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NIPS Form In -00 OMB No. 1024 -0018
(Rev. 10 -90)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
This form is.for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete the National
Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering
the information requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural
classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative
items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10- 900a), Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items.
1. Name of Property
historic name _ Miss Florence Diner (The Diners of Massachusetts MPS)
other names /site number NIA
2. Location
street & number 99 Main Street not for publication
city or town Northampton (Florence) — vicinity
state Massachusetts code MA county Hampshire code 015 zip code 01060
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that thiso< nomination
❑ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of
Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. in my opinion, the properly
0, meets ❑ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant
❑ nationally statewide ❑ locally. (❑ See continuation sheet for additional comments.) f 1
ature of certifying official/Title Judith cDonough, Executive Director
achusetts Historical Commission, State Historic Preservation Officer
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property ❑ meets ❑ does not meet the National Register criteria. (❑ See continuation sheet for additional Comments.)
Signature of certifying official/Title
State or Federal agency and bureau
D ate
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby certify that this property is: Signature of the Keeper Date of Action
❑ entered in the National Register
❑ See continuation sheet.
❑ determined eligible for the
National Register
❑ See continuation sheet.
❑ determined not eligible for the
National Register
❑ removed from the
National Register
❑ other (explaln);
Miss Florence Diner
Name of Property
Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts
County and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Check as many boxes as apply) (Check only one box)
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
X private X building(s)
Contributing Noncontributing
_.public -local _ district
1 1
building
_ public -State _ site
0 0
sites
_ public - Federal _ structure
_ object
0 0
structures
0 1
objects
1 2
Total
Name of related multiple property listing
Number of contributing resources previously listed
(Enter "NIA" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.)
in the National Register
Twentieth-Century Commercial Architecture:
NIA
The Diners of Massachusetts
6. Function or Use
Current Functions
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
{Enter categories from instructions)
COMM ERCEITRADEIrestaurant
COMMERCEITRADEIrestaurant
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categories from instructions)
(Enter categories from instructions)
Other: Barrel Roof Diner
foundation concrete
walls porcelain enamel
roof asphalt shingle
other wood
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.}
Miss Florence Diner Northampton, Hampshire Counly, Massachusetts
Name of Property County and State
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria Areas of Significance
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property (Enter categories from instructions)
for National Register listing.) Architecture
X A Property is associated with events that have made
a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
_ B Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
X_ C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses
high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
_ D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield,
information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply.)
Property is:
A owned by religious institution or used for
religious purposes.
B removed from its original location.
C a birthplace or grave.
D a cemetery.
E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
F a commemorative property.
Commerce
Period of Significance
1941 -1949
Significant Dates
Significant Person
(Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
NIA
Cultural Affiliation
NIA
Architect/Builder
_ G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance
Worcester Lunch Car Company
within the past 50 years. A noli Sign Company
Narrative Statement of Significance
(Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Wor Biblio ra hical References
(Cite'the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
_ preliminary determination of individual listing (36
CFR 67) has been requested .
_ previously listed in the National Register
_ previously determined eligible by the National
Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey
_ recorded by Historic American Engineering
Record #
Primary location of additional data:
X_ State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency
_ Federal agency
_ Local government
_ University
_ Other
Name of repository:
Miss Florence Diner Northampton Hampshire County, Massachusetts
Name of Property County and State
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property less than one -half acre
UTM References See continuation sheet.
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
1. 18 691820 4689430 3.
Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing
2. 4.
Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing
_ See continuation sheet
Verbal Boundary Description
(Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification
(Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared B
name /title Kathleen Kelly Broomer, consultant with Betsy Friedberg, NR Director MHC
organization Massachusetts Historical Commission date July, 1999
street & number 220 Morrissey Boulevard telephone 617 727 -8470
city or town Boston state Massachusetts zip code 02125
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
• USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
• sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Pro a Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name Maurice & Pauline Alexander
street & number 99 Main Street telephone 413 -584 -3137
city or town Florence state MA zip code 01062
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic maces to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of
this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013 -7127; and the Office of
Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024 - 0018), Washington, DC 20503,NPS Form 10 -900 OMB No.
1024-0018
(Rev. 10 -90)
NP5 Form 10 -900 -a OMB No. 1024 -0018
(8 -85)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet The Diners of Massachusetts MPS
Miss Florence Diner
Section number 7 Page 1 Northampton (Florence), Hampshire Co.,
MA
7. Description
Miss Florence Diner (1941, MHC #111); located at 99 Main Street in the Northampton village of Florence, is an
excellent illustration of the remodeling of a barrel- roofed diner. Worcester Lunch Car Company manufactured the
original diner in 1941, and completed the remodeling in the late 1940s. [Alexander interview]
The Miss Florence is situated on State Route 9 at the center of the historic business district in Florence. Surrounding
development is a mix of commercial and residential uses. The diner is placed at the sidewalk and has a paved parking lot
to the northeast. The prefabricated diner, as enlarged in the late 1940s, is attached at the rear to the front of a late 19th -
century dwelling. This two -story dwelling, itself enlarged and remodeled, houses Alexander's. Tap Room and
Restaurant.
Originally, the barrel- roofed Miss Florence Diner was rectangular in massing, approximately seven bays across at the
street (south) elevation and about three bays deep. According to Sanborn fire insurance maps, the diner originally had a
one -story wood -frame rear addition and was not attached to the residential building directly behind. Entries likely were
located in the short end walls; the wall at the west end of the interior retains a glazed wood door. Expansion in the late
1940s added one bay to the west (left) end of the prefabricated diner, four bays to the east (right) end, and two principal
bays to the rear (northeast corner). This remodeling resulted in the present eleven -bay facade, the cross - barrel roof, and
the L- shaped configuration of the interior. The barrel- roofed, brick veneer entry vestibule at the front of the diner is a
1950s addition. While a projecting enclosed entry was common to diners constructed in the 1950s, the barrel- roofed
treatment of the entry at the remodeled Miss Florence is unusual. The diner was later joined to the residential building
directly behind. For the purpose of this nomination, the former residential building, though present during the period of
significance for the diner, is a noncontributing building due to modifications made after the period of significance.
The diner has a concrete foundation, asphalt shingles on the barrel roof and entry vestibule, and porcelain enamel panels
in yellow and red. Glass block windows at both front corners mark the extension of the facade in the late 1940s. At the
western end of the diner is an enclosed entry. The other entry that dates to the remodeling is located in the eighth bay,
inside the barrel- roofed projecting vestibule. Both entries contain steel and glass doors. Windows contain single -hung
wood sash with orange- colored leaded glass in the transoms.
Another unusual architectural feature of the Miss Florence is the late 1940s rooftop parapet wall over the south ( facade)
and east elevations. This wall displays moderne -style lettering bearing the name of the diner. Similarly styled lettering
executed in neon appears in the large chevron sign (late 1940s) mounted on the roof over the diner's southeast corner.
The sign has two faces, fronting the easterly and westerly approaches to the diner from Main Street (Route 9). Other
signage for the diner appears on the porcelain enamel wall panels on the facade. At the sidewalk is a neon standing sign
(1960s) advertising Alexander's Restaurant behind the diner. Both the rooftop sign and the standing sign were designed
and built by George Agnoli of Agnoli Sign Company in Springfield. For the purpose of this nomination, the standing
sign, due to its later date of construction, is a noncontributing object.
Inside, the Miss Florence has a barrel ceiling and an L- shaped seating area that connects at the northeast end to restrooms
as well as the restaurant tap room behind the diner. Interior finishes are predominantly wood, porcelain enamel, and tile,
(continned)
NPS Form 10 -900 -a
(8 -86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7 / 8 Page 2/1
MA
OMB No. 1024 -0018
The Diners of Massachusetts MPS
Miss Florence Diner
Northampton (Florence), Hampshire Co.,
executed in a color scheme of tan, orange, brown, and black. Seating includes nineteen steel counter stools with red
accents, and booths with Formica tables along the south (fagade) and east walls. Behind the marble counter, the back bar
retains wood cabinetry, a wood -clad hood over the grill and food preparation areas, and porcelain enamel wall panels.
Porcelain enamel panels also appear on the walls below the windows, and on the counter apron. Both the counter footrest
and the floor are tiled in tan, black, and brown; the original floor has a checkerboard pattern with a border. Interior
modifications from the late 1940s are most apparent near the diner's current main entrance. Here, slight changes in the
pattern of the floor tiles and the appearance of the counter and counter stools reveal where the counter was extended and
the easternmost bays of the current diner were added.
Archaeological Description
No prehistoric sites are known on the property or in the general area (within one mile). In general, environmental
characteristics of the property, especially its location on a level to moderately sloping plain over 1000 feet from wetland
resources, are not locationally favorable for most types of prehistoric sites. Given the above information, a low potential
exists for the recovery of prehistoric resources on the property. There is also a low potential for the recovery of historic
archaeological resources on the Miss Florence Diner property. Archaeological evidence may exist from a wood -frame
rear addition, no longer extant, that probably dated to the 1940's. Evidence from that addition would, however, have
limited research value. No archaeological resources are known in the area related to the late 19th century residence
attached to the rear of the diner.
S. Statement of Significance
Miss Florence Diner is a fine and comparatively late example of the traditional barrel- roofed diner produced by
Worcester Lunch Car Company, the state's premier diner builder and a major force in the design and construction of
Massachusetts diners prior to World War 11. The Worcester company not only built the original 1941 diner, but executed
the remodeling of the Miss Florence in the late 1940s. Consequently, the Miss Florence is significant as a well preserved
illustration of the company's remodeling jobs after World War 11. Locally, the Miss Florence also is significant for its
associations with the Alexander family of Florence, who have owned and operated the diner for more than fifty years.
Miss Florence Diner retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. The
Miss Florence Diner meets Criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places at the state and local levels.
Maurice Alexander and his wife, Pauline Florence (Matusewicz) Alexander, opened the Miss Florence Diner in 1941.
Originally, the diner occupied a Worcester lunch car located across Main Street from the current diner. In the same year,
the first diner was sold and the business moved into a new Worcester diner at 99 Main Street. The Alexanders resided at
the same address, in the house directly behind the diner. Maurice Alexander had Worcester Lunch Car Company
remodel the diner in the late 1940s, resulting in the current L- shaped configuration. About 1959, he opened Alexander's
Tap Room and Restaurant in the house, which was joined to the back of the Miss Florence Diner. The restaurant
operates in the first floor of the former house and there is a banquet hall on the second floor. Maurice Alexander went on
(continued)
NPS Form 10 -900 -a
(8 -86)
United States Department of the interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8 Page
MA
OMB No. 1024 -0018
The Diners of Massachusetts MPS
Miss Florence Diner
Northampton (Florence), Hampshire Co.,
to own other restaurant enterprises in Northampton, among them Ed's Diner (no longer extant) on Pleasant Street.
