Diners: The Most American Establishment? | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. welcome to stuff you should know a. production of iHeart. Radio hey and welcome to the podcast I'm. Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry's here. too and this is stuff you should know. the greasiest of the greasy spoons. Edition uh that's right uh may I have a. moment at the top here of course to to. speak to our uh our layoff of last week.

that no one even knows because just T. you should know listeners we're right on. time I'll step aside into the wings as. the spotlight zero in on you uh well. first of all I just wanted to thank. everybody my my we lost our dog uh. Charlie we had to put our eldest Charlie. to sleep last week and so I wanted to. say thank you to all the people on. Instagram who were so kind uh many many. hundreds of people commenting and many. many thousands of people Harding uh and. that always you know helps out but uh.

this was a tough one uh you know we've. lost five animals now since stuff you. should know launched which is remarkable. don't you think and a huge. bummer huge bummer um but Charlie it was. rough this was Ruby's first uh loss oh. man and she insisted on being there so. we kept her out of school and uh the vet. comes over of our house and Ruby was. there for the whole thing and and she.

did uh you know it was devastating but. she did great and many many lessons were. learned man that's amazing Chuck yeah. she did a good job it was uh I mean. they're all very hard always but I think. maybe being Ruby's first uh made it a. little tougher even MH um she had a I. think I've been saying it this way which. is when you have an 8-year-old you hear. all different kinds of cries out of your. kid and they they all have an agenda.

usually right like I didn't get this or. I wanted that or I'm hungry or I got. hurt or whatever like they all have like. a a different sound and a different. meaning uh but this one was brand new uh. and this was a cry of pure heartbreak. man uh and it was awful so it sounded. different and it it was not something I. want to hear again anytime soon uh Had. No Agenda attached to it and I think.

that's what part part of the awfulness. was it was just uh just heartbreak so it. was rough uh we got through it uh and I. know I told you guys this personally but. I want like the world to know how. amazing you and Jerry are for basically. just saying like this we record on. Tuesdays and Thursdays two hours before. we were set to record is when we decided. to do it uh like we got to do this. tomorrow so I was clearly not going to.

record then and then we did it Wednesday. and Thursday rolls around and I was. still was in no shape to do it course. and this screwed up our schedule and you. guys were just really supportive like. family is so every I want everyone to. understand that you got it of course we. wouldn't be any other way cuz we are. family I appreciate that uh now we are. in phase three uh the decision is phase. one which is awful doing it is phase two. and now the the not thess is the.

extended just sort of muscle memory of. all the you know the routines that are. built into your life with a pet that all. of a sudden you go to do and it's not. happening so we're adjusting to that I. was holding it okay for phase one and. two but you just got me with phase three. yeah it's it's the little things like oh. Charlie licks the cat spoon so when you. do the cat's meal you go your body still. goes to put the spoon down stuff like. that and then you just have to lick at.

yourself and SOB while you do that's. exactly right I've been eating a lot of. cat food it's got to make the whole. thing that much worse too I have been. sick to my stomach uh but it's pretty. tasty well on behalf of everybody who. knows and loves you or even people who. don't like you I'm very sorry that you. guys had to go through that that's an. awful thing and uh I can't even make. myself get into your shoes I won't do it. so don't I am you can take the you can. take the month off one day when uh when.

you need to yeah I don't want to talk. about that no you don't have to so okay. well welcome so now let's talk about. diners I think it's good we're we're. easing into diners like uh it's a warm. bath you know what I'm saying yeah. because diners is agreed maybe the. easiest topic we've ever done in our. entire. lives I cannot think of an easier one. can you well I mean I think we have a. lot of stuff that's.

easy all right like like any of the toy. episodes stuff like that is all easy uh. yeah yeah I guess you're right but this. one I don't know for some reason it just. struck me as easy it has like a lot of. like narrative Arc it has um overlooked. pop culture here there peppering with it. it's got some neat little just kind of. pull points bullet points that we can go. over I I just like it it's just easy and. thanks to Livia for helping us with it. yeah oh oh and speaking of Livia this. turned out to be a great assignment.

because Livia's sibling in-law runs a. diner uh Ember is Livia's sibling in-law. and they restored not only a diner but. they restored the Worcester lunch car. number 765 man from all the way back in. 1939 and that will all make sense what. that is shortly yeah it'll be impressive. in a minute super impressive but this is. in uh Moren it's the Moren Square Diner. in Fitchburg.

