hours a day. Myself and my friends could be found there, day or night! So I can safely say that diners became part of my DNA, a constant throughout my life and by 1979, I started thinking about them in an expanded view. My pal, Steve Repucci and I started taking Sunday morning road-trips around the area and the first stop along the way was a local diner for breakfast. Soon, the task of finding a diner to have breakfast determined the direction of the road-trip.

All through the 1970s, I had owned one or two Kodak Instamatic cameras and never seriously looked at photography as a hobby. As 1980 began, I had been toying with the idea of getting into photography after being exposed to it by Steve Repucci who had been shooting 35mm photos for a number of years. So the first of two key events leading me to take that first diner photo occurred sometime in the Summer of 1980, when I co-purchased my first 35mm camera along with my older brother Steve. My friend and former co-worker Scott Drown was selling a used Mamiya 1000 DTL that he had been shooting with for a few years. So my brother and I alternated using this camera for around 9 months before I decided I needed my own camera and sold him my half.

a camera similar to what I used to take that first Diner photograph

The first couple of months I tested my wings by shooting scenic photos, etc. It was just a month or so into using that first camera when the second key event happened. Steve Repucci had decided to try living outside of Massachusetts and moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This happened on Labor Day weekend. Because I owned a van, I of course offered my services in helping with the move. This was my first ever trip down to the Keystone State. During that first visit to Pennsylvania, I had taken notice of one or two diners driving around the Capitol region. After that first trip a second one was already planned for Thanksgiving weekend.

Thanksgiving fell on Thursday the 27th that year. If I remember correctly, my brother Rick and friend Scott Drown accompanied me on that trip. We left not long after midnight on the 28th and drove out through Connecticut and New York on Interstate 84. In fact we took I-84 all the way to Scranton, PA to access I-81 south to Harrisburg. I recall hitting some pretty bad fog through that stretch of highway between Scranton and Harrisburg, possibly the worst I have ever attempted to drive through in my life. After arriving we rested a bit and visited as well as probably going out to eat somewhere and probably called it a day fairly early. The next morning we went to breakfast at the nearby By Pass Diner on Herr Street, probably around four miles or so from where Steve was living on North Progress Avenue. This is when I snapped my first photo of a diner. Little did I know this would be the first in what has turned out to be a few thousand photos taken in the next four decades!

My first diner photograph, By Pass Diner, 1933 Herr Street – Harrisburg, PA

Well, the dam was broken and after I came home from Harrisburg I started going around the Greater Boston area and shooting photos of all the diners I knew of. Unfortunately, in my inexperience, I was insisting on using a wide angle lens in a lot of these early photo excursions. The reason I say it was unfortunate was that I was usually across the street using the wide angle lens and it pushed the subject a little too far away. Now in hindsight this seemed to work out OK as anyone who sees these early photos can get the perspective of seeing the diner in relation to its surroundings. And seeing that I am currently in a multi-year endeavor of scanning all my archive of diner photos, I have developed a way to create new versions of these photos by zooming in and re-cropping the image to represent the photo it should have been (and keeping the original version intact).

Here are a few of those early shots after Harrisburg…

Viv’s Diner – Malden, Massachusetts_November, 1980

Boston Street Diner – Lynn, Massachusetts_November, 1980

White Way Grill – Lynn, Massachusetts_November, 1980 a rare
early close-up only because the truck was blocking the view.
Unfortunately, I never got another shot of this the way it looked
here as new owners renovated the diner totally and lost
the original classic look…

Rosebud Diner – Somerville, Massachusetts_December, 1980

Apple Tree Diner – Dedham, Massachusetts_January, 1981

Salem Diner – Salem, Massachusetts_March, 1981

Since those early days I have used quite a number of different cameras to shoot diner photos including some Kodak Brownie and Dual Lens Reflex cameras that I have collected. Also two Chinon 35mm cameras as well as some small digital cameras. Since 2008 when I changed totally to digital, I have used my trusty Pentax DSLR, a couple of Nikon Cool Pix and my newest an Olympus Pen mirror-less camera. After changing careers in 1996, I have become proficient in using Adobe Photoshop to digitize all of my 35mm slides and am currently working on the early 35mm prints. I hope to complete the digital archive of all the diner photos within the next year!

Marking 38 years of documenting Diners with my photographs

My first attempt at photographing a diner. In this case, the By-Pass Diner of Harrisburg, PA – November 29, 1980

It is still amazing to me that the photo featured above would ever snowball into hundreds if not thousands of photos over a span of 38 years (and that’s just counting the diner photos). Truth be told, this was not my first 35mm photo as I had taken other scenic & miscellaneous shots in the 3 or 4 months prior to this one.  But the above photo represents various forces that had finally coalesced into a 38 year personal crusade to document not only the American Diner, but other roadside buildings and businesses before they disappeared.