Today, brothers Tom Alexander and Maurice Alexander, Jr., sons of the original proprietors, operate the Miss Florence
Diner and Alexander's Tap Room and Restaurant. [Alexander interview; Northampton directories]
In the 1940s the village of Florence hosted a range of retail and other business uses, among them two markets, meeting
halls, a variety store, three banks, a furniture store, a service station, a sporting goods store, and a druggist. At the time
the Miss Florence opened, the Northampton directory listed thirty -one restaurants in the city, three of which were located
in Florence. Only two restaurants in the city at that time had "diner" in their names: Ed's Diner (no longer extant) on
Pleasant Street, and Jim's Diner, 6 Strong Avenue (now Kathy's Diner, ca. 1930, MHC #2063).
The Miss Florence is one of about sixteen diners in Massachusetts built by the Worcester Lunch Car Company in the
1940s, and is particularly notable for its remodeling by the Worcester company later in the same decade. The company
was known for its well built, handcrafted diner, and most frequently produced the traditional barrel -roof form with
porcelain enamel exterior walls and a wood - trimmed interior. The late 1940s cross - barrel roof, rooftop parapet, and L-
shaped seating area distinguish the Florence diner, however, from other barrel -roof Worcesters. After World War II, the
barrel -roof diner design could not compete with the stainless steel diners then available from several out -of -state
manufacturers. Besides their more modern appearance, the stainless steel diners had an advantage in that they could be
manufactured and shipped in sections. Worcester Lunch Car Company sold its last new diner in 1957, and closed in
1961. [Gutman, 161, 243]
Miss Florence Diner is the only diner in Florence and one of four prefabricated diners identified in the city of
Northampton. Worcester Lunch Car Company manufactured two of the diners in addition to the Miss Florence. Located
in the downtown business district is Kathy's Diner, 6 Strong Avenue (ca. 1930, MHC #2063, formerly Mac's Diner, later
Jim's Diner, the Miss Northampton, then the Red Lion Diner). Kathy's Diner, a rail car - inspired diner with a monitor
roof, reportedly is the oldest functioning diner in the Connecticut River Valley. Also in the downtown business district is
a former diner, considerably altered, at the rear of 11 -21 State Street (ca. 1930, MHC #766). On State Routes 5 and 10
north of the downtown area is the Bluebonnet Diner, 324 King Street (1950, Worcester #825, MHC #271), a barrel -
roofed diner with modified interior that is attached to a larger restaurant. The Bluebonnet is one of about one -half dozen
Worcester diners in the state that were manufactured in the 1950s. [Diner Finder and Northampton historic properties
inventory]
(end)
NPS Form 10 -900 -a
(B -86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section number 9/10 Page 1
MA
9. Major Bibliographical References
OMB No. 1024 -0018
The Diners of Massachusetts MPS
Miss Florence Diner
Northampton (Florence), Hampshire Co.,
Interview with Tom Alexander, co- owner, Miss Florence Diner. January 20, 1999.
Gutman, Richard J. S. American Diner Then and Now. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1993.
MHC Inventory Forms for Miss Florence Diner ( 9111), Bluebonnet Diner ( #271); former diner at 11 -21 State Street
( #766), and Miss Northampton/Kathy's Diner ( #2063), Northampton (recorded by C. Dubie); May and June 1976.
Diner Finder Deluxe: Massachusetts. Watertown, MA: Coffee Cup Publications, 1991.
Northampton - Easthampton Directory. Springfield: The Price & Lee Company. 1930, 1935, 1940, 1943, 1947.
Sanborn fire insurance maps for Northampton: 1902, 1910, 1915, 1930, 1930 corrected to 1947, and 1930 corrected to
1965.
Burns, Ramona. "The Miss Florence Diner." unpublished manuscript prepared for local history class at Smith College
(copy at Forbes Library, Northampton). December 7, 1995.
Lannon, Marcy.. "Miss Flo treats friends on birthday." Daily Hampshire Gazette (October 17, 1981), p. lff.
"Cityside: Happy birthday, Miss Flo." Daily Hampshire Gazette (October 24, 1981), p.3.
(end)
10. Geographical Data
Verbal Boundary Description
The boundary of the nominated property is shown on the accompanying detail of the City of Northampton assessors'
map.
Boundary Justification
The boundary includes the entire parcel that has been historically associated with the diner.
(end)
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NPS Form 10 -900 -b
(March 1992)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Multiple Property Documentation Form
OMB No. 1024 -0018
This form is used for documenting multiple property groups relating to one or several historic contexts.
See instructions in How to Complete the Multiple Property Documentation Form (National Register
Bulletin 16B). Complete each item by entering the requested information. For additional space, use
continuation sheets (Form 10- 900 -a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer to complete all
items.
x New Submission Amended Submission
A. Name of Multiple Property Listing
THE DINERS OF MASSSACHUSETTS
B. Associated Historic Contexts
(Name each associated historic context, identifying theme, geographical area, and chronological period
for each.)
From Night Lunch Wagon to Diner (c. 1884 to the early 1920s)
Diners Take Hold in Massachusetts (mid -1920s to c. 1945)
Diners Go Deluxe (c.1945 to c. 1955)
The Diner Turned Restaurant (c. 1955 to c. 1970)
C. Form Prepared by
name /title: Kathleen Kelly Broomer, Consultant, with Betsy Friedberg, NR Director, MHC
street & number: 220 Morrissey Boulevard telephone: 617- 727 -8470
city or town: Boston state: MA zip code: 02125
D. Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of .1966, as amended, I hereby
certify that this documentation form meets the National Register documentation standards and sets forth
requirements for the listing of related properties consistent with the National Register criteria. This
submission meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60 and the
Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation. (_
See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
P�f�eaturend title of
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
I hereby certify that this multiple property documentation form has been approved by the National
Register as a basis for evaluating related properties for listing in the National Register.
Signature of the Keeper Date
Table of Contents for Written Narrative
Provide the following information on continuation sheets. Cite the letter and the title before each
section of the narrative. Assign page numbers according to the instructions for continuation sheets in
How to Complete the Multiple Property Documentation Form (National Register Bulletin 16B). Fill in
page numbers for each section in the space below.
Page Numbers
E. Statement of Historic Contexts (If more
than one historic context is documented,
present them in sequential order.)
From Lunch Wagon to Diner (c.1884 -early 19208) 1
Diners Take Hold in Massachusetts (mid- 1920s- c.1945) 3
Diners Go Deluxe (c.1945- c.1960) 9
The Diner Turned Restaurant (c. 1960 - ) 11
F. Associated Property Types (Provide
description, significance, and registration 13
requirements.)
G. Geographical Data 20
H. Identification and Evaluation Methods 21
I. Major Bibliographical References (List major 24
written works and primary location of additional
documentation:. State Historic Preservation Office,
other State agency, Federal agency, local government,
university, or other, specifying repository.)
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the
National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for
listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 120 hours
per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and
completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of
this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127,
Washington, DC 20013 -7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions
Project (1024 - 0018), Washington, DC 20503.
MPS FOM t0 -v0o-a oMe AApv..d Ma JU24-Dora
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
continuation Sheet
The Diners of Massachusetts
Multiple Property Listing
Section number ' E Page
NTURY COMMERCIAL HITECTURE:
THE DINERS OF MASSACHUSETTS
E. STATEMENT OF HISTORIC CONTEXT
This multiple property documentation form covers diners in Massachusetts with periods of
significance between the late 19'` century and the mid- 1960s. For the purpose of this
documentation, a diner is defined as a factory -built eatery hauled to its location or a built -on -site
eatery designed to create the appearance of a diner. Massachusetts -based diner owners and
builders played an important role in popularizing this uniquely American building form. The
historic context traces the development of the diner from the its earliest form as the night lunch
wagon to the diner - restaurant of the post -World War 11 years.
Over the last fifteen years, several surveys have identified approximately one hundred -fifty
diners in Massachusetts dating from the 1920s to 1960s. In most cases, the manufacturer's name
and construction year are readily available. Massachusetts companies, most notably Worcester
Lunch Car Company, manufactured about two- thirds of the diners currently in the state. A diner
need not, however, have been manufactured in Massachusetts to be eligible for National Register
listing under this multiple property documentation form. This documentation is not intended to
cover diners manufactured by Massachusetts companies but located out of state.
The three principal sources for historical information on diners in Massachusetts are Richard
J. S. Gut van's American Diner Then and Now [New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993],
Diner Finder Deluxe — Massachusetts [Watertown, MA: Coffee Cup Publications, 1991], and the
Inventory of Historic Assets of the Commonwealth, maintained by the Massachusetts Historical
Commission. The historic context presented here relies heavily upon the groundbreaking work of
diner historian Richard J. S. Gutman, whose published studies constitute the most comprehensive
social and architectural history of diners available to date.
From Night Lunch Wagon to Diner (ca. 1884 to early 1920s)
Massachusetts occupies a significant place in the early history of diners. In 1884 Samuel
Messer Jones (1854- 1926), a former mechanical engineer from Providence, Rhode Island,
introduced the concept of the night lunch wagon to the central Massachusetts city of Worcester.
Night lunch wagons, also known as night lunch carts, were horse -drawn wagons carrying
sandwiches, soup, coffee, and the like for sale to waXk -up customers. These customers included
late -might factory workers and others desiring a inexpensive meal during hours when the standard
eating establishments, such as boarding houses and hotel restaurants, were closed. Parked at the
curb for an evening, the night lunch wagon had wall openings facing both the sidewalk and the
street, allowing the operator to pass food directly to customers waiting outside. In 1872 Walter
Scott of Providence created the first night lunch wagon out of a converted freight car. Eleven
years later, Ruel B. Jones, also of Providence, had a local wagon builder construct the first wagon
specifically designed as a lunch cart. It was Samuel Messer Jones, a cousin of Ruel B. Jones,
The Diners of Massachusetts 1 Statement of Historic Context
fps Fen* 104o0-4
P-"
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
The Diners of Massachusetts
Multiple Property Listing
Section number Page 2
aue Mp.c.r►+a raa+ -Dore
who reportedly built the first mobile building constructed as a lunch cart, when in 1887 he turned
out a lunch cart that not only had a complete kitchen but was large enough to allow customers to
stand or even sit inside while they ate. Samuel Messer Jones moved on to Springfield,
Massachusetts, introducing the night lunch business to that city in 1889. The night lunch trade
for both cart operators and manufacturers developed on parallel tracks in Worcester and
Springfield for the remainder of the 19`h century.
