Diners of New England
Horse-drawn night lunch wagons served hot, inexpensive meals to shift workers in
Worcester, Massachusetts and other mill towns and cities of New England and New York.
The wagons gradually grew larger, lost their wheels, and were planted on permanent
foundations. The makers of the lunch wagons emulated the sleek dining cars of
passenger trains, appealling to a wider clientel with the shiny new "diners."
As automobiles carried people further from cities and towns, the diners followed,
springing up beside highways and service stations, feeding nomadic travelers 24 hours
a day, just as their predecessors had served the millworkers around the clock.
Most of the original diner manufacturers are no longer in business -- all of the New
England builders are gone. Their creations remain, anachronistic islands of comfort
food and civility on the impersonal post-industrial landscape, largely bypassed by the
interstates with their faceless fastfood service plazas, but that just means more room
at the counter for folks who appreciate the difference.
Some diners we've visited:
All text, images, and layout (c) Copyright 2002 Robert F. Marville, Jr.