Massachusetts and this thing is awesome. and the genuine article and they serve. you know like diner food but updated and. um not fancy but you know it's just sort. of a a more modern telling like there's. some vegan options and it's from local. farms just sort of elevated diner food. right so go say hi to Ember yeah hey. Ember and the diner I I know where I'll. be eating next time I'm in Fitchburg I. know where is Fitchburg I don't know but. what's the name of it again tell.

everybody so they can go the uh Moren. square or for all I know it's the Moran. Square Diner m o r n okay that's great. um yeah thanks to to Olia for helping us. with this one thanks to her um family. members for keeping the diner thing. going and really chuck if you want to. thank anybody I feel like we have to. thank Walter Scott let's do it so Walter. Scott the reason we're thanking him is. he is a printer from Providence Rhode. Island and this was at the time where.

people who were in one profession could. um break into completely other. professions it's just what they did back. then in the 19th century not like today. no not like today you like keep your. head down and stay in your lane that's. what you do that's right um so Walter. Scott decided that um there was a whole. Market that was being missed that there. were people who worked the late shift. and when they were either going into or. coming off of that shift the restaurants. weren't open there was nowhere for them.

to get food they didn't have cafeteras. at work they were totally SED you know. mhm so he said I'm going to start. selling food to these people and the. best way to do that is to just sell it. out of a a horse and carriage basically. yeah which was essentially a food truck. uh they called him lunch wagons and he. got uh he got copped pretty quick or. imitated I guess mhm uh because people. you know back then ingenuity and. starting new business was all the rage.

so there a guy named Sam Jones who said. all right I'm going to start up my own. late night food truck wagon right uh I'm. going to name it the owl it's going to. be in what's the mass and Walter Scott. was like ah I hadn't thought of naming. it yeah it's pretty good name too for a. late night eery for sure and that was. imitated and people you know it was a. viable business all of a sudden uh Jones. expanded his own Enterprise in. 1887 by saying hey go ahead and make one. of these that actually has a kitchen and.

maybe a few spots at a counter where you. can eat yeah uh no no servers yet at. this point um it's just like people got. their food through a window and then he. started adding more and more carts and. then he moved to Springfield added more. carts there and it was a legit business. at that point yeah so between 1872 and. by in 1891 the concept had been born. added upon and then was patented in 1891.

by a guy named Charles Palmer and. Charles Palmer bought Sam Jones's. Worcester setup when Sam Jones moved to. Springfield and he he's the one who. patented it he said I don't know why you. didn't do this but I'm going to patent. it and his design was extremely simple. but he added a counter so now there was. a separation between the kitchen and. where you sat inside the dining area in. like in the actual um Diner um he added. those windows or at least he patented. those windows that you handed food to.

other people who were just taking it to. go um just the barest minimum of an idea. he went and patented it but it. eventually became diners and what's. interesting is the reason it became. diners was not from like um some normal. Evolution it was from social pressures. instead that basically took these mobile. food trucks and said hey take the wheels. off of those things guys. yeah uh yeah well what happened was you. know this this was such a viable.

business model for people opening these. and this is what happens a lot of times. with early um sort of Innovations is. then you innovate around it so companies. that manufactured uh like buildings and. things and uh as you will see railroad. cars they saw that people were doing. this in little structures and they said. well we're going to start manufacturing. these little food wagons and just. selling them to people these boxes on. Wheels with little kitchens yeah and. maybe we'll make them kind of cool.

looking on the outside and paint them so. they're aesthetically pleasing and we. can ship them we can ship them on trains. uh they're small enough at this point. where you can put them on a truck if you. need to and uh there were three big. Builders of these at the time the. Worcester lunch car uh and carriage Car. and Carriage manufacturing company this. is a Massachusetts and then there was. one in New Jersey called the Jerry om. Mahoney company and then the PJ tyrany. company in New York building these sort. of made to order uh little restaurants.

that you can just plop down and start. working on yeah and like you said the. Marin Square Diner Olivia's um relatives. Diner um in Fitchburg they redid or re. refurbished a Worcester lunch Car and. Carriage Manufacturing Company prefab. yeah and number 765 yeah there are some. still around not just from that company. but it seems like there's a lot of Jerry. om Mahon still around and in operation. like they they built these things solid. um as a matter of fact one of them I. think it might have been PJ tyranny said.

if there's something wrong with it or. your your thing starts coming apart put. it back on a train ship it to us we'll. tune it up and send it back to you which. I mean and then he was like nobody's. going to do that no exactly like I can't. imagine anyone took him up on it I mean. what a pain that would be but it kind of. goes to show like they stood behind. their craftsmanship and and just the. fact that these things have been around. for hundred years some of them haven't. even been refurbished um yeah that that. you know they did a good job making them.