As the lunch wagon business expanded from the late 1880s to the early years of the 20`h
century, more lunch wagon builders started up than in any other period of the state's diner
history. Worcester quickly emerged as the lunch wagon capital of Massachusetts, and was home
to builders Charles H. Palmer (who started business in 1889), New England Night Lunch Wagon
Company (Thomas H. Buckley, 1891), Wilfred Barriere, (1905), Worcester Lunch Car and
Carriage Manufacturing Company (1906), and John J. E. Hennigan (1907). In 1895 Charles
Palmer moved his manufacturing plant north of Worcester to Fairbanks Street in Sterling (factory
burned 1901) and retained his office in Worcester. Besides Jones in Springfield were Wilson
Goodrich (1892) and Camille R. Remillard (1897). In addition, the city of Lynn north of Boston
was the headquarters of Ephraim L. Hamel who, beginning in 1891, produced White House Cafe
lunch wagons in association with Thomas H. Buckley of Worcester.
Each model of lunch wagon seemingly improved upon earlier models. As a result of Samuel
Jones's innovation, the lunch wagon in Massachusetts was one in which the customer could dine
indoors, shielded from the weather. Charles Palmer, who received the first patent for a lunch
wagon in 1890, developed a prototype that remained the standard form for the next twenty -five
years: an enclosed body with small front wheels and a narrower tail end between high back
wheels; a counter separating the rear kitchen from the dining area, which featured stools or chairs;
and windows for passing food to more customers standing at the curb or waiting alongside in
carriages. Beginning in the 1890s, Thomas H. Buckley, described as the most prolific of the
early lunch wagon manufacturers, and Ephraim Hamel perfected the art of decorating the lunch
wagon in the White House Cafe models they produced in Worcester and Lynn. These elaborately
detailed lunch wagons featured windows of frosted glass, etched glass, or flash glass (colored
glass fused to clear glass), plus landscapes and historical scenes painted on the outside panels of
the wagon.
In the early years of the 20'h century, the lunch wagon evolved from horse -drawn wagon to
stationary portable lunch car. Within two years of Buckley's death in 1903, his company
introduced a new model built entirely on low wheels, which was intended to be hauled only the
distance from the factory to the car's destination, an.off the -road, or roadside, site. This
contrasted with the earlier wagons or carts, which rested in the street at curbside and had to be
removed from the street early each the morning so as not to contribute to traffic congestion.
Other important features of the Buckley company's new model that resurfaced in later lunch cars
include a center kitchen surrounded by a U- shaped serving counter, and an eating shelf with
stools along the inside perimeter of the car. Changing to a more permanent roadside location also
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enabled many operators to keep their businesses open twenty -four hours per day. In addition, the
permanent site allowed for easy installation of electric lights, gas stoves, and running water,
which improved the type of service provided. Installation of mechanical ventilation and inside
toilet facilities was not far behind.
Industry improvements in the early 20"' century prompted a related development: as horse -
drawn cars of the urban trolley lines were abandoned in favor of electric trolleys, the surplus cars
could be converted to lunch wagons, usually at little expense. Some converted "trolley lunches"
were inferior imitations of the gleaming new lunch cars, but these few nevertheless had the effect
of stigmatizing the entire industry for their associations with standards and 'individuals of ill
repute. In part to counter this increasingly negative image, the term dining car began to be used
by the industry, an allusion to the fine dining cars of the railroad lines. The new term also
reflected more accurately the developing twenty- four -hour nature of the operation. From dining
car came the abbreviated term diner. By comparing terms used in a manufacturer's catalogs,
Richard Gutman has pinpointed the earliest use of the term diner as occurring in the year between
March 1923 and March 1924. [Gutman, p. 5 8
Diners Take Hold in Massachusetts (mid -1920s to ca. 1945)
New England, the birthplace of diners, perhaps harbored the longest - running fondness for the
horse -drawn lunch cart or wagon, despite the fact that by the 1920s the form had become
essentially obsolete. According to Gutman, the horse -drawn cart could still be seen in
Massachusetts into the 1930s, Massachusetts city and town directories show listings for lunch
carts through the late 1920s, though it is not clear whether such listings refer to actual horse -
drawn wagons or simply use the old term to describe the new stationary portable lunch cars. John
F. Hickey kept an admittedly modern interpretation of the lunch wagon concept alive from 1944
until 1986 in Taunton, where he operated a ten -stool diner mounted atop a truck in the downtown
business district. [Gutman, p. 107]
In Massachusetts, the earliest form of diner extant has a barrel roof, sliding doors, and ten
stools at the counter. At least seven examples of this diner form, which were constructed from
the 1920s through the 1940s, have been identified in the state, some considerably altered, and all
manufactured by the Worcester Lunch Car Company from its plant on Franklin Street in
Worcester. Casey's, located at 32 South Avenue Natick (1922, MHC #NAT.I 16), is the best
preserved of the ten- stoolers and believed to be the oldest operating diner in the Commonwealth,
and possibly the nation. Its comparatively diminutive size, approximately 10 feet by 20 -112 feet,
plus its oak counter, eating shelf, and interior finishes, readily distinguish Casey's from later
diners with interiors of predominantly the and porcelain enamel. The original owner of Casey's,
who had owned a horse -drawn lunch cart prior to purchasing the current diner, reportedly always
referred to the current diner as a lunch cart. [Gutman, p. 76] Judy's Diner at 906 Eastern
Avenue Maiden (1930s, Worcester Lunch Car Co.), while not a ten - stooler, is significant for its
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interior layout reminiscent of the old lunch wagons, consisting of a kitchen at one end of the diner
and the seating area at the other. This layout is an unusual survivor in Massachusetts.
By the 1920s, the stationary portable lunch cars, or diners, had surpassed the horse -drawn
lunch wagon as the dominant diner form in Massachusetts and elsewhere. These factory -built
diners were transported to their more or less permanent destinations by horse teams, special
dining car truckers, flatcars by railroad (although this method of transport was waning), or barges
by sea. Wheels were still present on some diners, and were employed in the hauling of a diner to
its new home. A 1930 account in Orra Stone's History of Massachusetts Industries identifies
typical destinations:
"Production [of diners] is now going to industrial establishments
where their use enables food to be cooked outside factory
buildings, thus reducing the fire hazard; to oil and gas purveyors,
who are locating the diners adjacent to filling stations; to
schools, restaurateurs, and to the general trade." [Vol. I, p. 490]
Diners were no longer confined to downtown business districts and manufacturing centers, as far-
sighted operators began to locate their diners on highways to capture the attention of the motoring
public. With the dawning of the age of the roadside diner began a long tradition of diners on state
and federal automobile routes. Routes in Massachusetts with the greatest number of diners over
time include U. S. Route 1 north from Boston to the New Hampshire state line, U. S. Route 20
west from Boston to the Worcester suburbs, U. S. Route 6 from Cape Cod to Fall River in the
southeastern part of the state, U. S. Route 5 through the Connecticut Valley, and State Route 12
through Worcester County. Capitalizing on this new connection between the diner industry and
the automobile traveler was the goal of the Hi -Way Diners Club of New England, Inc., formed in
Springfield in 1928. In conjunction with Brill Steel Diners, which had a subsidiary plant at
Wason Manufacturing Company in Springfield, the club sought to establish a chain of better
diners in the United States that were located on national highways. At least two diners are known
to have been installed, in downtown Springfield and in the Stuart Street section of Boston's
business district. [Gutman, pp. 71 -72] Neither is extant.
An increase in the appeal of diners to a broader range of customers was evident by the 1920s
and can be attributed in part to an "eating -out boom" that seized the country after World War I.
In Main Street to Miracle Mile: American Roadside Architecture [Boston: Little Brown and
Company, 19851, Chester H. Liebs chronicles the evolution of this dining -out trend from leisurely
dining in restaurants to quick informal dining at roadside foodstands, diners, and "recreational
eating" establishments such as soda fountains and ice cream parlors. The trend had its roots in
the late 19t` century, when cafeterias, delicatessens, and lunch counters served the working -day
lunch needs of industrial and subsequently white - collar workers. The increasing number of men
and women working away from home and a decline in the use and availability of domestic help to
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prepare meals were cited as factors contributing to the eating -out trend. Tearooms and the new
family restaurants met the need for highway eateries that were more convenient than downtown
restaurants or a roadside picnic, and offered "a respectable ambience." [Liebs, pp. 193 -197] The
desire on the part of diner operators to draw women, and children, into the diner was a recurring
theme in the industry from the 1920s. onward. In an effort to encourage female customers, who
presumably would not sit on stools at the counter, tables and booths were introduced in the dining
area.
The practice of hauling of diners long distance allowed Massachusetts operators to acquire
and install diners manufactured in other states. The two earliest diners in Massachusetts
produced by out -of -state manufacturers were constructed in the 1920s. The Breakfast Club, at
478 West Housatonic Street, Pittsfield (1920s) was built by Ward & Dickinson, of Silver Creek,
New York. The firm, established in 1923 and in business until ca. 1940, built narrow trolley -
inspired diners. [Gutman, p. 243] Jerry O'Mahony, Inc. of Elizabeth, New Jersey built Ted's
Diner, 67 Main Street, Milford (1920s). At least fourteen extant diners in Massachusetts were
produced by O'Mahony, almost all of them constructed after World War II.
In the mid- 1920s, Worcester Lunch Car Company, the state's premier diner builder, offered
at least seven standard models of its barrel- roofed diner, the traditional diner prototype most
closely associated with the company for the next thirty years. A company promotional brochure
published ca: 1926 illustrates the steel- covered Worcester dining cars in sizes ranging from 10
feet by 20 -112 feet, and seating ten at the counter, to 12 feet by 40 feet, and seating a total of
thirty -nine at both the counter and an eating shelf running along the inside front wall. The
Worcester cars were generally from eleven to seventeen bays across, including a center entry, and
two to four bays on the side elevations, including one side entry. The cars were built on wheels
for hauling to their destination. Interior finishes, including the counter, which the company also
described as a "bar," were mostly of quartered oak or tile, while floors were tile and stools were
white porcelain enamel. Each car came fully equipped with dishes, silverware, and cooking
utensils, as well as a German Silver hood with at least two exhaust fans, a refrigerator ranging in
capacity from 300 to 600 pounds, depending upon the model, a steam table, a pie warmer, a cake
cabinet, a dessert display case, and in the larger models a stove custom built for Worcester by the
Glenwood Stove Company. Worcester dining cars were wired for electrical service, and had
piping for water hookup and gasoline heating and cooking. Prices for cars ranged from $3,350 to
$11,000, and a car could be purchased with a down payment and the balance due in monthly
installments. The company also built custom cars that differed from the standard models with
regard to size, seating, and cooking facilities, among. other features.
