Pocono Road Trip, first time back since 1991…

Denise and I were married on October 12, 1991 and honeymooned at The Caesar’s Pocono Palace (now Cove Pocono Palace) in Marshalls Creek, Pennsylvania. Back thru the 1980s I used to pass this resort heading south on Route 209 on my way to visit friends in Harrisburg, PA, . So when Denise and I were planning the honeymoon, I suggested this as a destination. Ideally, I would have loved to make a return trip to the resort in 2021 for our 30th anniversary but the Pandemic interfered and we put it off.

Fast forward to 2023 and I brought up the subject again in early June, right after Memorial Day and we ultimately made reservations for the middle of July and then fate stepped in at the end of June to put a wrench into those plans. We were driving back on a Saturday morning on U.S. Route 1 south in Danvers, Massachusetts from an early breakfast at the Agawam Diner in Rowley when a Deer ran into my 2022 Mazda CX-5. The front corner on the driver’s side of the car was damaged badly and subsequently deemed totaled by the insurance company. This screwed things up for the proposed trip to the Poconos so we cancelled the reservation. By the middle of July we had purchased a 2023 CX-5 and were back in business. So when the dust had settled by the time mid- August rolled around, I proposed to make reservations again for the Pocono trip and it was decided to happen in early September.

So, on September 10th, we set out on our little excursion taking Interstate 84 from Massachusetts thru Connecticut making a breakfast stop at the Vernon Diner in Vernon, CT, a totally convenient and easy off/on from the highway. This diner does a tremendous business, housed in a former Howard Johnson’s Reataurant.

Vernon Diner, Vernon, Connecticut.
September 10, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

We continued on I-84 as far as the western part of Danbury, where we got off the interstate and continued on U.S. Route 6 west crossing the state line at Brewster, NY and took it thru to Port Jervis, NY. I had traveled on parts of this road in New York State but never the whole length (approx. 77 miles). On the way across New York State on Route 6, I stopped to photograph the Olympic Diner in Mahopac, New York.

Olympic Diner, Mahopac, New York.
September 10, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

We arrived in Port Jervis close to 1:00pm and I contacted my friend Maria Pagelos Wall to let her know I was a few minutes away from her diner – the Village Diner of Milford, PA. I first photographed the Village Diner on November 27, 1981. It is a wonderfully preserved late model Mountain View Diner.

Village Diner, Milford, Pennsylvania.
November 27, 1981 photo by Larry Cultrera

Village Diner, Milford, Pennsylvania.
September 10, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

I have been “Facebook friends” with Maria for a good ten years or so but we have never met face-to-face. Her family bought the Village Diner in the early 1990s and Maria is currently operating the diner with her brother and a very able staff. We have spoken on the phone a couple of times over the years and the vibes I got from Maria was that she was a very warm and giving person! Denise and I got to the diner a good 15 minutes before Maria arrived. This gave me enough time to take a bunch of new photos before we went in and ordered lunch. We spent some time talking with Maria and we had a very pleasant visit. It was so very nice to finally connect with her!

Maria Wall with Myself and Denise at the Village Diner.
September 10, 2023 photo.

Interior of the Village Diner.
September 10, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

Interior of the Village Diner.
September 10, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

After lunch at the Village we drove about 30 minutes south on Route 209 to the Pocono Palace and checked in. We basically were in for the rest of the day. The next morning after breakfast at the resort, we ventured out toward Stroudsburg. I went searching for the Arlington Diner and got some photos of it.

Arlington Diner, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
September 11, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

On the way back from Stroudsburg, I decided to stop and take photos of the now closed Four Seasons Diner. This was originally a 1970s vintage Kullman Diner known as the Pocono Queen Diner on Route 209 in Marshalls Creek. I first photographed it on March 20, 1982 and actually ate there in October of 1991 when Denise and I were on our honeymoon.