I guess is what I'm trying to say yeah. absolutely uh and then kind of what you. were talking about in the early 20th. century you know you start parking these. lunch wagons everywhere a couple of. things are going to happen um. restaurants nearby are going to say hey. wait a minute what the heck these people. can just move all over town and serve. wherever they want that's no that's no. good for us and then people uh that. lived in these towns and some of them. they're like I don't I don't like these. things moving all over the place and. parking on the street so they just.

started to park it where they were and. just serve food from one place and in. 1913 uh with the Jerry o Mahoney company. um they started producing sort of the. same thing a prefab restaurant but this. time they were made to just sit there. right um they were about 26 feet long. which is really specific right yeah it. was very specific uh and uh I think.

jerio Mahoney I think it was no Patrick. tyrany was the one who who took this. idea when they started making them. stationary and was like let's dress. these up a little bit so like if you. look at some of the old ones that are. still around like they have like hand. laid tile the wood sometimes has like. carvings in it um they're pretty neat. they're they're very cool look and they. look super 1920s even I think there's. one called Casey's I can't remember. where it is I think it'll come up later. where like that the light fixtures are. original to it too but this whole thing.

was like it was a diner that came to you. the diner owner on a train car and then. was taken to your location and set up. and you would hook water up to it and. gas up to it bring in your appliances. and just open your doors and start. serving hash browns I guess or the very. least. hash yeah that's how you made your. initial money I think uh so the deal. with why they're called diners is very. simple it's because they were shipped on.

these trains uh in order to fit on the. trains they were shaped like railroad. cars and they essentially were modeled. after railroad dining car so they called. them diners like the diner car yeah on a. train and they uh you know were um sort. of smoothly curved for aerodynamics and. like you said tyranny came along and. added some like Chrome and this is in. the 1930s when that art deco thing was. was happening and so that's why you know.

the diners the sort of the Classic Diner. that you think of has that Chrome look. and neon and these padded uh benches and. built-in booths is all modeled after. these cool trains and their dining cars. at the time well if I remember correctly. from our uh Googy episode though that. streamline M look um yeah that that you. think of with the Classic Diner that was. modeled on the trains of the time I. think the trains were actually modeled. on on ships I think the ships were the.

ones that originally oh really had that. look yeah and then it was taken from. that for buildings and trains and diners. eventually yeah and you may have been. thinking of Mickey's uh because liia. listed Mickey's Diner in St Paul. Minnesota it's one of the OM Mahoney. ones and just do yourself a favor and. look this thing up at some point if. you're listening because uh the Mickey's. Diner in St Paul is beautiful and. gorgeous and a kind of a perfect. quintessential example of these shipped.

uh prefab restaurants I think I think. the one I'm talking about is Casey's. Diner and ntic. Massey okay I think that's the one. they're all gorgeous though they are and. that's the one that still has like um. hand laid tile and it looks like the. original um like light fixtures and all. that there's still some PE in the toilet. from the very first customer like it is. authentic should we take a break I think. so now all right somebody at Casey's.

needs to go SC grab that toilet and. we'll be right. [Music]. [Applause]. [Music]. back you should. know. so we have like a a oh we're back by the.

way Chuck just FYI I know it's been a. minute since we we've. recorded but um uh the the kind of view. that we have of diners today is set in. time as we'll see and it's set in a. certain period of time but prior to that. there was a pretty different view of. diners and it was um that it was like. basically a working man's place to get. grub and that very much grew out of. where diners originated they served food.

grub to working men um and you didn't. have to basically be particularly. gential or mannerly um to go to a diner. so diners started to get reputations as. places where you know if you a middle. class man or a woman of any kind uh you. would probably steer clear of diners up. until about World War II that's the. reputation that they had even as cool as. they looked you didn't really go there.