A number of Worcester diners survive in excellent or good condition in Massachusetts, and
chronicle the evolution of the company's diner designs, particularly from the 1920s through the
1950s. The company built 651 lunch cars and diners between 1907 and 1957 [Gutman; pp. 161
and 243], and updated, reconditioned, or remodeled an unknown number of their diners. Casey's
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in Natick (see above) is a fine example of the early 1920s Worcester car with a primarily wood
interior. Central Diner at 90 Elm Street Millbu (1933, MHC 4MIL.174) is a well preserved
diner retaining the finishes in checkerboard -like patterns on the counter apron, backbar, walls,
and floors, and is also notable for its row of two- seater tables along the inside front wall. Other
fine examples of Worcester diners from the late 1920s and 1930s include Chadwick Square
Diner, 41 Prescott Street, Worcester (1928, Worcester #660, MHC 4WOR.2137), Judy's Diner
in Malden (see above), Kenwood Diner, 100 Main Street Spence (ca.' 1933, MHC 4SPE.220,
NRDIS, Spencer Town Center Historic District), Timmy's Diner, Worcester Road, Framingham
(1933, Worcester #711) and Boulevard Diner, 155 Shrewsbury Street, Worcester (1936, MHC
4WOR.2059).
Both Central Diner and Chadwick Square Diner exhibit a distinctive roofline characteristic
of several Massachusetts diner$ built in the late 1920s and early 1930s: the closed barrel
(rounded hipped) roof with a full - length clerestory. This monitor roof design could be seen on
certain parlor, sleeping, and dining cars of the railroad built between ca. 1865 and ca. 1920, as
well as certain models of streetcars built between ca. 1900 and ca. 1935. [See Phillips and
Carlson and Harding in bibliography.] Production of this type of diner was a logical extension of
the business of railroad car and streetcar manufacturers. The dining car division of J. G. Brill
Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania began building monitor roof diners in 1927 at its
subsidiary plants in Springfield, Massachusetts and Cleveland, Ohio. [Gutman, p. 225] Its
Springfield division was Wason Manufacturing Company, located in the Brightwood section of
the city. Wason built railway and electric streetcars in addition to automobile bodies, motor
boats, and airplanes. [Stone, pp. 490 -491] Wason turned out the first all -steel -frame dining car in
the country; previously, any steel supports were employed in conjunction with wood framing. In
addition to the monitor roof, the Brill/Wason diners featured doors at either end of the diner,
another detail borrowed from railroad cars and streetcars. Capitol Diner, at 431 Union Street,
Lynn (1928, MHC #LYN.28), is the only identified Brill/Wason diner in Massachusetts. Brill
operations in Springfield ceased in 1932.
Worcester Lunch Car Company built most of the monitor -roof diners surviving in the state.
Central Diner, Chadwick Square Diner (see above), and Kathy's Diner, formerly Miss
Northampton, 8 Strong Avenue, NorthamDpton (ca. 1930, MHC #NTH.2063, NRDIS) are among
the better preserved examples. More altered examples, including those in which the original
clerestory has been covered over, include Green Island Diner, formerly Luke's Diner, 162
Millbury Street, Worcester (1929, MHC #WOR.2086) and Airport Diner, Lancaster Road,
Shirley (ca. 1930, MHC #SRL.208).
. With regard to Massachusetts survivals, far more unusual than the diner that resembled a rail
car was the diner that actually had been a rail car. Sisson's Diner, 561 Wareham Street, (,South)
Middleborough (ca. 1926 -1928, Wason Manufacturing, MHC 4MID.163), is the only'
Massachusetts diner identified to date that originally operated as a streetcar. The car reportedly
belonged to the fleet operated by the Middleborough, Wareham & Buzzards Bay Street Railway,
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chartered in 1401. The MW &BB was in receivership by 1405, when it was acquired by the
newly formed Taunton & Buzzards Bay Street Railway, itself absorbed in 1906 by the New
Bedford & Onset Street Railway Company. In 1926 the New Bedford & Onset abandoned its
Wareham to Middleborough branch, and the following year buses replaced streetcars on the
remainder of the line. Elmer Sisson converted one of the retired streetcars to the diner that bears
his name. [Carlson and Harding, pp. 93 -98; Gutman, p. 142] Further investigation is needed to
determine whether Sisson's was originally an open streetcar (i.e., without walls enclosing the
car), as well as the extent to which the streetcar was remodeled. The original streetcar Sisson
converted apparently had an open barrel roof rather than the closed barrel roof with clerestory
that distinguishes the rail car - inspired diners in Massachusetts. Sisson's Diner retains a headlight
at its southern end.
For the most part, diners were the typical entrepreneurial business venture, and the industry
attracted a number of owners and operators who did not necessarily have experience in the
restaurant business. A sales brochure for the Worcester Lunch Car Company touted the benefits
of the dining car, or diner, to prospective purchasers:
"The Dining Car is a money maker. Unlike restaurants, it is
busy all day and night. There are no dull times. People drop
into a dining car anytime to get a bite to eat. Once you become
established, you will have a constant profitable business. People
must eat. Repeat orders are certain if the food is good. There are
no dull seasons, and your profits are big — big and constant.
Offer food to people in a spotlessly clean dining car where they
can see it cooked, and you will find a ready market for your
food. People like to know that the food they eat is fresh, and
cooked in clean, sanitary surroundings." [Worcester Lunch Car
Company, p. 11
The diner also proved to be a popular business venture to undertake during the Depression, when
potential operators saw the demand for inexpensive meals and the opportunity for conducting a
small -scale independent business with low overhead.
Diner operations tended to stay within families, and several diners in Massachusetts have had
long -term historical associations with the families of their original owners. In some cases, the
owners of diners in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s were the descendants of lunch cart operators, in
the same town, during the 1910s and 1920s. Casey's in Natick, Central Diner in Millbury, and
Al Mac's Diner - Restaurant in Fall River (see below) are typical examples. Further research is
needed to determine whether diner owners and operators in Massachusetts historically ongaged in
businesses in addition to running the diner, or invested all their time and financial resources in the
diner alone.
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During its brief existence from 1936 to 1942, Sterling Diners, operated by J. B. Judkins
Company of Merrimac, made important contributions to the history of diner design in
Massachusetts. The Judkins company had manufactured carriages and later custom automobile
bodies before moving into the business of building its wood -frame Sterling diners. Sterling
produced traditional barrel- roofed diners, dinettes (small- scale, one -man- operation diners
introduced during the Depression years), and streamliners. The owner, J. B. Judkins III, acquired
Berton G. Harley's patent for a sectional or modular diner design, uponwhich the early Sterling
diners were based, and in 1939 acquired the patent of Roland L. Stickney of New York City,
upon which the distinctive Sterling Streamliner model was based. [Gutman, pp. 114, 239 -240]
The earliest Sterling diner extant, Finely Fran's of Worcester (1936, Sterling #363, MHC
4WOR.2126), was the third Sterling diner built. This barrel- roofed diner with monitor has had
much of its interior fixtures removed and, threatened with demolition in 1997, is now in storage at
the Worcester Airport in Worcester. A barrel- roofed Sterling diner is the former White Way
Grille, 43 Boston Street L nn (1941, MHC #LYN.192), the interior of which was gutted in the
conversion to its current retail use. The only identified example of a dinette in Massachusetts
also was manufactured by Sterling: Jim's Old Colony Diner, Old Colon Road Mansfield
(built between 1936 and 1942, substantial exterior alterations).
Sterling Diners introduced the streamliner to the Massachusetts diner industry. From the
mid -1930s to World War II, diner designs in Massachusetts and elsewhere took a distinctly
modern turn, reflecting the impact of machine -age industrial design on American culture. The
inevitable connection between diner building and the manufacturing of trains and automobiles in
particular brought the aesthetics of streamlining to diner design. Streamlining emphasized a
smooth, rounded, "aerodynamically contoured" form, inspired first and foremost by airplane
designs and other transportation vehicles of the 1920s and 1930s such as dirigibles, ships, and
ocean liners. This streamlined aesthetic began to become apparent in train and automobile design
by the early 1930s. [Wilson et al., p. 55]. The new emphasis on streamlining in diners conveyed
a sense of movement at the same time diners were unquestionably stationary, an irony Gutman
describes as "the immobilization of mobility." [p. 113] In Massachusetts diners, two strains of
streamlining are evident: the application of streamlining principles to create the streamliner diner
type, exhibiting the aerodynamic features closely associated with mobility; and the later, usually
stainless steel, diners that reflect the influence of streamlining and machine aesthetics in their
horizontal emphasis, massing, and materials but demonstrate less obvious associations with
mobility in their design.
The streamliner type of diner is very rare in Massachusetts today. Sterling Diners built the
only surviving examples in the state of the "pure" streamliner form: My Tin Man Diner at 808
MacArthur Boulevard, at Pocasset (1940, Sterling production number unknown), and The
Salem Diner at 70 -112 Loring Avenue Salem (1941, Sterling #4106). Both diners display the
distinctive closed barrel (rounded hipped) roof plus curved, "shovel - nosed" ends. In the 1940s,
Worcester Lunch Car Company built two diners similar in form to the Sterling Streamliner, and
which the Worcester company's carpenters called "circular" diners; neither diner is extant. As an
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alternative, Worcester Lunch Car Company introduced the "semi- streamliner," which had the
standard barrel or monitor roof and featured slightly canted end walls rather than the curving
walls of the streamliner. These semi - streamliners reportedly were more popular among
prospective diner purchasers than the more distinctive streamliners. [Gutman, p. 1151 The
recently restored Rosebud Diner, Summer Street Somerville at Davis Square (1941, MHC
#SMV.209, LHD), a monitor - roofed example, is one of very few semi - streamliners remaining in
the state. In recent years two Worcester semi - streamliners have been moved out of state: the
Peerless Diner, formerly in Lowell, and Hudson Diner (also known as Lamy's), formerly in
Hudson.
By World War II, the venerable horse -drawn lunch wagons were a memory in Massachusetts.