Pocono Queen Diner, Marshalls Creek. Pennsylvania.
March 20, 1982 photo by Larry Cultrera

Sometime in the 1990s, the diner was completely remodeled by Kullman and made to look like a modern stainless steel retro diner. Unfortunately, it has had a very spotted history since and been operated under at least two or three different names since, (the last being the Four Seasons Diner) and has currently been closed for quite sometime. It is currently sitting derelict and pieces of stainless steel trim are falling off the building.

Four Seasons Diner, Marshalls Creek, Pennsylvania.
September 11, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

That same early afternoon we headed back into East Stroudsburg and had an ice cream at Jimmy’s Ice Cream, instead of having a light lunch. While we were in the area I went and located Besecker’s Diner. I had photographed this place back on April 2, 1983. Back then it was a fairly original, late model Silk City Diner from the early 1950s.

Besecker’s Diner, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
April 2, 1983 photo by Larry Cultrera

When I saw it last in 1991, I was saddened to see that they had added on a brick building to the front of the diner, presumably for increased seating. At that time I chose not to photograph it. I decided this time around to document it with a couple of photos.

Besecker’s Diner, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
September 11, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera.
This angle shows that the original diner is
still intact behind the newer addition.

We then got back to the resort and we took a couple of photos by the entrance sign on the road leading into the place. I took one of Denise by the sign and she took one of me. Another couple were riding bicycles in the area and the nice young man stopped and took a photo of both Denise and myself.

Myself and Denise at the entrance sign to the
Pocono Palace. September 11, 2023 photo.

The next morning (Tuesday the 12th of September) we had made plans to meet up with Michael Gabriele to have lunch at the Blairstown Diner in Blairstown, New Jersey. The border with New Jersey is actually the Delaware River and there are three ways to get from that section of Pennsylvania to New Jersey over the river. Two up near Milford, Route 206 just outside Milford heading south on Route 209 and then further south on 209 at Dingman’s Ferry. The third way to get across is by taking the Columbia – Portland Bridge southeast of Stroudsburg, either taking Interstate 80 or Route 611. We ended up going north to Milford and walking around the little downtown area. I managed to get three new photos of the Milford Diner. I first photographed this on February 26, 1982 and then again sometime in November, 1987 (according to the date stamp on the 35mm slide). This is an early 1970s Manno Diner with a brick and mansard facade. It has stayed remarkably intact and pretty original to the way it was built, with the exception of a section added on to the right hand side of the diner.

Milford Diner, Milford, Pennsylvania.
November, 1987 photo by Larry Cultrera

Milford Diner, Milford, Pennsylvania.
September 12, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

We took Route 206 over to New Jersey and made our way south toward Blairstown. I knew we would go by a couple of diners I photographed in the 1980s on the way. The first was the former Five Star Diner in Branchville, New Jersey, now operating as Victoria Diner. The first photo is from October, 1987, where the original monitor roof was visible.

Five Star Diner, Branchville, New Jersey.
October, 1987 photo by Larry Cultrera

When I photographed it this time it had a new hip-roof added over the original, more than likely to help the old diner from leaking in inclement weather.

Victoria Diner, Branchville, New Jersey.
September 12, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

The next diner we were going by was Yetter’s Diner in Augusta, New Jersey. When I photographed this diner in the 1980s, it was a fairly small 1950s vintage Kullman Diner.

Yetter’s Diner, Augusta, New Jersey.
March 20, 1982 photo by Larry Cultrera

I knew that in the intervening years, the diner was bought by newer owners and they replaced the old Kullman diner with a newer used Mediterranean style diner with stone and mansard exterior as well as arched windows. So I was happy to document this newer version on this bright sunny day….

Yetter’s Diner, Augusta, New Jersey.
September 12, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

We made it down to Blairstown earlier than anticipated so I stopped across the street to take a bunch of photos of the Blairstown Diner. The light was great and they came out fantastic. I first came across the Blairstown back in the 1980s. I first photographed it on December 29, 1984 and then again in March of 1990. This was a rare model built by Paramount Diners known as the Roadking. The setup was different from 99% of other diners. The cooking area was actually up against the front windows. When one sat at the counter you were facing the grill area and then the front windows beyond. Interesting historical note on the Blairstown Diner, it became famous for appearing in a scene in the 1980 film Friday the 13th

Blairstown Diner, Blairstown, New Jersey.
March, 1990 photo by Larry Cultrera.
The diner as it was with the original exterior before it
was redone by PMC Diners.