unless you were like a blue collar dude. essentially there were of course people. who who would kind of break custom and. go but for the most part that's kind of. what they regarded as that kind of place. like um like a dve and Busters today. right you know what my beef with Dave. and Busters is when was the last time. you went in one or have you ever oh I. have it's been a really long time there. aren't enough just regular arcade games. mhm everything is weird now like they.

giant yeah they'll have like a Pac-Man. but it's on a 15ft screen or uh they. just need an area you know a little bit. for the for Our Generation who are. taking children and stuff to where you. know Dad wants to play little Galaga and. Dad can't yeah I'm totally with you man. anyway uh kids love him though they. don't they don't know what a galaa is no. they're. dumb so um the menus at this time were.

uh not the most expansive um I know. diners these days are kind of known like. you go into a good Greek diner and. there's like nine you can pages of. things you can get a pot roast or you. can get an omelette uh but back then it. was kind of grab and go or you would eat. kind of quick cuz you got to get back to. your shift or if you didn't have to get. back to your shift you just ate and kind. of hung around and maybe gambled a. little bit or something like that shot. CS at the local Diner yeah probably uh. but it was like you know what you would. imagine like eggs and you know stuff.

like that that's real satisfying maybe a. sandwich uh but pretty limited uh they. were generally owned uh and frequented. at the time by second generation maybe. first generation European immigrants so. you might also find some some sort of uh. local to their place in Europe um stuff. like you might find spaghetti or a. goulash or something like that along. with some American style stuff yeah that. so the fact that you can find the best. baklava in America at diners is follows.

in that tradition because so many diners. are owned by Greek immigrant families. yeah well should we go ahead and talk. about that yeah why not because um. apparently there was a point in time if. it's not still going on where Greek. immigrants basically ran the show as far. as diners went in the entire United. States yeah I think uh there Livia found. one source that said 90% of Diner owners. in the US uh were Greek and not only. that they were from the island of carpos.

or carpos I'm not sure how they. pronounce it I'm going with carpos. carpos what I say pathos carpos I think. that's where balky came from. okay uh and there were a couple of waves. of these uh immigrations um the early. 20th century they would own coffee shops. in Greek. neighborhoods uh but the diners that. we're thinking of today happened after. an influx of Greek immigrants in. 1965 and like a lot of um businesses uh.

sort of where you might think like boy. it seems like a lot of people from this. country run this kind of business it's. because they come here they run it their. family works there and then the son or. daughter maybe splinters off and opens. one and their some of their family might. come over and cousins and work there. right and it's just it's a family. business and it expands uh in such a way. where all of a sudden 90% of them are. Greek diners yeah it also explains that. um those coffee cups that were huge in.

the late 20th century in New York that. were blue with white lettering and kind. of like a classic Greek style because. the Greeks own the diners it's just as. simple as that which I know the Broadway. Diner that used to be here in Atlanta MH. um that was definitely owned by Greek. people there's one. on not hul bridge what's the other. Bridge that's down off of pedmont that. ches chesher bridge I can't remember the. name of that Diner but that's owned by.

Greek people these are like Prime. quality diners too by the way but I. don't think I've been in a diner that. didn't at least show its Greek Roots by. offering like baklava or Euros or. something like that and maybe even my. life I don't think I've been in a diner. that wasn't a chain that wasn't owned. clearly by a Greek family yeah so that. 90% checks out I guess is what I'm. trying to say anecdotally at least. I agree uh so post World War II we kind.

of brought you up to World War II and. what it was like post WW2 brought all. kinds of changes to America of a couple. of which were really important as far as. diners were concerned uh one was people. you know there was a sort of an economic. boom so people had a little bit more. money to eat out at restaurants uh which. wasn't a huge thing prior to that and. the other thing that happened was. Suburbia kind of started happening. uh which included one families moving to.

Suburbia and two big um you know. facilities and factories and plants in. Suburbia but they had their own. cafeterias right so their markets were. sort of declining in one way but at the. same time um these middle class families. started coming out and they wanted to. eat in these diners and so they made. changes to sort of accommodate for that. yeah they were so lucky because their. Market just bottomed out like almost. overnight after the war and the fact.

that they were able to just kind of. adapt and change their whole jam and be. successful again that's hats off to them. but the way that they were um able to. kind of find another Market was that. those families that had more money to. eat out and interestingly I hadn't. thought about this but a lot of women. entered the workforce for the first time. in World War II and after the war a lot. of them stayed in the workforce like the. this this this custom had been broken. and there was a new um social acceptance. of women working it was more socially.