The Victorian-era origins of the monitor- roofed diners seemed more pronounced after the
aerodynamic- looking streamliners appeared on the scene. The barrel- roofed diner so closely
associated with the Worcester Lunch Car Company, and which embodied the image of the
traditional diner in New England, continued to be in demand. Yet, some in the Massachusetts
diner industry were ready for a new, more modern, look, which came in the form of stainless steel
exteriors. The earliest steel -clad diner in the state is believed to be Kenmore Diner, 250 Franklin
Street Worcester (ca. 1940, Jerry O'Mahony, MHC #WOR.2224, interior altered). The Kenmore
adds rounded corners and horizontal bands of stainless steel and porcelain enamel to what is
essentially the old monitor -roof dining car form.
Diners Go Deluxe (ca. 1945 to ca. 1960)
Large, usually stainless steel, diners characterized the diner industry in Massachusetts in the
post -World War lI era. Over fifty diners in Massachusetts today date to this period, most
manufactured by companies headquartered in either New Jersey -- Fodero Dining Car Company
of Bloomfield, Mountain View Diners of Singac, Jerry O'Mahony, Inc. of Elizabeth, and Silk
City Diners of Paterson -- or New York (DeRaffele Manufacturing Company of New Rochelle).
Representing the later part of the period are diners manufactured by two more New Jersey
companies -- Kullman Industries, Inc. of Avenel and Master Diners of Pequannock.
Worcester Lunch Car Company manufactured at least one -third of the diners in
Massachusetts that date from the postwar years, principally in the late 1940s. The traditional
barrel - roofed diner form for which the Worcester company was known encountered stiff
competition from the stainless steel diner manufacturers, who offered newer forms and finishes.
Worcester Lunch Car Company did not even add stainless steel to its diner exteriors until 1952.
The diner continued to evolve functionally and stylistically during the post -World War II
years. A greater desire to attract families led to larger size diners with an emphasis on'table and
booth service. Cooking was removed from the area behind the counter to a separate kitchen.
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Interiors commonly featured fluorescent lights, mirrors, terrazzo floors, and pastel color schemes.
Improvements in mechanical ventilating systems eliminated any need for a monitor roof with
clerestory windows or even operable windows in the dining area, as fixed plate glass windows
became the rule in most diners except the Worcester models. Stainless steel was widely used on
exteriors, often in combination with colored accents in porcelain enamel, and the lingering
influence of prewar streamlining was seen in rounded corners and horizontal detailing. Many
stainless steel diners in Massachusetts actually have a common form: typically rectangular
massing, low- pitched or flat roof, a projecting center entry vestibule, and rear kitchen wing.
Good examples of the stainless steel form and finishes include the Mattapoisett Diner, 81
_Fairhaven Road, Mattayoisett (1950, Mountain View #309), the Shawmut Diner, 943 Shawmut
Avenue, New Bedford (1953, O'Mahony), Al Mac's Diner- Restaurant, 135 President Avenue
Fall River (1953, DeRaffele), and the Agawam Diner, 166 NewbMport Turnpike, Rowley (ca.
1954, Fodero, MHC #ROW.139). Jake's Diner, 114 Alden Road Fairhaven (ca. 1952,
O'Mahony) is unusual in Massachusetts for its exterior walls of tile and stainless steel.
Continued advances in diner building resulted in construction of sectional diners, or diners
that were manufactured and shipped in sections and assembled on site. This type of construction
made possible the large diners of the postwar period. The best preserved example is the stainless
steel Corner Lunch at 133 Lamartine Street, Worcester (1950s DeRaffele, with alterations in
1968 by Musi Dining Car Company, MHC #WOR.2061). About one -third of the original main
block was moved in 1968 to the rear of the diner to serve as the kitchen wing. Musi's remodeling
of the Corner Lunch is believed to be the only example in New England of diner work by the
company, which is still based in Carteret, New Jersey.
Worcester Lunch Car Company continued to produce primarily porcelain enamel -clad diners
during this period. Notable examples include Bob's White City Diner at Rawlins Avenue
Marlborough (1947, Worcester #802), the Miss Worcester at 300 Southbridge Street. Worcester
(1948, Worcester #812), and Wilson's Diner at 507 Main Street, Waltham (1949, Worcester
4819). Main Street Diner at 901 Main Street Woburn. (1952, Worcester, production number
undetermined) was a custom diner and one of the first Worcester models to include stainless steel
on the exterior walls. The traditional barrel- roofed diner popularized by Worcester did not
survive the 1950s; during this period the form came to be considered out of date and less
desirable than the modern diner.
On occasion Worcester Lunch Car Company was contracted to update or expand some of its
older diners. Available records provide only sketchy information as to which diners the company
updated. After World War H, Worcester is known to have made changes ranging from installing
a sandwich board (Casey's, Natick, see above), to changing the backbar area to accommodate a
deep freezer (Central Diner, Millbury, see above), to enlarging and reconfiguring the.size of the
dining area (Miss Florence Diner, 99 Main Street Northampton at Florence, 1930s, MHC .
#NTH.111).
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Constant pressure to update diners, plus an increased demand for new diners, created a market for
secondhand and reconditioned diners beginning in the 1930s. The purchaser of a secondhand
diner received, in an "as is" condition, a diner that had been traded in by another owner. The
reconditioned diner, on the other hand, was completely overhauled in the factory before reselling
[Gutman, p. 981. Information on which diners in Massachusetts may have been secondhand or
reconditioned diners is not readily available. One example -for which only limited history is
known is Charlie's Diner at 344 Plantation Street Worcester (1948, Worcester #816, MHC
#WOR2031). About 1951 Charles D. Turner purchased the diner "used" from Worcester Lunch
Car Company. Previously the diner had been located in Wareham.
The desire to update and expand a diner's operations also resulted in two of the state's
earliest built -on -site diners, Town Diner and Blue Diner, both built in 1947. Town Diner at 627
Mt. Auburn Street, Watertown (N. D. C. Construction, MHC #WAT.298) combines the barrel
roof and porcelain enamel cladding of the traditional diner in Massachusetts with the curved ends,
glass block, and center entry of the streamlined models from the early 1940s. Town Diner was
constructed to replace an original ca. 1920s Worcester lunch car, which is now the kitchen to the
rear and obscured by a series of later rear additions. Blue Diner at 178 Kneeland Street, Boston
(B. L. Gallo, architect, MHC #BOS.1836, NRDIS, Leather District) replaced a barrel- roofed
diner on the same site.
The Diner - Turned- Restaurant (ca. 1960 to the present)
The Town Diner in Watertown and Al Mac's Diner- Restaurant in Fall River mark the
beginnings of a trend in the Massachusetts diner industry toward creating a restaurant ambience.
After World War II, diners began to promote themselves as places for a leisurely family meal. In
the 1960s this trend crystallized as the industry also sought to distinguish itself from the new fast
food chains, which offered standardized quick meals.at low prices. According to Richard
Gutman, the diner's new image became conservative, not flashy, and the diner itself was "striving
to be more than a roadside restaurant." [p. 181]. Some diner operators described their businesses
as diner - restaurants while other operators, and some of the diner manufacturers, dropped the diner
name altogether.
In connection with the effort to attract families, the form and appearance of the diner were
modified, with such changes as an increase in tables rather than booths, a decrease in the number
of counter stools, and an emphasis on traditional architectural detailing. Short-lived attempts at
futuristic designs in the 1960s were quickly replaced by more traditional colonial styling, both
exterior and interior, which blended better with. suburbia, where new diners continued to be
installed on routes with easy automobile access. The only colonial diner in Boston, Victoria
Diner - Restaurant, now known as Victoria Dining, 1024 Massachusetts Avenue Boston (1965,
Swingle Diners Inc., Middlesex, New Jersey) is the best example identified to date of the diner -
to- restaurant trend in Massachusetts. [Gutman, p. 1841 Replacing a stainless steel O'Mahony
diner, the Victoria was still prefabricated and assembled on site, but conveyed the appearance of a
permanent, restaurant building rather than a rail car or stationary portable building.
(continued)
The Diners ofMassachusetts 11 Statement of Historic Context
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The Fillin' Station, 372 State Road Whatel (early 1960s, Kullman Industries, MHC
9WHA.159) is perhaps the earliest example of contemporary diner design in Massachusetts. The
diner is the better preserved of two Kullmans in the state, the other being encased in a later
building in Pittsfield. More research is needed to establish a context for the Fillin' Station, which
reportedly was erected in Whately about 1970 in conjunction with a gas station and truck stop
complex off Interstate 91.
Not many diners installed or constructed from the 1960s onward have been identified in
Massachusetts. In the 1970s, Mediterranean - inspired designs were introduced. The traditional
designs like colonial and Mediterranean made use of standard building finishes rather than the
porcelain enamel and stainless steel of earlier eras. From ca, 1980 to the present, typical diner
designs included the "greenhouse" look and old style or "classic" diners; these diners were not
investigated for this nomination. Systematic identification of diner - restaurants in the state is
needed.
(end)
The Diners of Massachusetts 12 Statement of Historic Context
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20th CENTURY COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE:
THE DINERS OF MASSACHUSETTS
F. ASSOCIATED PROPERTY TYPES
I. Description
A. First Property Type: Lunch Wagon/Lunch Cart -- Physical and Associative
Characteristics
_Physical Characteristics The lunch wagon (or lunch cart) is an enclosed prefabricated wagon on
wheels, intended to be horse - drawn. The cart has a wood frame, a barrel roof, either transom windows at
the ends of the cart or a monitor roof with a clerestory for ventilation, and painted wood paneling or
galvanized steel panels for exterior sheathing. Any example will be set upon a foundation that is later
than the cart. The length of the lunch wagon or cart is generally two to three times the width, with a
length of between about sixteen to twenty -six feet on average. Generally examples will incorporate a
sliding door or pocket door at the center of the fagade; secondary entrances, if any, on the end walls;
operable windows of stained, frosted, flash, or etched glass; varnished natural wood on the interior; a
kitchen or food preparation area separated from the dining area by a counter; and a dining area with
standing room or seating on stools at the counter and/or an eating shelf, if present. The "ten - stooler,"
consisting of ten stools at the counter, is typical. Signage is on the exterior panels of the cart. Of all the
diner property types, the lunch wagon or cart is the most rare in Massachusetts today and the most likely
to have been altered.