In 2005, the owners of the diner wanted to upgrade the appearance and called in Paramount Modular Concepts (PMC Diners), the successor to Paramount Diners and they reconfigured the exterior and updated the interior as well. The doors on the front were replaced by windows and a new door was added slightly off center. All new stainless steel with red stripes and a new parapet were added to the outside. The inside changes included the section of counter and stools on the right hand side were removed and the cinder block dining room & kitchen addition was redone to make it all look factory-built and match the newer updated interior of the diner section. All cooking was removed to a rear kitchen.

Exterior of Blairstown Diner, Blairstown, New Jersey.
September 12, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

Interior of dining room at Blairstown Diner.
September 12, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

Interior of dining room at Blairstown Diner.
September 12, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

Interior of Blairstown Diner with owner
Gary D. Wishnia and Michael Gabriele.
September 12, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

Denise and I outside the Blairstown Diner.
September 12, 2023 photo by Michael Gabriele.

On Wednesday the 13th of September, we started the journey home retracing the route we took down to the Poconos. We checked out of the resort around 7:00am and drove back to Milford for breakfast at the Milford Diner. Then we got back into New York state on Route 6 and I took a little detour when we got to Middletown. I wanted to revisit the Colonial Diner in that town. I actually had lunch there back on March 21, 1987 and the diner was pretty much in original condition at that time, the way it came from the Manno Diner Company.

Colonial Diner, Middletown, New York.
March 21, 1987 photo by Larry Cultrera

The diner went thru an update since I last saw it. It is the same diner but looks completely different now…

Colonial Diner, Middletown, New York.
September 13, 2023 photo by Larry Cultrera

After that we made it back toward Connecticut with one stop in Mohegan Lake, New York to photograph the Mohegan Diner. We passed it on the way to the Poconos but it was raining pretty hard so I was happy to get some decent shots on the way home…

Mohegan Diner, Mohegan Lake, New York. September 13, 2023
photo by Larry Cultrera

We had one pit-stop on the way home thru Connecticut when we got off I-84 in Newtown and had a snack at the Blue Colony Diner. After that, it was a straight shot home, arriving back around early afternoon.

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 35 years of documenting Diners!

The very first photo I ever shot of a diner… The Bypass Diner of Harrisburg, PA
(now known as the American Dream Diner).
November 29, 1980 photo by Larry Cultrera

Well, it’s Thanksgiving weekend, 2015. This means I am marking 35 years of documenting Diners with my photographs! The date of the first diner photograph I shot was November 29, 1980 when I was 27 years old. What led me up to that point started when I was very young, probably when I was around 5 or 6 years old. I was very observant as a child whenever my parents would be driving around our hometown of Medford, Massachusetts as well as the Greater Boston area, I noticed the different buildings and signs located along the roadside, whether it was in the city or out in the more rural areas. I certainly knew some things by sight such as Howard Johnson’s Restaurants with their cupolas and bright orange roofs (The Landmark for Hungry Americans, like the commercials said). Gas stations also stood out but what really ended up catching my eye was the abundance of these small buildings that looked somewhat like railroad cars. In fact I distinctly recall driving down Mystic Avenue in Medford with my dad and I asked him about this bright blue building sporting a rounded roof set back from the street. I asked him what the place was, remarking that it looked like a railroad car. Dad said that it was a diner, a type of restaurant that was built in a factory and was in fact designed to look like a railroad car. I later learned that the diner in question was in fact Worcester Lunch Car No. 817, the Star Lite Diner. This diner was delivered to its site at 383 Mystic Avenue on November 9, 1948. Its only owner operator was James S. Theodore (I knew him as Jim). I recall both Jim and his son Richie running the place when I first started going there with my dad and brothers when I was around 12 years old. In the summer of 1968 I recall the diner closed for their usual 2 week vacation and unfortunately never reopened! I was totally disappointed by this situation! I know the diner stayed closed for a short while and then was moved. I never exactly knew what happened but the rumor is that it was brought to a scrap-yard in nearby Chelsea, Mass. and to my knowledge was never put back into service!

