Bel Aire is no more

Category: Latest News

Published on Wednesday, 14 March 2012 10:50

Written by Randy Garbin

In tribute to the now late-great Bel Aire Diner in Peabody, Massachusetts, here's a vintage postcard image of it taken soon after the Kallas family first installed it in 1954. Recent images taken just before it closed show that it held up extremely well and had changed very little. 

Jeffrey Neumann "disappears" into America

Category: Latest News

Published on Sunday, 20 November 2011 07:56

Written by Randy Garbin

Neumann Fine Art to Present "Road Trip, a journey into disappearing America" on Dec. 3rd.

Artist Jeffrey L. Neumann will be presenting a special gallery talk and exhibition focusing on the rapidly disappearing commercial landscape of 20th Century America on Saturday December 3, 2011 at Neumann Fine Art 65 Coldwater Street, Hillsdale, NY. Neumann's 30 minute interactive presentation, which tells the story behind his art, will begin at 3:00 sharp. Seating is limited. The gallery and studio will be open from 2:00 – 7:00 for this one-day-only event.

New Gutman lecture on menu at National Heritage Museum

Category: Latest News

Published on Thursday, 04 November 2010 12:46

Written by Randy Garbin

What Is It About Diners? More Than a Meal, That's for Sure

Saturday, November 20 at 2 pm

Free

Richard J. S. Gutman, director and curator of Johnson and Wales' Culinary Museum in Providence, RI, will speak about the exhibition, "Night Road: Photographs of Diners by John D. Woolf." He will elaborate on the staying power of the classic diner, based on 40 years of eating and research. Author of American Diners: Then and Now, Gutman is the leading authority on New England diner culture. The lecture is free, and is made possible by the Lowell Institute.

For more information, visit the museum's website here. 

New photo exhibit opening at National Heritage Museum

Category: Latest News

Published on Thursday, 04 November 2010 12:42

Written by Randy Garbin

Night Road: Photographs of Diners

by John D. Woolf

Opens November 6, 2010

Drawn to diners and other twentieth-century roadside architecture, photographer John Woolf embarked on a project of capturing images of these buildings—especially those in the Northeast industrial corridor from New Jersey to Maine. Twenty of these compelling photographs can be seen in the exhibition "Night Road."

Most of these structures combine signage—both lettered and neon-designed—to attract the attention of nocturnal travelers. As Woolf describes, "At night, with a mixture of the road's various artificial light sources, interior lights shining through highly visible windows, and eye-catching, garish neon signs, these buildings and their surroundings suggest a film-noir movie set photographed in Technicolor."

Using a digital camera and making multiple exposures for each light source and then combining them together in software, Woolf has tried to recreate the lurid color and dramatic lighting of these roadside structures. Digital photography enables this process, which would not be possible with a traditional film camera.

The popular architectural treasures highlighted in the photos date from an era when commercial buildings were more playful and symbolic than they are today. In the mid-1900s, builders constructed even common structures with a high level of craftsmanship and imagination. Some of these relics remain, and Woolf has captured them before they fade away.

For more information, visit the museum's website here.

Diner gets a visit from Hizzoner

Category: Latest News

Published on Sunday, 04 October 2009 08:33

Written by Randy Garbin

Watertown, Massachusetts -- The Governor of Massachusetts, Duval Patrick (seen at right with diner owner Don Levy) took time to have a bite to eat and do a little political talking with some guests and diner customers last Thursday at the renown Deluxe Town Diner, in Watertown. It was nice to be part of his busy day for Watertown. He had some of the diner's own "chicken soup," and must have enjoyed it, because he said he would be back for some of our blueberry pancakes he heard about.

We recommend the governor try the sweet potato pancakes instead. Congratulations to the Deluxe Town for still more time in the spotlight. Visit the diner's website here.