accepted than it was before and if. you're working every day you probably. don't want to cook every day so now not. only does your family have the money to. go eat out you have a great incentive to. go eat out if you're the mom too like. let's go eat out somewhere but you don't. want to spend all of your money every. time you go out so diners kind of moved. to the suburbs and said Tada and open. their doors and those families with a. little extra money and working moms came. to eat there that's right uh and I'm. going to go ahead and stop people.

emailing to say Josh you missed a great. joke opportunity oh what was it well. when you said hats off you probably. should have said my fezzes off to. you they don't wear fezzes in Greece. isn't it Greek no that's Northern. African like Moroccan Moroccan or. something or. Tunisian okay I think you're thinking of. Shriners and there may be some Greek. Shriners I'm not sure but in Greece they. wear those little uh kind of caps almost. like a sailor it's a cross between a.

news boy cap and a sailor's cap. Captain's Cap okay do you know what I'm. talking about look up Greek Greek. cap well you know what I just looked up. Fez is Moroccan but it's actually. ancient Greek at origin that seems like. a pretty wild technicality if you ask me. it is because it's probably not. associated with gree but look at the. Greek cap you'll know exactly what I'm. talking about we wait but I bet there's. a name for it right the the Greek. cap it doesn't have a I don't know oh.

yeah like a Greek Fisherman's cap yes. exactly that's exactly what I mean. that's what you would find somebody. wearing at a diner who worked there yeah. a skipper cap or a Breton cap okay so. there you go so I I tip my Breton. cap where were we oh we were talking. about uh women all of a sudden being. like hey I don't have to cook all these. meals that's great right and then the. the diner moved to the suburbs and found. like a whole new market yeah and the. other thing that they did to help sort. of you know they kind of cleaned up.

their act a little bit Yeah and said Hey. listen you guys maybe don't gamble. inside the restaurant uh they started uh. all of a sudden there were servers like. they wanted to make it a more you know. full restaurant kind of um uh experience. so you don't even have to get up and go. get the plates of food now we're going. to have people serving them to you they. like yeah domesticate them and and. teenagers all of a sudden was like okay. we can go hang out at the diner after. school or like these things are open.

light at night if we're up to no good we. can go by the diner and you know and. pour a little whiskey into our soda pop. so also and another thing that. domesticated the those uh diners was. that those servers were in large part. women the new servers that had been. brought on board were women and that. signaled to families like hey this is a. safe place like if I'm safe to work here. you're safe to eat here hun right you. know yeah is what they would say. yeah uh these were still prefab uh.

restaurants for the most part even. postwar but they added more windows uh. they added like sort of that pastel. color theme that you see in diners came. along then yes sometimes mirrored. ceilings for yeah tile for mic counters. that's that. 1950s kind of look uh because they had. to all of a sudden you know cars were. zooming by in the road and they had to. get people's attention right to stop and. eat so the diners had to look you know. cooler and that's kind of where that.

Googy thing come in you might have a. cool Googy sign right so a car would go. wow I got to stop there right so the. image that you have of diners like. popular diners that you see in like a. movie like Greece or something like that. or happy days or whatever that was um. it's solidified to this era the Suburban. Post World War II Diner the image that. we have of diners is like the classic. thing yeah um still mainly a Northeast. Affair but uh starting around the. 50s uh and end of the 60s is when they.

tried to expand west and south and it. didn't go quite like it did in the. Northeast in the South um I think people. Associated diners with the Northeast and. and the war of Northern aggression I. think still too well sure and just there. was you know in the south at the time. where there were just a lot of things. where it was like oh you know that's how. the Northerners do it and we don't do. things that way so that we didn't have. diners down here like they did up there. no not in classic style but diners in.

everything but name were here pretty. early on I think Waffle House started in. 1955 and I'm sure there were diners that. like Silver Skillet has to have started. before the 50s it is old The Majestic. yes old so I mean we had things they. just weren't prefab they didn't look. like trains necessarily although some. did or had some qualities like that they. just didn't call them diners out here. because diners were. y yeah that's pretty much exactly right.

right uh well we can go ahead and talk. about Waffle House because they kind of. figure in uh in the. 1950s these new places these new chains. started popping up that you know you may. not call it a diner but something like. Denny's opened in California 1953. originally Danny's Donuts and morphed. into Denny's and Denny's and IHOP which. was in 1958 also in the LA area area. they're both essentially diners and even.

in kind of how they look on the inside. and the things they serve and the spirit. Waffle House is a diner like kind of. Full Stop uh they even I don't think. they're prefab but like I think opening. a waffle house is is like this kit in a. box built yeah yeah I mean but they they. have like all of the classic trappings. of a diner there's the kitchen area. that's separated by a counter that. people.