Associative Characteristics Lunch wagons were the precursor to the modern diner in
Massachusetts and were the sole form of diner in the state from the 1880s to the early 1920s. Mounted
on wheels, lunch wagons were horse -drawn in the streets at night and removed from the streets by
morning. Their operators catered to the so- called "night - lunch" or "night -owl" trade, which served
factory workers and others who needed a quick meal in the late night or early morning hours. Lunch
wagons typically operated in urban areas -- particularly manufacturing and retail districts - -and in town
centers. The lunch wagon or cart evolved from a horse -drawn wagon operated during late evening and
early morning hours to a stationary portable lunch car located off the road and open around the clock.
Beginning ca. 1905 wheels started to be used only to haul the lunch cart to its destination.
Samuel Messer Jones (1854 -1926) introduced the lunch wagon idea to Worcester in 1884 and
Springfield in 1889. Jones, Thomas H. Buckley, and Charles H. Palmer were the principal builders of
the early lunch wagons or carts in Massachusetts. From the 1910s through the early 1920s the Worcester
Lunch Car Company led the state in large -scale production of the new stationary portable lunch cars.
Horse -drawn lunch wagons and stationary portable lunch cars are particularly significant for their
associations with the early decades of the diner industry, not just in Massachusetts but nationally.
(continued)
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B. Second Property Type: Barrel Roof Diner -- Physical and Associative Characteristics
Physical Characteristics The barrel roof diner is the traditional diner form in Massachusetts.
Factory -built and hauled to its site, these diners generally have a boxy appearance, a symmetrical facade,
and entries generally on the short (end) walls, though a center entry on the long elevation is sometimes
seen. Typical features include a wood or steel frame, exterior panels of either painted steel or porcelain
enamel, a brick or concrete foundation, and a continuous band of double -hung windows with transoms
on the facade. The major distinguishing feature of this property type is the barrel roof, either with open
eaves at the end walls or, less commonly, a closed barrel (rounded hipped) roof. On early examples the
barrel roof extends over the entries on the two short wails; later examples tend not to continue the
roofline over the entries but instead have flat projecting canopies at the ends. The interior typically
features booths in the dining area, though also seen are the older layouts more commonly associated with
lunch carts: a ten- stooler arrangement at the counter, an eating shelf along the inside facade wall, or
even a dining area at one short end of the car with the kitchen at the other. More interior features and
finishes include tile walls and floor; counters of white marble, white opalite, or Formica; white counter
stools of white porcelain enamel; built -in refrigerators and other fixtures; and more equipment in the
backbar area. Signage is painted on the exterior apron panels below the windows on the long elevation,
or mounted above the windows. Examples of this property type are most susceptible to alterations in
cladding and roof materials.
Associative Characteristics The barrel roof diner dominated the diner landscape in
Massachusetts from about the mid -1920s to ca. 1950. Most closely associated with the dawning of the
roadside diner era, during which an automobile was necessary to reach many diners, examples of this
property type were installed on state and federal roadways and near important crossroads, in addition to
the more established downtown business district and manufacturing district locations. The barrel roof
diner also may be considered the first true "diner," as the term is popularly known, in Massachusetts.
Diner historian Richard J. S. Gutman identifies ca. 1923 -1924 as the point at which the night lunch
wagon or cart began to become known as the dining car or diner. An allusion to the fine dining then
offered in dining cars on the railroads, the diner name also reflected a change in fare from night -only
meals to meals served around the clock. The introduction of booths in the dining area, which also
occurred in the mid- 1920s, was intended to encourage female customers, who presumably would not sit
at the counter on stools. As the earliest and most pervasive form of diner in Massachusetts for a
generation, the barrel roof diner reflects changes to the image and desired clientele of the diner over
time. Worcester Lunch Car Company manufactured almost all examples of this property type in
Massachusetts, though a handful of diners were produced by other manufacturers, particularly Jerry
O'Mahony Inc. of Elizabeth, New Jersey.
(continued)
The Diners of Massachusetts
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C. Third Property Type: Rail Car Diner — Physical and Associative Characteristics
Physical Characteristics This property type includes factory -built diners bearing a resemblance
to railroad cars or streetcars or, rarely, a former railroad car or streetcar converted to a diner. Hauled to
its site, the rail car diner has a wood or steel frame, a foundation of brick or concrete, and exterior panels
of either painted galvanized steel or porcelain enamel. On most examples, the rail car inspiration is
evident in the closed barrel (rounded hipped) roof with full- length clerestory windows, and the long
fagade -- typically 10 to 14 bays -- with integral entries in the short end walls. Variations that are much
less common include a barrel roof with open ends and clerestory, or a center entry on the long wall rather
than entries on the short end walls. There are no distinguishing interior features specific to the rail car
diner other than the effect of having two end -wall entries, when present. Examples of this property type
are most susceptible to alterations in cladding and roof materials, and particularly the covering of the
clerestory windows, as well as the construction'of incompatible additions.
Associative Characteristics Both inspired by and an outgrowth of railroad car and streetcar
design, the rail car diner is a discrete phenomenon in the diner industry. Known examples of this
property type in Massachusetts were constructed in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the product of the
decline and subsequent abandonment of streetcar lines in the Commonwealth, the influence of "fine
dining" cars on railroad lines, and the suitability of the rail car form for diner use. Original rail cars
converted to diners are rare survivals in Massachusetts. More common is the factory -built diner showing
the rail car influence in its design. Production of rail car diners was a logical extension of the business of
streetcar and railroad dining car manufacturers. In Massachusetts, J. G. Brill Company of Philadelphia
began building monitor -roof diners in 1927 at its subsidiary plant, Wason Manufacturing Company of,
Springfield, a builder of railway and electric streetcars. Worcester Lunch Car Company also
manufactured diners of this type. Like examples of the barrel roof diner, examples of this property type
were installed on major roadways and near important crossroads, in addition to the more established
downtown business district and manufacturing district locations.
D. Fourth Property Type: Streamliner — Physical and Associative Characteristics
Physical Characteristics A factory -built diner hauled to its site, the streamliner has a distinctive
form, with a closed barrel (rounded hipped) roof and either one or both short end walls having a curved,
"shovel- nosed" profile. The streamliner form has been likened to the form of a bullet. Known examples
of the property type in Massachusetts are wood or steel frame and clad with porcelain enamel panels.
Ornamental detailing in a contrasting color, if any, typically runs horizontally on the building and
accentuates the appearance of mobility conveyed by the streamlined form. Another element contributing
to the streamlined appearance of the diner is a rooftop fin for ornamental and often signage purposes; on
examples without the fin, roof - mounted signage is usually present. The entry is most often located on a
(continued)
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long wall, and fenestration can include bands of thin rectangular windows in the curved ends. Though
interior finishes generally are typical of other diners of the 1930s and early 1940s, the interior space is
distinctive, with freestanding tables and chairs or curved booth seating occupying the curved "nose -end"
of the diner. As a property type, a streamliner in its architectural features is distinct from other,
generally later, diner forms that reflect the influence of streamlining and machine aesthetics but
demonstrate less obvious associations with mobility in their design. A modified version of the
streamliner is the "semi - streamliner," with either a barrel or monitor roof and featuring slightly canted
end walls. Streamliners and semi - streamliners are rare in Massachusetts today.
Associative Characteristics Perhaps more than any other diner property type, the streamliner in
its design evokes the diner's early history as a mobile building. Constructed from 1939 to 1942, the
streamliner reflects the influence of industrial design of the 1920s and 1930s. The form mimicked the
look of streamlined locomotives and automobiles. J. B. Judkins Company of Merrimac and the
Worcester Lunch Car Company constructed all known examples in Massachusetts. A former builder of
custom automobile bodies, J. B. Judkins Company entered the diner - building industry after the
Depression and produced the Sterling Streamliner. Later in the 1930s, Worcester Lunch Car Company
introduced two streamlined models: the model with curved nose at the short ends (also known as the
double -ended bullet or "circular diner ") and a more popular model with canted ends (known as the
"semi - streamliner "). While streamlining was introduced to diner design through the distinctive shape of
diners of this property type, the influence of streamlining persisted in diner design for over twenty -five
years. The typical location of the streamliner reflected a shift from downtown business district and
manufacturing areas to roadside sites with parking lots, especially on heavily traveled highway routes.
The streamliner's relationship with the road and the automobile is a key factor in its eligibility.
E. Fifth Property Type: Stainless Steel Diner — Physical and Associative Characteristics
Physical Characteristics The stainless steel diner was the quintessential modern diner in
Massachusetts after World War Il. Factory -built and hauled to its site, the stainless steel diner was also
the first type of diner present in Massachusetts that could be constructed and hauled in sections. An
example of this property type typically has a steel frame, flat or low- pitched roof, high foundation of
concrete or brick, and rectangular massing with a projecting entry vestibule centered on the faeade.
Monitor roofs are uncommon but may be seen in early (1940s) examples of this type. The major
character - defining feature is the stainless steel exterior, generally with porcelain enamel metal accents
that run horizontally, though sometimes vertically, above and below the windows. Many examples of
this property type also display rounded corners, large windows of fixed plate glass, steel fin -like dividers
between windows, a pair of steel and glass entries in the projecting vestibule, a clock centered at the top
of the vestibule, and steel ornament in quilted, sawtooth, or other patterns. Signage is most commonly
located on the roof, and consists of either individual channel letters in neon or one roof - mounted sign.
On the interior, the stainless steel diner displays a cove ceiling, steel on the walls and back bar, tile or
(continued)
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terrazzo floors, and a Formica counter. Counter stools are steel, and booths are steel or wood generally
covered in vinyl. The entry vestibule, exterior and interior, is the most common location of alterations
on the stainless steel diner, usually with replacement finishes; handrails at the stairs, or entries. Rear
kitchen wings, usually wood -frame or concrete block, are common on examples of this property type;
some appear to be original.
Associative Characteristics Presenting an image of efficiency, cleanliness, and machine - inspired
modernity, the stainless steel diner was the most popular diner form in Massachusetts from ca. 1945 to
ca. 1960. Mountain View Diners, Jerry O'Mahony Inc., DeRaffele Diners, Silk City Diners, and Fodero
Dining Car Company, all diner manufacturers based in New Jersey or New York, produced almost all
examples of the property type in Massachusetts. As the modern alternative to the traditional barrel -
roofed diner in Massachusetts, the stainless steel diners were immensely popular and posed a challenge
to Worcester Lunch Car Company, whose traditional porcelain enamel -clad, barrel- roofed diners with
wood - trimmed interiors failed to compete successfully with the newer stainless steel designs. The
Worcester company did come out with its own model of stainless steel diner in 1952 but by that time
could not recapture its share of the diner - building market. Advances in diner design and construction
enabled diner manufacturers to offer sectional, or split, diners, which could be transported in pieces and
assembled on site. The typical location of stainless steel diners, like that of the earlier streamliner form,
reflected a shift from downtown business district and manufacturing areas to roadside sites with parking
lots, especially on heavily traveled highway routes. The stainless steel diner's relationship with the road
and the automobile is a key factor in its eligibility.