To this day I will tell you that I am not a technically trained photographer, I still basically employ a point and shoot kind of approach. But I can say that I am a camera geek and own many cameras. From a collection of Kodak Brownies and Instamatics, as well as five or six 35mm film cameras and close to a half dozen digital cameras. This also is curious because I can recall my feelings were quite ambivalent about photography back in the mid-to late 1970s.

These feelings toward photography started to change after meeting my long-time friend and travel companion, Steve Repucci. Our paths crossed toward the end of 1976 when I started a new job at Analogic Corporation, a company I had previously worked for briefly when I was still in High School in the Spring of 1970. We did not connect right away as we were in different departments. In fact I first became friendly with Steve’s brother Scott (who also was employed there) before I eventually socialized with Steve.

Steve and I had bonded a little at work thru passing conversations in the coming months of 1977 into early 1978. This bond was sealed further during an impromptu  camping trip to Lake George, NY on June 24, 1978. We found out that we were kindred spirits who enjoyed taking road trips, etc. I learned that Steve had been an avid photographer using 35mm cameras since his time in the U.S. Air Force during the early 1970s. By 1980, I had seen quite a lot of his photographs and was totally inspired to get into it myself.

So by the Summer of 1980 I had heard that a friend was selling a used 35mm Mamiya 1000 DTL, (which coincidentally was Steve Repucci’s first 35mm camera). I actually went and bought the camera with my older brother Steve and we shared it for about 1/2 a year before I sold him my half and got a new camera. The Mamiya was the camera I used for all my diner photos from November 29, 1980 into the Spring of 1981 when I got the first of two Chinon 35mm cameras. I later graduated to owning two Pentax 35mm cameras, the last one was my go-to camera until 2008.

A Mamiya 1000DTL similar to my first 35mm camera .

A photo of yours truly standing in Medford Square (Medford, Mass.)
Possibly the only photo showing me with the Mamiya 1000 DTL 35mm SLR.
(1981 Photo by Joe Fortunato)

Since that first photo of the By-Pass Diner, I have gone on to document over 860 diners, most are factory-built classic diners while others were home-made or on-site establishments. I have photographed some old neon signs and various roadside buildings as well.

I started to experiment with digital photography circa 2000 or so while continuing with film cameras. Gradually I was taking more and more digital shots for a few years until the last roll of film came out of the Pentax with photos from 2005 thru 2008. I realized that it was not worth using the film cameras anymore and decided to make the switch totally when I bought the Pentax K200 Digital SLR at that point.

This brings me to 2018 and I now carry 3 digital cameras in my bag. The Pentax K200 DSLR, a Nikon Coolpix P7800 and the newest – a Olympus E-PL29. This last one is a brand-new retro version of an Olympus PEN model that was very popular for years, starting in 1959. I have yet to shoot any diners with this one as I have had a skin ulcer on my left foot since the end of July which has kept me in a cast. When the foot is healed I hope to get back out and take some photos.

Also, in the last 2 years or so I have been diligently scanning all of my 35mm slides and prints to create a digital archive. I have completed the slides and am now slogging thru the prints. The prints take more time to scan, clean and enhance. It helps to have patience to do this because it is very gratifying to see the finished image. This process has made me appreciate the early diner photos even more. I am pleasantly surprised at how decent a lot of these shots actually are. The following images are some of my early favorites….

Collin’s Diner – Canaan, Connecticut
Photo from October 3, 1982

Hightstown Diner – Hightstown, New Jersey
Photo from May 31, 1982

Norm’s Diner – Groton, Connecticut
Photo from September 18, 1982

Ruby’s Silver Diner – Schenectady, New York
Photo from October 2, 1982

Salem Diner – Salem, Massachusetts
Photo from May, 1982

Tom Sawyer Diner – Allentown, Pennsylvania
Photo from February 26, 1982

University reopens the Salem Diner

The Salem Diner, July 29, 2013 photo by Larry Cultrera

Salem State University reopened the Salem Diner in mid-January. It is being operated by the schools food service provider, Chartwells. The management of Chartwells stated that this is the first “Diner” they have attempted to run. I had gotten a heads-up from my friend Kristen Nyberg (North Shore Dish blog) who visited the diner on opening day with Diane Wolf who is the co-owner with her husband Lee of The Lobster Shanty in downtown Salem.

Kristen told me things were kind of rough that first day, service was friendly but over-all very slow. The food was unremarkable as well which sounded like a let-down from the quality of food and service under the previous owners, George & Zoe Elefteriadis. The Elefteriadis’ sold the diner to the University back at the beginning of July and the diner has been closed until now.  Kristen basically said that people may want to give the place a month or so to get into the rhythm of serving people in a diner-like environment.