Boo Boo Boo seating a diner Innovation. from way back and you know there's a. door that separates the booth that you. come in like this is a diner it's a. diner expensive food exact yeah exactly. that can may or may not give you. dissenter um oh no no no I love Waffle. House dude I waffle house the other day. and it was not good I did too and that's. the first time I've eaten there in years. where where what did you have and where. did you go and why I was on in Smyrna.

okay I went because I hadn't been in a. while and I was craving um. scattered and covered hash browns okay. and it was just gross I don't know if. I've changed or this particular Waffle. House was bad I don't know but it was a. gross experience for for me like gross. well I'm sorry to hear that because I. think one thing Waffle House is known. for is their remarkable consistency of. like the food is kind of exactly the.

same at all of them okay sorry I don't I. don't mean the food the food was. generally fine I mean like watching a. cook drop something on the floor and. just pick it up and use it toook it. stuff like that like there was a seat. that had inexplicably had like a trash. bag over it and some tape uh at the. counter like it was just a gross Scene. It had like all Waffle Houses have that. just structural grease that is never. been cleaned that is holding the place. together like glue and for some reason.

this one was just grosser than than the. normal Waffle House's grease structure. all right well I had a great experience. I actually went to Waffle House with our. friend John Hodgman oh yeah where'd you. go which one well uh I somehow and this. might chock some people who know about. John I managed to get him uh to the camp. and he went camping yeah before his. Atlanta show and then after the camp on. the way back to Atlanta we stopped at. one in you know North Georgia so that's.

like a more real deal experience Waffle. House than you could probably imagine I. think also they probably keep theirs. cleaner because there are very few. places to eat out so they kind of take. pride in what they got yeah it was good. I had a a egg sandwich and uh some hash. browns and John a nice split little. country ham oh boy it was good you were. being bad but boy I used to go there a. lot late night in college that was the.

thing uh yeah no I I loved Waffle House. in high school always has a place in my. heart I was just very disappointed that. well that's why you went there it's. entirely possible that I I have become. more of a germaphobe than I was in high. school I think you and I should hit one. up at some point and uh but if I'm just. sitting there and like don't touch. anything well no it's me you can be the. gauge of whether it's me or not uh just. to put a button on this the very first. Waffle House you mentioned in 195 5 5. that open in Evendale Estates which is. just a few minutes from where I live and.

there is a uh a restored uh a sort of. original Waffle House I guess it was the. original Waffle House theyve restored as. kind of a museum but I don't know if. it's ever open I think you can do events. there but it's it's never open so I'm. not even sure what the deal is very. strange though the World of Coke having. like the coke fountains but nothing. comes out of. them uh so just to button this whole. thing up about like dunny's and IHOP and. Waffle House yeah they were diners but.

they were diners that you knew what you. were getting no matter where you were in. the country because they were chains um. and they really gave locally owned. diners like the real deal diners a run. for their money um and almost squished. them out of existence so too did fast. food chains that were coming up about. the same time Southern California almost. killed the diner essentially is what. we're what we're saying by spitting out. IHOP Denny's um fast food stuff like.

McDonald's and I think Taco Bell um but. thanks to that 50s Nostalgia of the 70s. yeah like Greece Happy Days um. shaan yeah exactly shaana I can't think. of any other examples but it was a big. deal back then they love the 50s in in. the late 70s it managed to like rescue. the diner and basically revive it and. get keep it alive just enough so that. you could make a living again as a a.

family a Greek family apparently owning. a diner and just you know cooking great. diner food totally should we take a. break I think we should all right uh. we'll call this the the post Waffle. House. [Music]. [Applause]. break.

