Diner Manufacturers
Several decades before New York manufacturer Patrick Tierney coined the term diner, the food service structure was known as the lunch wagon. The manufacturing process separated the diner from other establishments due the fact it would be produced offsite and then transported to the site. Through the ages, diner manufacturing was characterized by transitory men who had a passion for delivering these American hangouts. Two of the earliest lunch wagon makers were based out of New England. T. Buckley Lunch Wagon and Catering, established in 1898) was one of them. It produced 6-8 wagons a month. A wagon took the company 3 to 5 weeks to construct. Buckley told his customers if they needed a wagon on short demand, it could be produced within 24-36 hours. In addition to the wagon itself the Buckley Lunch Wagon and Catering dealt with supplies such as French plate mirrors and linoleum. Buckley, who had two patents, even added a cookstove to the wagons. Buckley was famous for his White House Café wagon series. To improve business he sent a model wagon all around the country to various exhibitions. |
An early lunchwagon: Gutman 55
Another
New England diner builder was the Worcester Lunch Car and Carriage
Manufacturing Company. Founded by an insurance
and real-estate agent
who noticed the burgeoning lunch wagon industry, it hired a French
Canadian named Gemme as the foreman. He took charge
after the two founders
decided to pursue other interests. Although Gemme gathered family to
help build the wagons, the business closed in 1908. It did contribute
windows that could be a opened and a raised clerestory to the structure’s
evolution (Putnam 50). By the 1950s,
Worcester continued to produce model units, but it only sold a few
every couple
years. |
When trolleys became more popular, many entrepreneurial Americans converted these transportation vehicles into lunch wagon with little renovation. This spontaneous action downgraded the lunch car business. The Middle Atlantic region soon began to dominate the manufacturing industry. |
A page of the O'Mahony catalogue. |
O’Mahoney,
based in Byone, New Jersey, became successful because of its owner's
vision to transform the wagons into a look resembling a deluxe Pullman
train car. They sold their first wagon for $1900. Unlike those in
New England, the New Jersey wagons were built with low wheels wheels
due to the belief
they would permanently stay in one location after the initial transport.
To increase the business, O’Mahoney developed a catalog. By
1924 the catalog listed the altering wagons, lunch car wagons. The
catalogue embodied an
attempt to relate them to train dining cars, which comprised a more
elegant social class. O’Malley also offered an
installment purchase plan for its customers. Full page articles in
newspapers
and magazines
advertised the cars for $7000-$9000. The smallest diner was twice
the length of the wagon. The addition of steel into the framework
expanded
the size of the diner. In addition to offering a grander size, O’Mahoney
also included the complete package of all essentials needed to get
restaurant off to a strong start. In 1936 it introduced the Deluxe
Diner in Union, New Jersey. Unfortunately, O’Mahoney went out
of business. It was undercapitalized from the start and unsuccessfully
tried to go public. |
Tierney
is one most famous names in the diner industry. Patrick Tierney,
an Irishman from New Rochelle, New York started one of the most prominent
manufacturers in diner history. His personality helped him sell his
lunch
cars and enabled him to die a millionaire. In addition to coining the
term diner, Tierney also added electric lights and skylights to the
diner. He also acted on the increasing concern with sanitation by
bringing the
toilet inside. His descendents, took credit for becoming the most successful
manufacturers in the business. |
In
1923, they established a goal to produce a diner a week for the next
four years. Eventually they became the largest manufacturer in the
world that created a diner a day. Purchasers could attend Tierney Training
School to further guarantee success. They continued to offer purchasers
assistance with Tierney Talks an industry advice magazine.
Tierney eventually went belly-up. Factors included a business
decision to halt operating diners
and increase production, and problems with the stock market. |
The 1930s
ushered in the Golden Age of the diner. J.B. Jukins was one of this
era’s most prominent manufacturers.
His diners became known as Sterling Streamliners. Based out of Merrimac,
Massachusets, Judkins
had background in building autos. He acquired his design, a modular
design, from a New England boat builder. In 1939 he aaquired two patents
for
his diners, from which he based the Sterling Streamliner. The Paramount
diner is another manufacturer than started in this period who added
further innovations. One such concept included multiple sections. |