Marking 43 Years of Documenting Diners with my photographs.

Here we are again – it’s November 29th and as always, I like to make note of this day, now 43 years ago when I shot my first 35mm photograph of a diner. There I was on my second road trip to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, two days after Thanksgiving visiting my pal Steve Repucci who I had helped moved just short of 3 months earlier to the capitol of the Keystone State. Myself and my brother Rick as well as friend Scott Drown had driven down from Massachusetts the day before, the Friday after Thanksgiving and basically hung out that afternoon in Steve’s apartment. We decided to go to breakfast the next morning at the nearest diner to where Steve lived which turned out to be the By-Pass Diner on Herr Street. This is when I “broke my cherry” so to speak and turned my camera lens toward taking this first tentative photo…

The By-Pass Diner, Harrisburg, PA
November 29, 1980 photo by Larry Cultrera

Since then I have photographed just short of 900 different diners throughout a good portion of the eastern United States, from Maine to Virginia and Tennessee as well as a few in Florida and one in Georgia and into the midwest area counting a handful in Ohio, Michigan and Illinois.

In this blog post I want to highlight the diners that I have photographed in the Capitol region of Pennsylvania. I will start with another view of the By-Pass Diner…

By-Pass Diner – Harrisburg,
February 19, 1984

Dempsey’s Diner – Harrisburg,
April, 1987

Dempsey’s Diner – Hershey,
April 19, 1987

Ray’s Diner (AKA East Shore Diner) –
Harrisburg, February 19, 1984

Riverview Diner – Harrisburg,
March 20, 1982

West Shore Diner – Lemoyne,
August 9, 1981

Decoven Diner – Duncannon,
November 28, 1981

Trail Diner – Duncannon,
August, 1981

Blue Diner – West Hanover Township,
March 22, 1982

Bill’s Friendly Diner – Hummlestown,
April 3, 1983

Highspire Diner (AKA Friendly Diner) – Highspire,
March 27, 1982

230 Family Diner – Middletown,
February 26, 1982

Kuppy’s Diner – Middletown,
May 1, 1987

4 More Diners from the early 1980’s

Things have been kind of slow here at the Hotline…… OK, I am feeling kind of lazy, I admit it! I have been working on one or two things coming up including a possible book or two or three (this remains to be seen but I am hopeful). I need to get going on the author’s proposal.

Anyway, here are some photos of 4 more diners I documented in the early 1980’s that you can see for the first time here in Diner Hotline!

I will show these in order driving south from the Adirondack region of New York to as far south as Maryland.

Aviation Diner, Aviation Road and Route 9
Queensbury, NY

Aviation Diner, August, 1981 photo by Larry Cultrera

Aviation Diner, August, 1981 photo by Larry Cultrera

The Aviation Diner was a typical 1970’s stone facade with spanish terracotta tile mansard environmental style diner. It was closed when I photographed it in 1981 and eventually moved from this site, (I don’t believe it was torn down). I heard it was moved south closer to the Albany area but this is unconfirmed. By 1991 there was a Papa Gino’s Restaurant built there (a Massachusetts chain) that became a different restaurant in later years.

Spa City Diner, 133 S. Broadway Saratoga Springs, NY

Spa City Diner, August, 1981 photo by Larry Cultrera

Spa City Diner, August, 1981 photo by Larry Cultrera

The Spa City Diner was more than likely built on-site. I have an earlier postcard image that shows an interesting building with at least one rounded corner (on the right end) with glass blocks. The rest of the facade looks to be stucco. The building in these photos is what became of the earlier place, greatly expanded. I checked Bing street views and it is still there.

Trail Diner, Route 11, Duncannon, PA

Trail Diner, August 8, 1981 photo by Larry Cultrera

Trail Diner, August 8, 1981 photo by Larry Cultrera

The Trail Diner is a very large Kullman Diner from the 1950’s. It still is operating, now under the same ownership as Angie’s Brookside Diner in Harrisburg I believe and is known as Angie’s Trail Diner. After I posted this, Spencer Stewart did some detective work and it seems like the diner looks completely different now, check out his comment below… there is a link to his blog showing what it looks like now.

Tom’s Diner, Route 50, Easton, Maryland

Tom’s Diner, August 9, 1981 photo by Larry Cultrera

Tom’s Diner, August 9, 1981 photo by Larry Cultrera

Tom’s Diner was a very large Mountain View Diner with an add-on diningroom. I am not sure it is still there. If it is, it possibly has another name.