[Music]. all right now I can think about is. setting Waffle House right in your mind. again well we'll go it's not like that. that was its last chance I won't be. going back to that one again but um it. sounded like you were kind of like I. don't know why would I even risk it. again no no I I think it could could be. that location okay.

fantastic that one's dead to you we. should go to the one over near me where. Kid Rock got in a fist fight man that. guy uh oh the other thing we didn't. mention about Waffle House which is they. are open 24/7. 365 and FEMA actually uses uh what's. called The Waffle House Index uh where. where in if there's a natural disaster. in the area if the Waffle House actually. is closed then they will say that there. will like even the Waffle House is. closed which means we're in real trouble.

yeah like things are really bad there. cuz the waffle house does not close I. had a Thanksgiving there once when I was. alone oh yeah how was it you know it. was fine and kind of fun and kitchy but. then also a little lonely and sad yeah. as you imagine see that but also it's. like one of those situations where you. you connect with the people that you're. surrounded by strangers that you meet. way more than under normal circumstances. that can be pretty Gra if Ying in and of. itself oh yeah I still keep in touch.

with uh with Butch and trucky and uh Kid. Rock flim Flim Flam and Kid Rock and all. those people flimflam huh what's Flim. Flam about flimflam he's he was a brick. layer oh okay I know that guy he's a. good guy did he go to Georgia State he. said he lays a heck of a brick too yeah. I know Flim. Flam uh so the uh the tie between the. Diner and just sort of um pop culture.

and politics is one that's always been. around uh even back in the very. beginning Livia found this article from. 1896 from the Boston Morning Journal. where they talked about uh it was a. place where the fashional gentle. gentleman could rub elbows with the. homeless itinerant but you know it was. always just sort of like this is. authentic America where all kinds of. people can get together uh and that is. why it became a stop for many. politicians when they were in town to. maybe go to the local Diner uh wherever.

they were when they stopped in a town. when they were on the uh the campaign. Trail but certainly some diners have. distinguished themselves as you have to. come here basically if you're. campaigning for office it's interesting. there's one in particular called the Red. Arrow Diner it's in Manchester in New. Hampshire and it was uh Bill Clinton who. put it on the map uh at least the. campaign map um he apparently he lost. pretty bad Iowa I can't remember Tom. Harkin that's right was his one of his.

um who Tom Harkin he was a senator from. Iowa so he TRS Clinton and everybody. else in Iowa at the caucus but um. Clinton made a huge comeback by getting. really like on the ground and shaking. hands and kissing babies and one of the. ways that he did that was going to. diners and one of the diners that for. some reason or another stuck was the Red. Arrow Diner and um it became tradition. like when you go through New Hampshire. if you're running for president in the. United States you go to the Red Arrow.

Diner you have a a press op there you go. meet a few people you eat some pancakes. or something and you leave but you have. to do it you can't not do it which is. pretty cool but the thing that surprised. me is this is this actually goes a. little further back than 1992 was Jimmy. Carter who first was like man I want to. portray that I'm going to the people. where are the people and then he thought. a diner specifically the chat and chew. which is the worst name for any. restaurant ever in the history of.

civilization yeah I don't know if that's. going to track in tananda New York it. should be the chat then. chew right or The Chew then chat don't. do both at the same time right or maybe. The Chew quietly swallow and then when. you think of something interesting to. say chat I like that new better yeah. that's good uh yeah Jimmy Carter uh it's. been a thing ever since then uh diners. have always popped up in pop culture uh. there's a few. notable instances uh one of course is. the Edward Hopper painting from 1942.

nigh Hawks uh which is that classic. painting of the diner on the corner and. uh you know all kinds of people have. been painted into that painting since. then yeah I had that poster the. Boulevard of Broken Dreams yeah was it. Marilyn Monroe and uh James Dean yep and. Bogey and Elvis is behind the counter. working for some reason oh okay I don't. know why bogey would be included in that. he was fine he had a great fulfilling. nice life no broken dreams not one from.

what I understand uh there was the movie. Diner of course Barry levenson's movie. from uh 1982 great movie um set around. the these dudes and uh 1959 Baltimore. and sort of that Diner culture of. hanging out and you know up to no. goodness apparently that um that movie. in particular but I think Barry. levenson's work in general inspired. Quenton Tarantino know his whole banter. thing that he's so well known for. apparently comes from Barry levenson had.

no idea oh yeah yeah yeah oh Tarantino. has a lot of Diner stuff the reservoir. dogs opening scene y uh I don't tip that. whole classic scene a lot of barely. scripted banter in all of his movies. yeah which is heavily scripted so um God. that'd be so hard to do well I mean yeah. Breton cap off to the actors in. Tarantino movies who can memorize that. stuff and regurgitate it without making. it seem like it's lines you know yeah uh.

