The origins of the diner can be traced to Walter Scott, a part-time pressman and type compositor in Providence, Rhode Island. Around 1858 when Scott was 17 years old he supplemented his income by selling sandwiches and coffee from a basket to newspaper night workers and patrons of men's club rooms. By 1872 business became so lucrative that Scott quit his printing work and began to sell food at night from a horse-drawn covered express wagon parked outside the Providence Journal newspaper office. In doing so, Walter Scott unknowingly inspired the birth of what would become one of America's most recognized icons -- the diner.

Because of the attraction to the lucrative trade, lunch wagon vendors became so abundant on the streets that many towns and cities passed ordinaces to restrict hours of operation. This prompted some owners to circumvent the law by positioning their wagons on semi-permanent locations . At the same time that lunch wagons were becoming popular, obsolete horse drawn streetcars were being replaced by electrified models. Many of the displaced cars were purchased and converted into food venues for a fraction of the cost of a new dining car. Operating on meager budgets, most owners were more concerned with making a living than maintaining their car. Dining cars took on the reputation of the "greasy spoon" and gathering places for the unsavory elements of the community.

In order to increase business, particularly from women who secured the right to vote in 1920, diner owners cleaned up their image, adding shrubs and flower boxes, offering booth service and repainting their diners. Many dining car owners included the word "Miss" in their names to help feminize and soften their image.

The builders constructed cars with innovations such as indoor bathrooms, tables, longer length dimensions and repositioned counters to accommodate a larger food selection. Dining cars of the 1920's, although manufactured by different companies, were similar in style. The cars were an evolved version of the earlier lunch wagon. A few of the companies offered credit and financing in conjunction with fully equipped dining cars.

The incorporation of the railroad car look and use of the word "diner" were efforts by manufacturers to change the image of the dilapidated dining cars and night lunches. The design of dining cars had remained relatively unchanged until the streamline moderne style appeared in the 1930's. Modern materials were fabricated into streamline forms to symbolize speed and mobility. Streamline design identified with the new and futuristic modes of transportation and the efficiency of the machine age.
During the Depression most diners remained in business because they offered inexpensive places to eat. The replacement of street cars and interurbans in the late 1930's and early 1940's with internal combustion buses provided another low cost opportunity to own a converted trolley / diner. Several diner builders were forced out of business from the lack of sales during the Depression.

After World War II, the demand for diners increased dramatically. Servicemen eligible for G.I. loans were returning from the War and the economy was shifting back to non-military production. Americans were eager to spend money and make up for the years that they had to do without. In 1948, a dozen diner manufacturers were competing for part of the economic pie. Technological innovations developed before and during the war were shifted to the commercial production of new materials such as Formica, Naugahyde and terrazzo floors.

For more history and information about diners, visit the web site of the American Diner Museum.

Top Selling Diner items at Hot Plates:

The Number 1 seller at Hot Plates is our Prison Food Tray in Stainless Steel with compartments for all those picky eaters who do not want there foods to get mixed together.
 
The Diner Sugar Pourer and Grated Cheese Shaker. Classics!
 
The Sugar Pourer from Germany. A great design when you tip the whole item over it measurers 1 Teaspoon of sugar all by itself.
 
The Glass Straw Dispenser is a classic Diner item.
 
Diner and Resturant Quality Stainless Flatware sold by the piece. Most stores sell flatware by the placesetting. Pick up those much needed teaspoons that always disappear from your house.
 
The Maple Syrup Dispenser with a stainless top and glass bottem.

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