II. Significance
Examples of all five property types - -lunch cart/lunch wagon, barrel roof diner, rail car diner,
streamliner, and stainless steel diner —are an important physical manifestation of the diner industry in
Massachusetts from the late 19th century to ca. 1970 as described in the historic context above. An
example of any of the five property types will meet the National Register criteria and criteria
considerations, at the state and local levels, as discussed in this section.
A. National Register Criteria
Criterion A All examples will meet this criterion for associations with the development of the
diner industry in the Commonwealth and with the development of the community or region in which
they are located. Refer to Section E, Statement of Historic Context for more detailed information.
Criterion B Some examples may meet this criterion for integral associations with the productive
lives and work of noted people in the diner industry. Refer to Section E, Statement of Historic Context
for more detailed information.
(continued)
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Criterion C All examples will meet criterion as examples of diner form and style in the
Commonwealth. Some will be examples of the work of master designers (in this case, diner
manufacturers) and /or will possess high artistic value. Refer to Section E, Statement of Historic
Context for more detailed information.
Criterion D A few examples may meet criterion due to their potential to yield important
information about the evolution of the diner industry or diner building either through the study of extant
diners or through historic archaeological remains. Refer to Section E, Statement of Historic Context
for more detailed information.
B. National Register Criteria Considerations
With the occasional exception of Criteria Considerations B and G, the criteria considerations do
not apply to the five property types as a whole.
Criteria Consideration B Removal from one location and .placement in another is inherent in the
portable nature of diners of all property types. Most diners have an orientation, setting, and general
roadside environment that are comparable to those of their historic location and compatible with their
significance. An example of any of the five property types need not meet Criteria Consideration B
unless it has been relocated to a site that is incompatible with the diner's original function. Examples of
all five property types are significant primarily for architectural value in a state and local context. Their
historic association with the community in which they are placed, while important, is a secondary factor
in their significance.
Criteria Consideration G Both scholarly research-and the evaluation of the history of diners over
the last ten to fifteen years has provided the necessary historical perspective to determine that a diner is
exceptionally important. In addition, with very few exceptions, cities and towns in Massachusetts have a
single diner, if any at all. From the perspective of a community's architectural history, the diner form is
sufficiently unique to be considered of exceptional significance, provided the diner was located in
Massachusetts during the period of significance.
C. Level of Evaluation
Diners of all five property types are judged in a state as well as local context.
III. Registration Requirements
An example from any of the five property types must possess the physical and associative
characteristics discussed above and in Section E to be considered eligible for National Register listing.
(continued)
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The primary associated characteristic, and the key registration requirement, is integral connections with
the development of the diner industry in the Commonwealth, namely the operation of diners in
Massachusetts during the period from the late 19th century to ca. 1970. To be eligible for nomination to
the National Register, an example from any of the five property types must have been operated in
connection with the diner industry in Massachusetts and maintain sufficient physical 'integrity to convey
that association. The factory-built diner need not have been manufactured in Massachusetts to be
eligible but should have been located in Massachusetts during the period of significance.
An example from any of the five property types also must retain integrity to the period of
significance. The physical condition and integrity of a diner is affected by changes in ownership and
management, which potentially can compromise these buildings over time. Retrofitting of interior
spaces and equipment, and construction of kitchen, service, or storage additions to meet business
demands is a common occurrence. Abandonment of these buildings or conversion to non - restaurant uses
also may compromise integrity.
Location and Setting An example of any of the five property types would not be expected to
retain integrity of location but always will possess integrity of setting. Given the portable nature of most
diners, a diner need not be in its historic location to be eligible, although a majority of the diners
identified to date in Massachusetts are believed to be on their original sites. Lunch wagons /lunch carts in
particular may not retain integrity of location, as they were mobile buildings placed onto permanent
foundations when it was no longer feasible or desirable to continue the original horse -drawn operation.
Extant examples of the lunch wagon/lunch cart property type, however, are extremely rare in
Massachusetts. With regard to setting, to be eligible a diner must be located in a historically appropriate
setting, with clear orientation to the street a critical factor, and such setting must be compatible with the
diner's historic function.
Factors that affect this type of integrity include changes in ownership and management, and
removal of the diner to a storage or museum location. These factors may be sufficiently detrimental to
integrity to preclude registration.
Design, Materials and Workmanship An example of any of the five property types will always
possess a high degree of integrity of design, materials, and workmanship. These are important integrity
factors for each of the five property types. Refer to Section E, Statement of Historic Context, for more
detailed information.
Factors that typically affect this type of integrity include modification of the original roof line or
eave line, or addition of historically inappropriate exterior cladding such as synthetic siding or roof
shingles. In examples of the rail car type, irreversible alteration to or elimination of the rooftop
clerestory windows, a key character - defining feature, would compromise integrity. In examples of the
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streamliner type, alteration of the profile of the curved end(s) would compromise integrity. Collectively
these factors may be sufficiently detrimental to integrity to preclude registration of the diner. Alteration
or removal of historic signage generally will not be considered sufficiently detrimental to compromise
the diner's integrity as a whole, nor will replacement of historic materials on the interior if the interior as
a whole maintains integrity to a large degree. Construction of wood -clad or concrete block additions for
kitchens and storage is consistent with the historic use of the diner over time and will not be considered
to compromise the diner's architectural integrity if such additions are located on the rear of the main
diner block and are clearly secondary to the main block in scale and massing.
Feelin¢ and Association An example from any of the five property types must possess historic
associations with the diner industry in Massachusetts. This is a key integrity factor. Examples must
retain sufficient physical integrity as described above to be able to convey their relationships to and
associations with the historic context described in Section E.
(end)
G. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
Diners must be sited within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and must have always been open for
business within the Commonwealth.
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ETHODS
The multiple property listing, Twentieth- Century Commercial Architecture: The Diners of
Massachusetts, draws from over fifteen years of survey and research conducted by diner and
other cultural historians throughout the Commonwealth. Three principal sources for identifying
diners in Massachusetts are the directory of diners in Richard J. S. Gutman's American Diner
Then and Now [New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 19931, the Diner Finder Deluxe —
Massachusetts road map [Watertown, MA: Coffee Cup Publications, 19911, and the Inventory of
Historic Assets of the Commonwealth, the statewide historic properties inventory maintained by
the Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC), In general, these sources provide the name of
the diner, previous names and locations, if known, the name of the manufacturer with model
number, if known, and the date of construction. Two additional sources have provided periodic
updates on the ownership, management, and location of diners in Massachusetts: Larry
Cultrera's "Diner Hotline," published in each issue of the Society for Commercial Archeology
Journal, and Roadside Magazine (both online and hard -copy formats), published by Randolph
Garbin and Coffee Cup Publications.
Using the considerable amount of research already available for diners in Massachusetts, a
database was compiled during the first phase of the multiple property listing project, drawing
from the three principal sources cites above. This database, which includes over 150 diners
dating from the 1920s to the 1960s, allows the diners to be grouped by manufacturer, date of
construction, or geographic region of the Commonwealth. Condition, including restoration work
or alterations, also is noted. Existence of this database precluded the need for a systematic
reconnaissance field survey of the Commonwealth's 351 cities and towns. The database list
served as the primary means of identifying potential candidates for intensive survey and
evaluation under the multiple property listing.
Existing research also allowed for the development, during the first phase (year one) of the
project, of a draft statement of historic contexts, a draft description of associated property types,
and a bibliography. The narratives drew heavily from the groundbreaking work of diner historian
Richard J. S. Gutman, whose published studies constitute the most comprehensive social and
architectural history of diners available to date. The drafts were continually revised during the
second phase of the project as more information was gathered. Through analysis of the database
list and preparation of the draft narrative overviews, the following parameters emerged, which
ultimately influenced the selection of specific diners for intensive survey, evaluation, and
registration.
The large number of diners that are in excellent or good condition, or have been restored,
were targeted over more altered examples. Since most diners in the Commonwealth were
designed to be portable, removal of a diner from its original roadside location, either during or
after the period of significance, did not preclude the diner from consideration, provided the
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current location has a roadside orientation. In this context, diners that were stick -built on
permanent foundations on site, to look like prefabricated portable diners, were of great interest.
The routine moving of diners from one location to another made a geographic representation
of diners across the different regions of the Commonwealth of less value than a study that focused
on manufacturer, the evolution of diner forms, and date of construction. The Worcester Lunch
Car Company of Worcester manufactured about half of the diners currently in Massachusetts.
There was a desire to trace evolutions in the form of the company's diner models, as represented
by extant examples from the 1920s through the early 1950s. At the same time, diners produced
by other Massachusetts manufacturers or out -of -state manufacturers are far less common, and
therefore well preserved examples of the work of those manufacturers were of great interest.
Roughly one -third of the Massachusetts diners for which construction dates are known were built
between 1949 (fifty years from the present) and ca. 1970 (the end -date for the historic context in
this multiple property listing). In the interest of having the registration documentation reflect the
full range of historic diners in Massachusetts, diners of fewer than fifty years in age were
considered. To be eligible for listing under this multiple property format, however, a diner had to
have been located in Massachusetts during its period of. significance.
Each diner considered for registration under this multiple property listing was evaluated for
National Register eligibility by MHC staff. Some diners were not already represented in the
statewide inventory, and these diners were intensively surveyed and recorded on MHC inventory
forms for the first time. In certain other cases, existing MHC inventory forms were redrafted to
include current photographs, detailed descriptions of form and condition, and expanded
discussion of the diner's history, especially in the context of diners statewide. Each of the diners
selected for intensive survey had something about its architectural form or history that allowed
MHC staff and the project consultant to test different aspects of the National Register criteria.
This ensured that the eligibility requirements under this multiple property listing were not defined
too narrowly. Each completed inventory form included a National Register Criteria Statement for
formal evaluation by MHC staff. During the first phase (year one) of the project, budgetary and
time constraints limited the number of diners that were intensively surveyed to five. MHC staff
evaluated about twice that number for National Register eligibility. A working list of about forty-
five diners also was compiled during this phase of the project. This list identified diners eligible
for the National Register, diners that are significant but require additional investigation of their
integrity, and diners that retain their integrity but require additional historical research to confirm
their significance. This list is revised as more information is gathered.
