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A Valentine Diner was a prefabricated mail order small diner produced in Wichita, Kansas after the Great Depression. [1] The concept was created by Arthur Valentine in the 1930s, who had experience operating lunch rooms. [2] Originally the diners were manufactured by the Ablah Hotel Supply Company.
In 1947, manufacturing was taken over by the Valentine Manufacturing Company. [3] After World War II and the implementation of the Interstate Highway System in the U.S. in the late 1950s, prefabricated diners saw a boom in business as motorists took to the roads in greater numbers for longer journeys and would stop for a meal. [4] Valentine Diners were produced until the 1970s, and several survive as operating business (sometimes as a restaurant, sometimes as other businesses) around the United States today. A few have become historical roadside attractions, such as along historic Route 66. [5]
At least twelve different Valentine Diners styles were produced. [6] Diners can be identified by either their wall safe, which will have a Valentine logo (a heart with an arrow through it), or the Valentine diner steel serial number plate, which has the word “Valentine” written on it.
