America on a Plate



  "I just feel like the most important conversations
I've had in my life have been at a diner counter."

Ramy Youssef

About his 1942 painting "Nighthawks",  the artist Edward Hopper reflected;

“Unconsciously, probably, I was painting the loneliness of a large city”.

In an all-night diner, three customers sit at the counter opposite a server, each appear to be lost in thought and disengaged from one another. The composition is tightly organized and spare in details: there is no entrance to the establishment, no debris on the streets.

Through harmonious geometric forms and the glow of the diner’s electric lighting, Hopper created a serene, beautiful, yet enigmatic scene. Although inspired by a restaurant Hopper had seen on Greenwich Avenue in New York, the painting is not a realistic transcription of an actual place. As viewers, we are left to wonder about the figures, their relationships, and this imagined world. 

Tilt'n Diner

Tilton, New Hampshire

 The History of the American Diner

By Joan Russell  (excerpt from Paste Magazine)

The American diner is a home away from home for many Americans. Often open 24 hours a day, the diner is a place to socialize, eat when working an early or a late shift or just to enjoy  a homemade style meal  any time of day. It is an American icon that has appeared in all facets of popular culture.

The concept of the diner began when Water Scott, a Rhode Island entrepreneur, repurposed a horse-pulled wagon into a car that served sandwiches, coffee, pies, and eggs to people late at night. He quit his job as a printer to sell food from the wagon. Soon other companies followed to produce lunch wagons.

Worcester, Massachusetts’ T.H. Buckley found that designing and manufacturing lunch cars was more profitable than running one. He is known as the inventor of the diner and owner of the Worcester Lunch Car Company. These early dining cars had large wheels, overhangs, murals, lettering and frosted glass, while the interior contained basic stoves and an ice box. In the 1900s there were three companies manufacturing lunch cars 

After World War I broke out, diners shifted to catered to women, adding flowers boxes and wallpaper and advertising their food as home cooked meals. Diners in the 1930s had a  streamlined design , featuring bullet-shaped exteriors and chrome interiors. The streamlined modern design of the diner first appeared in the 1930s in an effort to change their image. The streamlined futuristic designs reflected the modern era. During the Depression many diners stayed in business due to their low cost menus. The demand for diners increased after World War II when many service men and women returned home and there were over a dozen diner manufacturers to satisfy the demand.

The diner is an icon of American culture located in almost every city and town. During most elections political candidates often make  a stop at the local diner to meet voters. The diner is a place anyone can go and sit down to eat.



American Dream Diner

Rue de Neuchâtel N°13

Genève 1201 Suisse

Diner History and Culture 

(excerpt from: American Dream Diner)

A true "diner" is a prefabricated structure built at an assembly site and transported to a permanent location for installation to serve prepared food. Webster's Dictionary defines a diner  as "a restaurant in the shape of a railroad car ".  The word "diner" is a derivative of "dining car" and diner designs reflected the styling that manufacturers borrowed from railroad dining cars. A diner is usually outfitted with a counter, stools and a food preparation or service area along the back wall. Decommissioned railroad passenger cars and trolleys were often converted into diners by those who could not afford to purchase a new diner.

The incorporation of the railroad car look and use of the word "diner" were efforts by manufacturers to change the image of the dilapidated dining cars and night lunches. The design of dining cars had remained relatively unchanged until the streamline modern style appeared in the 1930's. Modern materials were fabricated into streamlined forms to symbolize speed and mobility. Streamline design identified with the new and futuristic modes of transportation and the efficiency of the machine age.

As the population shifted from the cities to the suburbs the look of diners began to change. All stainless steel exteriors and large windows were new stylistic features incorporated into designs as a way to attract passing motorists. New developments in the mechanical systems (air conditioning, ventilation, and lighting) of diners in the 1950s liberated design from "form follows function". A revival begun in the late 1970's spurned a new interest in the American diner. The three remaining old diner builders began to fabricate new diners in the old styles. New companies joined the growing market to build new retro looking diners. The renewed interest in diners can be attributed to Americans looking backwards for inspiration and the values of yesterday in a time of moral and economic uncertainty.

The interest in the American Diner continues today. A significant number of vintage diners have been rescued from demolition and relocated to new sites in the United States and Europe. Manufacturers of diner structures are experiencing new orders or remodeling projects in a retro style. Diners evolved into community gathering places were people from all walks of life and origin shared a home cooked meal in a small and comforting atmosphere. Whenever possible visit a diner to share a meal and conversation with others. 



 "Sure, there were a few more duct-taped tears in the vinyl seats,
a few new dings in the fiberglass surfboards lining the walls,
but the bacon was still crisp,
and pancakes were available twenty-four hours a day,
the way the good Lord intended."

 Rob Thomas