The Star Lite Diner, 383 Mystic Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts
December , 1948 photo courtesy of the Medford Police Dept. archives

I always noticed diners in my later travels and in fact continued to visit some including the Victoria Diner in Boston and Carroll’s Diner in Medford. In fact I used to hang-out at Carroll’s with a bunch of my friends in the early to mid 1970s. Both Carroll’s and the Victoria were more modern diners (in fact the most modern in the Boston area). Both of them were built by Swingle Diner Company out of Middlesex, NJ.

Carroll’s Diner, Medford, Mass. – August, 1983 photo by Larry Cultrera

Victoria Diner, Boston, Mass. – July, 2004 photo by Larry Cultrera

Carroll’s closed in 1986 and was torn down in June of 1987 but the Victoria Diner is still operating!
Since 1980 I have personally photographed approximately 851 Diners! Not all are classic factory-built diners though. When I first started, I was sort of what I call a “Diner-Snob”. I only wanted to photograph the older ones that dated from the 1920s thru the 1950s or 60s. I know I may have passed up quite a few newer ones in my travels but that changed over time. I now document non-factory-built diners (built on-site) as well as the prefab ones! In fact, the last “new ” diner photo I shot recently was of a place I have been a patron of for quite a few years, The Hammersmith Family Restaurant in my current hometown of Saugus.

Hammersmith Family Restaurant, Saugus, Mass.
April 22, 2015 photo by Larry Cultrera

Hammermith is not diner-like in appearance and the place never had a counter or stools but the food, service and friendly atmosphere is very much like any local diner and has become a favorite stop for both myself and my wife Denise! Anyway, sometimes I cannot believe it has been 35 years since that first photo of the Bypass Diner! On my bucket list is a road-trip back to H’burg to visit friends and some of the diners I was going to back in the 1980s, hopefully on a Thanksgiving weekend again!

Victoria Diner’s Nicholas Georgenes passes away, Rest in Peace

Nick Georgenes standing behind the bar inside the rear addition
to the Victoria Diner (Cafe George). Photo courtesy of Chris Georgenes

My old friend Nick Georgenes passed away last week at the age of 78, after years of declining health. Nick along with his brother Charles were the owners of Boston’s Victoria Diner for decades. They grew up in the diner business and carried on the tradition started by their uncles James and Peter as well as their dad George. The Georgenes family along with some friends and relatives operated a chain of diners in the Boston area from the late 1920s into the 1940s. Some of the diners were operated as United Diners, Inc. but the flagship location was the 60 foot long Old Colony Diner in Boston. Other locations were Weymouth, Roxbury Crossing and Somerville. According to Dick Gutman’s American Diner Then & Now book, after James and Peter passed away in the 1940s, the chain splintered and Nick and Charlie’s dad ended up with 2 diners until selling them in 1947. He ended up buying a brand new stainless steel Jerry O’Mahony diner and opening at 1024 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston as the Victoria Diner in early 1949. Nick & Charlie took over the daily operation after George passed in the mid-1950s and 10 years later were ready for a new diner. They ended up buying a large colonial style diner from Joseph Swingle (who had sold their dad the O’Mahony in 1948-49). The Swingle diner is still operating today. Nick and Charlie Georgenes wanted to retire a dozen years ago and sold the diner to Jay Haj in 2003. I became a semi-regular customer of the diner at the age of 12 when the diner was brand-new in 1965. I have seen a lot of changes to the area as well as the diner, which the Georgenes’ continually updated periodically to keep up with the times! I became friendly with the brothers in the early 1980s when they knew of my interest and count them among my friends. They were always gracious hosts, embodying the true definition of the word “gentlemen”! I was somewhat saddened when they sold the diner as I knew I would not see them on a regular basis. But I have stayed in touch, more recently speaking with Charlie back when I was writing Classic Diners of Massachusetts. Both Nick & Charlie are mentioned in my acknowledgments for that book! I am also in touch with Nick’s sons Chris and George through Facebook! Chris was nice enough to send a photo of Nick for this post and I also spoke with George last week who filled me in on details for the upcoming wake, etc.

