Worcester Lunch Car Company was a manufacturer of diners based in Worcester, Massachusetts, from 1906 to 1957.
Worcester Lunch Car Company was a manufacturer of diners based in Worcester, Massachusetts, from 1906 to 1957.
In 1906 Philip H. Duprey and Grenville Stoddard established the Worcester Lunch Car and Carriage Manufacturing Company, which shipped 'diners' all over the Eastern Seaboard. It was named for Worcester, Massachusetts, where the company was based. The first manufactured lunch wagons with seating appeared throughout the Northeastern US in the late 19th century, serving busy downtown locations without the need to buy expensive real estate. It is generally accepted that the name "diner" as opposed to "lunch wagon" was not widely used before 1925. The company produced 651 diners between 1906 and 1957, when manufacturing ceased. All of Worcester Lunch Car's assets were auctioned in 1961.
Many diners still exist in the Worcester area, including Casey's Diner (1922) in nearby Natick and the Boulevard Diner (1936) in Worcester as well as Miss Florence Diner (1941) all of which are some of the oldest diners in the country and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Miss Florence Diner, one of the longest running and still operational train car style diners was first established in 1941 when Maurice and Pauline Florence Alexander opened the doors of the diner. While originally situated across the street, the diner found its forever home on 99 Main Street, Florence, MA (a village in Northampton, MA) later that same year. Now under new ownership, Miss Florence Diner still offers breakfast and lunch seven days a week and dinner seasonally. The Miss Worcester Diner (1948) still exists in its original location across the street from the former factory. The Rosebud (1941) is an example at 381 Summer Street in Somerville, Massachusetts near Davis Square. [1] [2] The Elmwood Diner (originally known as Central Diner) is Worcester Lunch Car Company #806 built in 1947 and moved to its current location in 1953 where is still operates in the Elmwood section of Providence, Rhode Island. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010 [3] Worcester Lunch Car Company #821 is still in its original location at 53 Park Street in Adams, Massachusetts. The former "Miss Adams diner" was sold to a couple in 2013 who operate it as Izzy's Diner and Pizza, a full service diner and pizza shop, and still contains many original items including the original Worcester Lunch Car Clock. The car is slowly being restored to look as it did originally. In August 2020, the diner was purchased by a local restaurateur. [4]
While most of their diners were located in New England some were purchased as far away as Florida. [ citation needed ] The Henry Ford Museum in Michigan contains a notable example of a Worcester Lunch Car diner called Lamy's, built in 1946. In January 2012, Lamy's once again began serving food. Many surviving Worcester Lunch Car diners are currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [5]
A diner is a type of restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe and Australia. Diners offer a wide range of cuisine, 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.
South Attleboro is a village of Attleboro, a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It was formerly known as SouthGate, and has its own telephone exchange separate from Attleboro. It is perhaps best known for the South Attleboro station on the Providence/Stoughton Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail. U.S. 1 and Route 1A pass through the area, which lies just north of the Rhode Island state line.
Haven Brothers Diner in Providence, Rhode Island is one of the oldest restaurants on wheels in America and was founded in 1893 as a horse-drawn lunch wagon.
The Modern Diner is a historic diner in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States.
The Blue Moon Diner, originally the Miss Toy Town Diner, is a historic diner in Gardner, Massachusetts. Built in 1949, it is well-preserved example of a late-model barrel-roofed diner manufactured by the Worcester Lunch Car Company. It has been located at its present location since 1954. The diner was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
The Miss Florence Diner is a historic diner at 99 Main Street in the Florence section of Northampton, Massachusetts. It was manufactured in 1941 by the Worcester Lunch Car Company and is one of four diners in the city. At the time of its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, it had been owned by the same family since its construction.
Casey's Diner is a historic ten-stool diner located at 36 South Avenue in downtown Natick, Massachusetts, famous for its steamed hot dogs that "snap" when first bitten into. Casey's is one of the oldest operating diners in Massachusetts, and possibly in the United States.
Lloyd's Diner is a historic diner at 184A Fountain Street in Framingham, Massachusetts. Formerly Whit's Diner in Orange, Massachusetts, it was moved its present location in 1990. Built as #783 by the Worcester Lunch Car Company in 1942, it was operated by Robert and Richard Whitney until about 1960 as Whit's, and then under other ownership as the Orange Diner. It was purchased by Richard and Joan Lloyd in 1990 and moved to Framingham.
Jack's Diner is a historic diner at 901 Main Street in Woburn, Massachusetts. Built in 1952 by the Worcester Lunch Car Company as #834, it is believed to be the only surviving stainless steel diner built by the company that is located in Massachusetts. It is located on a site that has housed a diner since at least 1937, when the Worcester Lunch Car Company also delivered a diner to this site. The original diner was called Shipper's Diner, but the one delivered in 1952 was known as Jack's. The proprietor of the establishment is not listed in city directories. By 1975 the diner had been renamed Stella's; as of 2011 it houses a Thai restaurant.
Rosebud is a historic diner building at 381 Summer Street in Somerville, Massachusetts, near Davis Square.
The Corner Lunch Diner is a historic diner at 133 Lamartine Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built c. 1955 and moved to Worcester in 1968, it is the largest diner in the city, and a rare example in New England of remodeling work done by the Musi Dining Car Company of Carteret, New Jersey. It was built by DeRaffele Diners of New Rochelle, New York, and first installed in Babylon, New York. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
The Miss Worcester Diner or Worcester Lunch Car # 812 is a historic diner at 302 Southbridge Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was built in 1948 by Worcester Lunch Car Company and is located across the street from the company's Worcester factory. While independently owned and operated, it was used by the Lunch Car Company as a "showroom" diner, and a testbed for new features.
Miss Bellows Falls Diner is a historic diner at 90 Rockingham Street in Bellows Falls, Vermont. The diner was constructed in 1941 by the Worcester Lunch Car Company as #771, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The Central Diner, also called Paula's Kitchen and formerly known as The Elmwood Diner, Liberty Elm Diner, Jenn's Elmwood Diner, Ole Elmwood Diner, or Worcester Lunch Car Company Diner #806, is a historic Worcester Lunch Car Company diner at 777 Elmwood Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island.
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.
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 Donwell's Diner-Worcester Lunch Car Company Diner No. 774 or Miss Lorraine Diner is a historic dining car located at 560 Mineral Springs Avenue in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, although much of the diner's existence has been in Connecticut. Through various new locations and owners, it has also been known as Squeak's Diner, as Drake's Diner, as Donovan's Diner, and as The Hotel Diner.
The main dining room of the Blue Point Restaurant is an original Worcester Dining Car, built at the Worcester factory in the 1930s. It was delivered by rail to New Bedford and opened as The Diner Blue Point Restaurant Eat-At BarDeluxe in 1939
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