We stopped by on January 18th to check it out ourselves and knew what to expect from Kristen’s info. I was happy to see that the school spent some money to replace exterior and interior lighting. The interior was freshened up with a thorough cleaning and the woodwork was re-stained as well. We met with our old friend Saadia Zraizaa who is a veteran of the local diner scene. She was hired as one of the waitresses by Chartwells and certainly a plus for the diner. She introduced us to Jim, one of the managers who was very cordial to us as well.

The service was a little rocky as we observed that the cooks, who may have been experienced, were not up to the level of short-order service that a good diner should have, in my opinion. They might have been better off having Saadia doing the cooking as she knows what the rhythm should be having actually operated her own place, the Medford Square Diner for a short period a couple of years ago.

We will get back to the diner soon and hope that things have smoothed out with the new management and crew as I really want to see this diner survive and thrive!

Follow-up on the Salem Diner

Well, we visited the Salem Diner on Saturday for our usual breakfast between 5:30 and 6:15 AM. It was doing a great business even at that early hour. I went back to the kitchen to speak with owner George Elefteriadis about the sale of the diner to Salem State University. He said that he thought the diner would be in good hands as far as remaining intact and preserved. He and his lovely wife Zoe are retiring after many years of serving great food to many loyal customers in quite a few different restaurants, the last five and a half years here at the Salem Diner. I have stated this before… it is my firm belief that the Elefteriadis’ brought this diner back to life when they bought it. They turned it around from the slide it had been on, business-wise for a good 6 years or more prior to their purchase of this historic Sterling Streamliner. George thanked me again for being an enthusiastic supporter of their efforts and I said that it was my pleasure as Denise and I really and truly enjoyed eating there under their ownership.

Salem Diner, Saturday around 6:00 AM, June 29, 2013 photo by Larry Cultrera

Salem Diner, Saturday around 6:00 AM, June 29, 2013 photo by Larry Cultrera

Salem Diner, Saturday around 6:00 AM, June 29, 2013 photo by Larry Cultrera

George also told me the diner was physically closing on July 3rd (today). I was a little surprised it was happening so fast and made plans to come back within a few hours to say goodbye to Zoe. So around 9:00 AM we were back for coffee and a last goodbye to Zoe, Janie and Jose. I had hoped to get a photo of the whole crew but they were swamped and there just was not an opportunity to get the shot. I did get their last copy of my book “Classic Diners of Massachusetts” (they had sold a number of them). I also got the cardboard display they had gotten from The History Press. This will come in handy when I attend the New England Authors Expo later this month in Danvers, Mass. I will be one of two authors  attending this event occupying the table for our publisher, The History Press.

Salem Diner around 9:00 AM, June 29, 2013 photo by Larry Cultrera

Salem Diner around 9:00 AM, June 29, 2013 photo by Larry Cultrera

I am a little sad that we will not be able to have a meal here, at least for the near future. I was a little concerned about the University’s possible plans for the diner and wrote an email addressed to both Patricia Meservey, the President of the University and Karen Cady, the Senior Director for University Relations. I introduced myself and told them of my interest and almost 33 years of documenting diners as well as about my book and this blog. I also wanted to express my concerns for the future of the diner. I mentioned how this was only one of two Sterling Streamliners left operating that are still in existence and how I would hate to see anything bad happen to it. I told them that I knew the article in the Salem News stated that the University is committed to preserving the diner and that it hopefully will reopen sometime in the future and that I would like to hear from them on this subject and possibly be kept informed on any developments in the diner’s future and continued existence. I got this following response from Ms Cady…….

Mr. Cultrera,

Many thanks for reaching out to us with this very interesting information. It is good to know of your interest in Classic Diners – and yes, the Salem Diner is certainly a favorite of so many of us on the North Shore. We have learned quite a bit of history of the Salem Diner via the Massachusetts Historical Commission and hope to learn even more through resources such as the one you have referenced.

I want to reaffirm that Salem State is committed to the protection of this unique property. The Diner is such an important piece of the historical fabric of Salem, and the university has made it a priority to preserve it for future generations to enjoy. I will keep you apprised of any future updates on the property – as indicated in the Salem News article, no concrete decisions have been made…except for the commitment of preservation.

Thank you again for contacting me.

Karen Cady

So, with that I want to wish both George and Zoe Elefteriadis well in their upcoming retirement and hope to keep in touch with them. I will post any further developments on the Salem Diner and its future here whenever I know anything!

Salem Diner being sold to University

Salem Diner, April 5, 2009 photo by Larry Cultrera

I was totally surprised to read that George and Zoe Elefteriadis, owner/operators of the Salem Diner of Salem . Mass. have been made an offer they could not refuse. Neighboring Salem State University has just announced they are buying the diner from the Elefteriadis’ for $600,000. Denise and I are fairly regular customers and try to get there at least once every 2 weeks or more. Anyway, here is an article from the Salem News about the pending sale……

http://m.salemnews.com/TSN/db_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=s4kWyVVr&full=true#display

I will attempt to find out more this Saturday when we head up for breakfast bright and early.