The Victoria Diner, 1024 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Mass.

Here is Nick’s obituary…

Nicholas Georgenes, 78, of Walpole died suddenly and peacefully on Tuesday, April 7, 2015 at The Ellis Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Norwood, Massachusetts. He was born on July 20, 1936 in Boston, Massachusetts. The son of George and Victoria (Athanasopoulos) Georgenes, Nicholas spent his childhood in Roxbury, before becoming a longtime resident of Jamaica Plain for most of his adult life. In his retirement, Nicholas became a resident of Walpole, Massachusetts. After graduating high school, Nicholas and his brother Charlie went to work with their father at the family restaurant, The Victoria Diner which was founded in 1949. For over half a century Nicholas tirelessly served patrons of Boston and beyond as The Victoria Diner stood as a landmark in the hearts and minds of all who frequented the family owned business. Between being a full time restaurateur and dedicated family man, Nicholas never hesitated to give back to his community. Some of the charities and organizations that have benefitted from Nick’s generosity include, but are not limited to, the West Roxbury-Dorchester Masonic Lodge AF & AM, Shriners Hospital, Perkins School for the Blind, Rosies Place and the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England. Nick also served as past president of the Newmarket Business Association. Nicholas sense of civic duty was rivaled only by his sense of humor. He never hesitated to don a Santa Claus suit in July to bring smiles to the young patients at the Shriners Hospital. He happily obliged when asked to dress up as a Burlesque dancer and prance around a stage at a musical revue for the spectacle and benefit of his church. Community always came first for Nicholas even at the expense of his dignity. His spirit for community and helping others remains inspiring. Nicholas enjoyed playing tennis with friends, cooking, good restaurants, traveling, the beach and sitting down with a good book. Combining several of these activities into a single experience was often successful for Nicholas. Nicholas is survived by his wife Mary; daughter, Ann; sons, George and Chris; sister, Helen; brother, Charles; his grandchildren Zoe, Robert, William , Andrea, Theodore, Nicholas and Alexander and many close friends. If you measure the quality of life based on the love of friends and family, then Nicholas lived a very blessed life. Relatives and friends can attend his funeral service on Tuesday April 14 – 10AM at Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Weston. Interment will be at Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain. Visiting hours will be held on Monday, April 13 – 4-8PM at the Folsom Funeral Home in Westwood. In Lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Shriner’s Hospital for Children, 51 Blossom St., Boston, MA 02114.

For guestbook please visit www.folsomfuneral.com

Folsom Funeral Service Inc Westwood Chapel

649 High St Westwood, MA 02090

Rest in Peace Nick!

The Dining Car of Philadelphia, a family tradition!

Close-up of the fantastic sign for The Dining Car in Philadelphia,
July 1, 1985 photo by Larry Cultrera

Growing up in the Boston area, I recall all the various diners we had around thru the 1950’s and 1960’s. Most were built by the local Worcester Lunch Car Company (Worcester, Mass.) as well as more than a few Sterling Diners that were built in nearby Merrimac, Mass. by the J.B. Judkins Company. We also had a handful of  Fodero’s, Mountain Views and O’Mahony’s from New Jersey. There were quite a few Brill diners built in Springfield, Mass. for the J.G. Brill Company based in Philadelphia, PA as well as a couple of Valentine diners out of Witchita, KS.  I personally was also familiar with Swingle diners (another New Jersey company, 1957-1988) having grown up with two of their diners here, Carroll’s Colonial Dining Car of my hometown of Medford (1961) and the Victoria Diner of Boston (1965). These two diners were the most modern diners in the Greater Boston area.