The nine nominations included with this multiple property listing were prepared during the
second phase (year two) of the project. They were chosen because they represent, as a group, a
cross - section of the state's diners in terns of period of significance, architectural form, and
manufacturer. In addition, nomination of some of these diners allowed for further exploration of
certain issues surrounding integrity and the application of the National Register criteria to this
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very significant and very vulnerable resource type. In addition to preparing the nine nominations
and finalizing the statement of historic contexts and associated property types section, the project
consultant conducted intensive surveys of another five diners, which were submitted to the MHC
for evaluation.
Project consultant Kathleen Kelly Broomer, an architectural historian and preservation
planner, completed the first and second phases of work under the multiple listing project. A third
phase, now underway, will produce nominations for another five diners, as well as detailed
inventory forms for ten more diners. Given the value of National Register listing in raising public
awareness and encouraging preservation of significant resources, the third phase is expected to
include certain diners that are vacant or otherwise endangered.
(end)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic
Continuation Sheet
Places
The Diners of Massachusetts
Multiple Property Listing
Section number — I Page — 4
20th CENTURY COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE:
THE DINERS OF MASSACHUSETTS
I. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
The principal source for contextual information on diners is Richard J. S. Gutman's social
and architectural history of the building type, which appears below. See individual National
Register nominations for diner - specific references.
Baeder, John. Diners. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1978.
Carlson, Stephen P. with Thomas W. Harding. From Boston to the Berkshires. A Pictorial
Review of Electric Transportation in Massachusetts. Boston: Boston Street Railway
Association, Inc., 1990.
Cultrera, Larry; ed. "Diner Hotline," Society for Commercial Archeology (SCA) Journal,
recurring column, multiple issues.
Interview (including comments on draft Historic Context and Associated Property
Types sections of National Register multiple property form), November 19, 1998.
Diner Finder Deluxe -- Massachusetts [map and listing of diners in the state]. Watertown, MA:
Coffee Cup Publications, 1991.
"Finely Fran's is Finally Rescued." Roadside Magazine, 24 (July 1997), p. 3.
Gutman, Richard J. S. American Diner Then and Now. New York: HarperCollins Publishers,
1993.
----------- Interview (including comments on draft Historic Context and Associated Property
Types sections of National Register multiple property form), November 23, 1998.
Inventory of Historic Assets of the Commonwealth. Massachusetts Historical Commission.
Liebs, Chester H. Main Street to Miracle Mile. American Roadside Architecture, Boston:
Little, Brown and Company, 1985.
Phillips, Lance. Yonder Comes the Train. NY: A. S. Barnes and Co., 1965.
(continued)
The Diners of Massachusetts I Major Bibliographical References)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Paris Service
National Register of Historic Places
continuation Sheet The Diners of Massachusetts
Multiple Property Listing
Section number I Page
"Road News" and "Napkin Notes." Roadside Magazine, recurring column, multiple issues.
Sacchi, Paula. "Walter Scott. Lunch Cart Pioneer." The Diner [American Diner Museum],
Spring 1997, pp. 2 -3.
Society for Commercial Archeology. Diner theme issue. SCA Journal, 12 (Fall- Winter 1993-
1994).
Stone, Orra L. History of Massachusetts Industries. Vol. I. Boston- Chicago: The S. J. Clarke
Publishing Co., 1930.
Wilson, Richard Guy, Dianne H. Pilgrim, and Dickran Tashjian. The Machine Age in America.
1918 -1941. New York: The Brooklyn Museum in association with Harry N. Abrams,
Inc., 1986.
Worcester [Diner] Tour. wwwl.usal.com /—roadside /woodiner /worediner3 [Roadside
Magazine], April 15, 1997.
Worcester Lunch Car Company. Serving the World with Worcester Dining Cars [sales
brochure]. Worcester, MA: Worcester Lunch Car Company, no date [ca. 1926 - 19271.
American Antiquarian Society.
Worcester Lunch Car Company Record Books, 1914 -1967, including Account books of lunch
car construction, 1914 -1928, 1928 -1931, 1932 -1935, 1935 -1940, 1940- .1945, 1945 -1967;
Time books, 1916, 1935, 1936; Record Book of Customers, 1955 -1960; and file cards
with information for service of cars, ca. 1950s. Worcester Historical Museum.
(end)
The Diners of Massachusetts 2 Major Bibliographical References)
Diners Make the List!
Michael Steinitz
AS A POPULAR ARCHITECTURAL ICON OF 20TH- CENTURY AMERICAN LIFE, THE DINER
HAS FEW RIVALS. CELEBRATED IN ART AND FILM, DINERS SEEM TO EMBODY DISTINCTLY
AMERICAN DIETARY NOTIONS OF CONVENIENCE AND MOBILITY —THEY WERE AFTER
all the ultimate factory-built, fast food ma-
chines of the pre - franchise, family business
era. It is less widely known that the Ameri-
can diner was actually born in New En-
gland. Massachusetts in particular played
an important role, both as a center of diner
manufacturing and as a setting for the op-
eration of diners in its downtowns and in-
dustrial districts and along its highways. In
recognition of the significance of diners in
the Commonwealth's landscape, the MHC
recently listed 14 Massachusetts diners on
the National Register of Historic Places as
part of a Multiple Property Thematic
Nomination.
The diner had its origins in the horse -
drawn, night lunch wagons of the 1880s.
Hauled out nightly to curbside locations,
these wagons offered walk -up service to
nocturnal urbanites and late -shift factory
Continued onpage 6
Diners (Continuedfrom page 1)
workers after other eating establishments
had closed. Soon lunch wagon manufactur-
ers were producing units large enough for
customers to stand or sit inside while they
ate. By the early years of the 20th century,
companies were producing portable lunch
cars designed to be set up more -or -less per-
manently on off- street sites, and in the
early 1920s the manufacturers themselves
started to refer to these stationary lunch
cars as "diners." A rare, well - preserved ex-
ample from the stationary lunch car era is
Casey's Diner (1922, right) in Natick, very
likely the oldest operating diner in Massa-
chusetts. This typical barrel- roofed, "ten -
stooler" on wheels was, at 10 by 20 feet, the
smallest unit manufactured by the Worces-
ter Lunch Car Company at the time.
Although diners were produced in cities
from Lynn to Springfield, Worcester was
the state's preeminent center of diner
manufacturing. The Worcester Lunch Car
Company built 651 lunch cars and diners
between 1907 and 1957, and the
Company's wood - framed, barrel- roofed,
porcelain - enameled, steel clad units domi-
nated New England's diner landscape from
the 1920s through the 1940s. The Boule-
vard Diner (1936) in Worcester and
Wilson's Diner (1949, pictured on page 8)
in Waltham, with their characteristic
wooden booths, tile interior walls, and
marble countertops, are among the best ex-
amples of the historic diner form most
closely associated with Massachusetts.
Other in -state firms included the J.G. Brill
Company, which manufactured monitor-
roofed, rail car type diners in Springfield
through its subsidiary, the Wason Manu-
facturing Company. A rare surviving ex-
ample is the Capitol Diner (1928) in Lynn.
Though it only operated briefly from 1936
to 1942, Sterling Diners, operated by J. B.
Judkins Company of Merrimac, Massachu-
setts, is significant for first introducing to
Massachusetts a distinctive "streamliner"
design that can be seen in the Salem Diner
(1941, pictured on page 1) in Salem. The
Sterling Streamliner model combined
modular design with a more contoured,
aerodynamic look featured most promi-
nently in curved, "shovel- nosed" end walls,
In response to the Streamliner, the Worces-
ter Lunch Car Company introduced its
own, "semi- streamliner" design, which fea-
tured canted end walls but retained the
company's traditional interior finishes. A
Caseys Diner in Natick is likely the oldest opera
"Semi- Streamliner" designs, such as the Rosebud in Somerville's Davis Square area, were
built by the Worcester Lunch Car Company to compete with other local companies.
The Agawam diner in Rowley, Massachusetts is a well
of Massachusetts.
eserved example cf diners manufactured outside
k >r"a -,
ti-i.
Corner Lunch, Worcester, MA.
recently restored example is the Rosebud
Diner (1941, pictured far left rind page 8) in
Somerville.
From the outset, diners were imported to
the Commonwealth from other northeast-
ern manufacturers, and one of the earliest
surviving diners in the state, Ted's Diner
(1920s) in Milford, was built by Jerry
O'Mahoney, Inc., of Elizabeth, New Jersey,
By the 1950s out -of -state manufacturers
were making significant inroads in the
Massachusetts diner market, and the larger,
sectional, steel - frame, stainless -steel clad
units produced in New York and New Jer-
sey dominated the post -war diner scene,
even as the Worcester Lunch Car Company
continued to produce (and often remodel)
its traditional, barrel- roofed units. The
newer forms typically included mirrors, ter-
razzo floors, pastel color schemes and large
plate glass windows. They also emphasized
full table and booth service. Both these de-
velopments were in marked contrast to the
oak, marble, and tile finishes and counter
operations of an earlier diner era. Well pre-
served examples of the 1950s era of stain-
less- steel, Formica, and neon include Al
Mac's Diner - Restaurant (1953) in Fall
River, built by De Raffele Diner Mfg., New
Rochelle, New York, Al's Diner (195 8) in
Chicopee, built by Master Diners,
Pequannock, New Jersey, and the Agawam
Diner (195 4) in Rowley ( pictured at left),
built by the Fodero Dining Car Company,
Bloomfield, New Jersey.
The listing of diners of Massachusetts on
the National Register of Historic Places re-
flects both a celebration of the historical
and architectural significance of these dis-
tinctive buildings and recognition of the
threats to their continued survival. Many
diners continue to be popular and success-
ful family -run enterprises, and recent years
have also seen a strengthening of interest in
restoration and rehabilitation. Yet diners
are by their nature very moveable, and aside
from losses to Fire and demolition, their in-
creasing popularity and value has meant
that Massachusetts has exported many of its
historic diners to new out-of-state loca-
tions. The challenge remains to keep the
diners of Massachusetts commercially vi-
able within the neighborhoods and com-
munities that they have traditionally served.
Continued on next page
Diners (Continued from page l�
For Further Reading:
• The Diners of Massachusetts Multiple Property Submission
prepared by Kathleen Kelly Broomer, on file at the MHC and
online at our website www.state.ma.us /sec /mhc
• Richard J. S. Gutman, American Diner Then and Now. Balti-
more: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000.
Interior of Wilson's Diner in Waltham.
Interior of the Rosedbud Diner in Somerville.