the great Diner in Pulp Fiction of. course is the Hawthorne Grill in La uh. which is now an Auto Zone that's sad but. um what about the Marti Cafe in North. Ben Washington which stood in as the dou. r Diner in Twin Peaks classic it is a. classic Diner so much so that you're. like that's kind of a cruddy Diner like. that's how well they nailed it yeah big. time uh I think they they shot the pilot. in the actual uh North Bend location and.

then they moved to a Sound Stage for a. lot of the actual show uh and rebuilt. that Diner but then went back to the. real diner for the movie firew walk with. me right and I believe it was partially. burned down in 2000 and rebuilt but it. didn't look the same so in 2017 when. they uh when David Lynch came out with. the new Twin Peaks uh they actually paid. to restore that Diner to its original. appearance so they could film there. which is awesome yeah just goes to show.

you production companies get stuff done. yeah like when they rebuilt Avendale. Mall near me because Chuck Norris drove. a pickup through it in Invasion USA. that's amazing yeah um there's one. called Tom's well Tom's Restaurant I. think it's just called Tom's it's in um. Manhattan on Broadway and um if you've. ever watch Seinfeld that's what they use. as the establishing shot for their um. monks coffe shop I think right yeah and. the Susan Vegas song Tom's Diner is.

about Tom's as well oh suzan Vega yeah. you remember that. song I'm going until it's an. earworm well I will I will B you at the. same time we can drive people crazy by. me singing my name is Luca on top of all. right you ready no we can't do it should. we I I will if you want okay you ready. my name is LCA I live on the second.

floor it definitely makes Luca more. upbeat that devast yeah for sure it's a. it's not supposed to be upbeat for. sure uh we can mention Casey's because. you are correct that is in uh natic or. Massachusetts how you pronounce it's got. to be natic natic yeah totally okay and. that's supposedly the oldest Diner in. the United States that still a thing. yeah it started out as like a lunch.

wagon like with a horse attached to it. um from 1890 and then it became one of. those Worcester lunch car company models. from. 1922 and I guess they bought that and. replace the lunch wagon with it in 1927. it's been running ever since then that's. just amazing yeah absolutely uh and we. got to shout out New Jersey because. Jersey and when I lived there it was a. kid from the South who who only knew. Waffle House basically all I heard was.

Diner this and Diner that you know. whenever people are out let's go to the. diner let's meet at the diner I was like. what is it with you people in diners. because I didn't know about this culture. in the Northeast and uh New Jersey is I. believe still the. leading State for the number of diners. today yeah if you've ever watched. Sopranos it's set in New Jersey and. they're in diners like all the time yeah. 600 of the rough roughly 2,000 diners. still around are is according to.

smithsonia magazine are in New Jersey. and uh maybe the jio Mahoney company. being based there had something to do. with that but they love their diners in. joisy well there you go Jersey this. episode was for you that's right you got. anything else nah I don't either uh. since Chuck said nah and I said I don't. either that unlocked listener. mail okay I'm going to call this uh but. buttons buttons buttons uh we heard from. a lot of people about why buttons uh for.

traditionally for a man's garment and a. woman's garment on different sides I had. heard this but I forgot okay uh so. thanks to everyone who emailed in but. we're going with Sheila from decar. Georgia because she lives right down the. street Tada uh as a long time atlon and. ug Alum I love your show guys especially. when you reference Atlanta and Athens go. dogs uh regarding your mention of. buttons on on the opposite side women's. clothes have traditionally been made. with enclosures on the opposite of men's.

because of upper class Royal women. having assistance when getting dressed. therefore and uh people being. traditionally or not traditionally but. predominantly right-handed uh therefore. the buttons would be fastened by someone. on the other side uh of the person. wearing the clothes uh I guess with the. assumption that actually working the. button with your right hand is more. intuitive and easier uh your left hand. your non-dominant hand so more. right-handed people means men were.

dressing themselves with a button on the. right and women were dressed by other. women with their buttons on the left. that's. fascinating who is that who wrote that. Suzanne Vega that was suzan Vega that. was Sheila Sheila Vega Suzanne's sister. thanks a lot Sheila we appreciate that. from you and a lot of people wrode in So. yeah thank you to everybody like you. said um and if you want to be like. Sheila and the whole gang and write to. us and tell us something interesting. that we didn't know you can do it via.

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