After starting my documentation of existing diners in the early 1980’s, I made the acquaintance of Richard Gutman, a native of Allentown, PA who had relocated to the Boston area in the early 1970’s after graduating from Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning. Dick had authored the first real history book on this truly unique type of restaurant known as a diner. The book was titled Amercian Diner (this later was updated to a more comprehensive volume entitled Amercian Diner Then & Now).  From reading his book, I learned that the evolution of diners was an on-going process. Basically from the horse-drawn lunch wagons of the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, to the barrel-roofed and monitor-roofed railroad car inspired designs of the 1920’s, 1930’s and early 1940’s as well as the modern stainless steel streamlined diners of the late 1940’s thru the 1950’s. But from the early 1960’s into the early 1980’s the diner manufacturers had drifted away from the traditional “railroad car” styled diners to the larger multi-section diner-restaurants with their more updated Colonial and Mediterranean influenced designs.

View of the left side front elevation of The Dining Car,
July 1, 1985 photo by Larry Cultrera

I would guess it was from Richard Gutman, that I had heard (not too long after I met him) of a new diner being built by Swingle Diners… the first ever retro-styled diner called The Dining Car of Philadelphia, PA. So in my travels on the diner trail, I planned on someday checking this new old-style diner out. I had heard that Swingle in collaboration with the Morozin family (owners of The Dining Car) had loosely based the design of the new Dining Car on the old Monarch model that the Jerry O’Mahony Dining Car Company had built back in the mid-to-late 1930’s. It featured a metal-sheathed monitor roof, not used since the 1950’s as well as a black enameled body (with the name of the diner lettered on) under the windows. It also included stainless steel trim on the corners of the building as well as the window sills. So it was in the middle of  a diner road-trip, July 17, 1984 to be precise that myself and Steve Repucci visited the Swingle Diner factory in Middlesex, NJ. We were given a tour of the plant by Eric Swingle, a nephew of owner Joe Swingle. We met Joe along with his chief designer Joe Montano. I asked Joe Montano about The Dining Car and he actually pulled out the blue prints to show us what it looked like! It wasn’t until July 1, 1985 that we actually set foot in the diner on a subsequent road-trip. We had lunch as I recall and I took quite a few exterior shots of this huge diner (which can be seen here). I found myself at The Dining Car one other time since then…. June 19, 1993 during the Delaware Valley Diner Tour which was part of the Diner Experience, a symposium conducted by the Society for Commercial Archeology. But going through my slide archive, it seems I did not photograph it that time.

View of the full front elevation of The Dining Car,
July 1, 1985 photo by Larry Cultrera

To help with some background for this post, I recently spoke with Nancy Morozin, a friend of mine from Facebook who is the current general manager of the diner started by her dad, Joe Morozin Sr. Nancy runs the business along with her brother Joe Jr. and sister Judy. Joe Jr. oversees all back-of-the-house functions while Judy is responsible for the training of all front-of-the-house personnel. The Dining Car story goes back to Joe Sr’s. early days, basically from a teenager on – running various eateries with names such as the GI Inn, and another called the White Way among others. Jump to the year 1961 when Joe was ready for something new and larger, this is when he bought a brand-new Swingle Diner. Nancy describes it as an “L-Shaped” Colonial-styled diner with large windows and hammered copper hood. From the sounds of it, this would have made it a contemporary of Carroll’s Diner in Medford (the one I grew up with). This diner was known as the Torresdale Diner from 1961 – 1976. In 1976, the family updated the diner with a slight renovation that included some new victorian-styled decorations salvaged from an old Atlantic City hotel and decided to change the name to The Dining Car. It operated as  such until they approached Swingle Diners about building them the new larger diner in 1981. Contrary to some reports I have read (as well as being mentioned by Nancy), The Dining Car was not the last brand-new diner built by Swingle Diners. I know this for a fact because when I visited the factory in 1984, they were just completing the final sections of the Penny II Diner of Norwalk, CT. Ironically while we were there, they received a phone call that the first two sections of the diner, which had left the factory on the previous day, had arrived on site that morning! Also, according to Mike Engle (co-author of Diners of New York), the Country View Diner of  Brunswick, NY was possibly the last diner out of the factory. It was built in 1988 and opened in 1989 as the Stagecoach Inn.

