A diner is a small, inexpensive restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe. Diners offer a wide range of foods, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a combination of booths served by a waitstaff and a long sit-down counter with direct service, in the smallest simply by a cook. Many diners have extended hours, and some along highways and areas with significant shift work stay open for 24 hours.
A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "bullet trains". Less commonly, the term is applied to fully faired upright and recumbent bicycles. As part of the Streamline Moderne trend, the term was applied to passenger cars, trucks, and other types of light-, medium-, or heavy-duty vehicles, but now vehicle streamlining is so prevalent that it is not an outstanding characteristic. In land speed racing, it is a term applied to the long, slender, custom built, high-speed vehicles with enclosed wheels.
The City of Los Angeles was a streamlined passenger train between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California via Omaha, Nebraska, and Ogden, Utah. Between Omaha and Los Angeles it ran on the Union Pacific Railroad; east of Omaha it ran on the Chicago and North Western Railway until October 1955 and on the Milwaukee Road thereafter. The train had number 103 westbound and number 104 eastbound.
Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design, it was used in railroad locomotives, telephones, toasters, buses, appliances, and other devices to give the impression of sleekness and modernity.
Mickey's Dining Car is a classic diner in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Until 2020, it had been in continuous operation at the same location since 1939. Designed to resemble a railroad dining car, the prefabricated building was constructed in 1937 by the Jerry O'Mahony Diner Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey, then shipped to Saint Paul by rail. Its unusual architecture made it a local landmark. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 for having local significance in the themes of architecture and commerce. It was nominated for being "a beloved, longstanding and unique social institution," an unaltered example of railroad car-style diners, and one of the few surviving examples of its type in the American Midwest.
Ocean Drive is a major thoroughfare in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach, Florida.
The St. Paul Women's City Club is a 1931 Art Deco Streamline Moderne-style Mankato limestone clubhouse in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that was designed by architect Magnus Jemne (1882-1964). The building was designed to provide a "center for organized work and for social and intellectual intercourse", and provided a dining room, assembly rooms, dressing rooms, and bedrooms for the 1000 members of the club and their guests. The building was sold to the Minnesota Museum of Art in 1972 and now houses an architectural firm. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
West Side Diner, formerly Poirier's Diner, is a historic restaurant at 1380 Westminster Street in Providence, Rhode Island. The diner was built in 1947 by Kullman Dining Car Company, and is a typical Art Deco streamlined stainless steel structure. It is one of two surviving Kullman diners in the state. The diner was originally located at 579-581 Atwells Avenue, an industrial area, where it operated for many years. The diner closed in 1999.
The Village Diner, sometimes called the Halfway Diner or the Historic Village Diner, is located on North Broadway a block north of New York State Route 199, in Red Hook, New York, United States. It is a 1951 diner that has been in two other area locations during its history.
Worcester Lunch Car Company was a manufacturer of diners based in Worcester, Massachusetts, from 1906 to 1957.
The Jerry O'Mahony Diner Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was a manufacturer of roadside diners from 1917 to 1952. The company produced some 2,000 of the long, narrow, primarily metal buildings, perhaps more than any other firm. Prefabricated in a factory and trucked to their locations, the diners resemble and are often confused with railroad rolling stock. The company's motto was "In our line, we lead the world".
Tanpopo Ramen and Sake Bar is a historic diner in Albany, New York, built in 1941 and located at 893 Broadway, one of the oldest streets in Albany. Used as a set for the 1987 film Ironweed, which starred Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
The Triangle Diner is an American diner in Winchester, Virginia. It was built in 1948 by the Jerry O'Mahony Diner Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Mountain View Diners Company, established by Les Daniel and Henry Strys in the Singac section of Little Falls, New Jersey, to manufacture prefabricated diners, operated from 1939 to 1957, selling diners that were shipped nationwide. "A Mountain View Diner will last a lifetime" was the company motto. Their pre-World War II diner models usually incorporated late Art Deco styling, few were produced during the war years. Post-war, streamline styling then in vogue was used. The company ceased operation in 1957 after producing over 400 diners. Subsequent to 1957, Les Daniel II established Mountain View Auto body. It is currently owned and operated by Les Daniel III.
Silk City Diners was a division of the Paterson Wagon Company, later known at Paterson Vehicle Company, established by Everett Abbott Cooper and based in Paterson, New Jersey, which produced about 1,500 diners from 1926 until 1966. Each was tagged with the year and order in which it was built; for example, 5607 would be the seventh diner manufactured in 1956. Several have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
Tierney Dining Cars was an American brand of lunch wagons at the beginning of the 20th century. Its origins can be traced to 1895, when the business founder Patrick J. Tierney began to build truck-based cars modeled after railroad dining cars. This eventually resulted in a business that manufactured prefabricated diners, which was incorporated in 1922 and ceased trading in 1933.
The Art Deco style, which originated in France just before World War I, had an important impact on architecture and design in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. The most famous examples are the skyscrapers of New York City including the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, and Rockefeller Center. It combined modern aesthetics, fine craftsmanship and expensive materials, and became the symbol of luxury and modernity. While rarely used in residences, it was frequently used for office buildings, government buildings, train stations, movie theaters, diners and department stores. It also was frequently used in furniture, and in the design of automobiles, ocean liners, and everyday objects such as toasters and radio sets. In the late 1930s, during the Great Depression, it featured prominently in the architecture of the immense public works projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration and the Public Works Administration, such as the Golden Gate Bridge and Hoover Dam. The style competed throughout the period with the modernist architecture, and came to an abrupt end in 1939 with the beginning of World War II. The style was rediscovered in the 1960s, and many of the original buildings have been restored and are now historical landmarks.
Summit Diner is a diner built in the late thirties located in Summit, New Jersey. The business opened in 1929. The original building was replaced with the current building constructed by the Jerry O'Mahony Diner Company in 1938. Food writer, Peter Genovese, considered Summit Diner a quintessential diner.
