OT: Question about old-fashioned diners...

[MF TOON]

Hey guys, I'm writing a paper for school and was wondering if there's a specific name given to the old fashioned diners of the 30's and 40's as seen in the Famous Studio Popeye short, "Spree Lunch"?

I'm sure you guys would know what I'm talking... I've tried Google but came up with nothing. Is there a particular term given to these vintage diners?

[Treadwell]

Yup, they're called "diners".

I'm not being cute, that name means, or at least used to, a particular pre-manufactured aluminum "railroad car" style of semi-portable restaurant building.

Years ago I watched an hour-long documentary about them on PBS. No joke. One they visited had been renovated and built around so much that it was now a permanent edifice, but if one looked in the crawl space one could see the remains of the roof of the original diner, which the current owners mistook for a railroad car.

[MF TOON]

cool, thanks Treadwell!

I figured they might actually have a specific name for that type of diner... but I guess diner car would work...


Are they ever referred to as diner cars?

[RetroMan]

As far as I know, they're simply called "diners", or "roadside diners", as opposed to restaurant or cafés.

[Geezil]

Are they ever referred to as diner cars?
AFAIK, the closest thing to that would be dining cars, such as once existed on those glorious pre-Amtrak intercity trains. (You can still see them in many B&W movies, on TCM and probably on your local PBS station as well during the wee hours.)

[Paul Penna]

Check out this link:

Diner FAQ (http://www.roadsidefans.com/key.html)

It points out that the vast majority of railroad car-style diners were not actually originally railroad cars, but were prefabricated structures specifically designed to be diners. So the answer to your question, going by the authors of this site, is that they're called "diners."

BTW, this was the first hit I got when I googled: railroad car roadside diner (no quotes).

[Ray Pointer]

The next time someone accuses cartoons of being trivial, remember, if it weren't for cartoons, many people would not have been exposed to classical music, and curiousities about things like diners would never be aroused. :tweety:

[MF TOON]

^ hahah.

Thanks everyone, Paul especially for that great link!

[Daff Doc]

"Get your kicks, out on Route 66".:beepbeep: :beepbeep: :beepbeep:

[Daffysleftfoot]

Actually, guys, here's an article I found about ANOTHER (http://www.harrymccracken.com/stuffby/eats/eats3.htm) type of diners they don't have anymore. I think I'd have to have been around in California back in the late '30's to actually believe any of this stuff happened. :eek:

I'm kind of suspicious because the photographs look like bad Photoshop constructions.:p