View of the right side front elevation of The Dining Car,
July 1, 1985 photo by Larry Cultrera

In the late 1980’s Bob Giaimo and Chef Ype Von Hengst of the proposed Silver Diner chain out of the Washington, DC area actually trained at The Dining Car to see how a large upscale diner operated. Giaimo and the Morozins remained friendy since then. In 1989, the Morozins decided they need to do something as the customers queuing up to purchase their baked goods from their in-house bakery were interfering with the other clientele who were attempting to pay for their meals. You see as Nancy explains it, the diner’s bakery is famous for its Apple Walnut Pie, which is similar to a cheesecake, baked in a pie shell with sweet apples folded inside and topped with walnuts rolled in brown sugar and cinnamon. Another popular item is the Jewish Apple Cake which is a European coffee cake baked with apples and cinnamon sugar. The diner received the “Best of Philadelphia” for that. So a new addition was planned to house and sell the baked goods. Looking for advice, Nancy approached Bob Giaimo to consult with as he previously had operated a chain of upscale bakery/cafés (American Café Restaurants). She hoped to get idea’s for the proposed “Market” addition. When all was said and done the new addition was grafted onto the front of the diner’s entryway. It was designed by the noted restaurant designer, Charles Morris Mount who also consulted along with Richard Gutman and Kullman Diners to design the first Silver Diner for Giaimo, located in Rockville, MD. As Nancy went on to tell me…. There are also a few food items that are uber popular that we sell in the “market” which is why she opted to call the new addition a “market” vs a “bakery”.

Joe Morozin Sr. and Nancy Morozin holding a copy of the revised Edition of
Diners of Pennsylvania by Brian Butko, Kevin Patrick and Kyle Weaver
photo courtesy of Kyle R. Weaver

The diner employs a staff of around 130 and with later additions currently seats 260 patrons. Many of the staff have been working at the diner for years and even decades. This is because the staff is treated like family and the same can be said about the regular customers!

Another interesting story Nancy related to me about the regular customers was when the new diner was installed back in 1981, it was placed on the property adjacent to the old diner. They were basically sitting back to back with a fence between the back walls of both the buildings. Apparently there were a handful of these regular customers who wanted to have the official last meal in the older diner and the first one in the newer diner. So to help facilitate this, an opening was made in the fence between the two diners and the customers in the old diner picked up their plates and coffee cups and proceeded to walk thru the kitchen of that diner, out the back door, thru the opening in the fence and into the back door of the new diner. They went thru that kitchen and into the main part of this diner to finish their meals! What a delightful story, to say the least!

Up until a few years ago The Dining Car was one of a handful of family-run diners that had operated under 2 or 3 generations. There was the Melrose Diner operated by the Kubach family, the Mayfair Diner operated by members of the Morrison, Struhm and Mulholland families as well as the Country Club Diner operated by the Perloff family. Within the last 6 years or so all of those diners with the exception of The Dining Car were bought by Michael Petrogiannis.  In fact Nancy says they too were approached by at least two or three parties who were inquiring whether they wanted to sell their diner a number of years ago, but the Morozins were not interested in selling. As far as I’m concerned, I believe I speak for all their regular customers as well as myself when I say that I am glad as well as relieved to know that the Morozin family will continue to operate this long-time Philadelphia institution for many years to come!

More recent view of the left side front elevation of The Dining Car, showing
the 1989 addition of the “Market” off the front of the entryway designed by
the late Charles Morris Mount, photo by Kyle R. Weaver

If you are ever in the Philadelphia area I highly recommend you visit The Dining Car, it is located at 8826 Frankford Avenue. Telephone is 215-338-5113 and you can also check out The Dining Car’s website at… http://www.thediningcar.com/

If you go, tell them Diner Hotline sent you!