Standard-Speaker from Hazleton, Pennsylvania • 29

Standard-Speaker Sunday C7 A It .1 -J if -1 Two classic diners by that name the second opening afterthe fir5Lhadxlosed-were4Gcated on opposite sides of busy North Church Street in the days when people traveled through the city instead of around it. The original diner remains in use today as a restaurant in Monroe County. i December 2, 2001 TT 'Tlx (C )( N)fN 1 oli The original Sunset Diner had the classic interior of a 1930s O'Mahoney. This diner was moved to Kresgeville, where through the years it has been incorporated into a larger restaurant, also called the Sunset Diner. found the diner closed one Christmas, which was the only day it closed.

After that, my father made sure there was food for him every holiday." Josephine said that her youngest son, Ralph, donned an apron at age 5 and cleared r-r-; said. "There was a long table at one end of the diner and that was reserved for meetings. Back then, tiiere were a lot of political meetings held there." The busiest time of the year, Josephine said, was the second week of October. "A lot of people going to the Poconos to look at the leaves would stop in for something to eat," she said. "People would say their friends told them to stop.

Another busy time was hunting season and we always had a lot of business on Mother's Day." Being a 24-hour operation, the diner employed 23 people, including three cooks. "I often had to go in when somebody didn't show up for work," Josephine said. Joseph remembers the diner as having a "family" atmosphere. "There used to be a lot of miners coming in for breakfast," he said. "People adopted the place and would plan on being there for the holidays.

I remember a forester that came in every day to eat and he was disappointed when he vice is now right where the recapping section is," said Bunny Monticello, daughter of former owners Mike and Emma Council. "At that time, there were small gas stations on either side of the diner." According to Monticello, the diner was brought to Hazleton from New Jersey in 1937. During that time, most diners were equipped for cooking behind the counter and in full view of the customers, a tradition that virtually disappeared after 1940, thus ending the era of the "front man." "For a time, my dad used to cook breakfast on the grill behind the counter," she said. "Then, he built a kitchen on the back and after that, all cooking was done there." Monticello vividly recalls that the outside of the original diner was white, with the name in large black letters. Inside, the terrazzo floor was black and white and there were four booths.

She said it had a front and side door and the walls around the booths were mirrored. The rest of the interior was stainless steel. "It was so neat," Monticello said. "It looked like a trolley car on the outside. There were pie cases on the counter.

It was so immaculate we really worked hard to keep it clean." Like many others who went into the business, Monticelio's parents started by working in another diner, in this case the Blue Comet. After learning the ropes, they purchased the Sunset and struck out on their own. On opening night, Monticello said, the featured dinner was a turkey platter, which cost a quarter. "It's funny when you think about how the prices have changed over the years," she said. In the 1950s, the original Sunset Diner was traded for another unit, this one a modern stainless steel Silk City built by the Paterson Vehicle Co.

of Paterson, N.J. The first diner was moved to Kresgeville, Monroe County, where it opened as the Sunset and has since been absorbed into a larger restaurant bearing that name. Diners evolved from lunch wagons and by the early part of the 20th century they were appearing in many towns and cities, mostly in the northeast. By RICHARD W. FUNK richfstandardspeaker.com he interstate highway system has drastically changed the way people travel and what was a long journey 50 years ago, is often a short drive today.

But while the limited-access roads have made travel easier, the transition didn't come without a price and much of the flavor of the road has been lost in the name of speed and efficiency. Today's secondary roads were often yesterday's major highways and it was along these routes that amenities for travelers and truckers could usually be found in abundance, usually at the edges of towns and cities. Full-service gas stations, motels, cabin courts and what was perhaps the most recognizable icon of the road the diner all served the motoring public. Often, large neon signs would let travelers know that just under or behind the shimmering lights could be found all necessary comforts for the road-weary. Although diners appeared to be similar, each had individuality and within the porcelain or stainless steel walls existed a part of Americana that has largely been replaced by fast -food outlets.

Diners catered to almost everybody truck drivers needing a bite to eat after long hours on the road, families on a trip, traveling salesmen hungering for "home-style" cooking and an endless stream of regular patrons who wouldn't think of going through a day without stopping at their favorite diner. Before interstates 80 and 8 1 made Hazleton the "Crossroads of America," the city was on a major north-south route from Philadelphia to Wilkes-Barre and on to New York state. Then, as now, travelers were greeted by the large neon sign of the Blue Comet Diner on the south side of the city, while the Sunset Diner held reign on North Church Street. Through the years, two diners bore the name "Sunset," the original being almost direcdy across the street from its larger and newer replacement. "The original Sunset Diner was where Tranguch Tire Ser The first Sunset was reported to have been built by the Jerry O'Mahoney Co.

of Elizabeth, N.J., an early pioneer in the diner manufacturing industry. The firm operated from 1913 until 1946. Hazleton was home to another O'Mahoney-built eatery, the Mulrain Brothers Diner, a 1920s model that was at 44 E. Broad St. Little information is available on this early diner and no photographs could be located.

However, according to the 192930 city directory for Hazleton, this diner was owned and operated by Howard F. and Christopher Mulrain. If this diner were still to exist, it would be the oldest surviving O'Mahoney in the country, joining Ted's Diner in Milford, Mickey's Dining Car, a circa 1937 in St. Paul, and Max's Grill in Harrison, N.J. When the second Sunset Diner arrived in town, it was placed on the west side of North Church Street, at the corner of 22nd Street, where a Rite-Aid Pharmacy now stands.

In June 1961, this diner was purchased by Josephine and the late Edmund "Demo" Ferdinand, and the couple operated the establishment for the next 12 years. At 87, Josephine has many happy memories of the years she and her husband operated the 24-hour diner. "Oh, we had a good business there," she said. "The night we opened we had New England fried clams for $1 a platter!" Her son, Hazleton attorney Joseph R. Ferdinand, also remembers the night his family opened the diner.

"The grand opening was on a Friday night," he recalled. "I remember coming back from Angela Park and being excited. When I got there, the place was mobbed Jhey had people waiting outside." When the Ferdinands pur Ail chased the Sunset, it was already in operation and Josephine said she and her husband were able to "just walk in and start the business." Having classic diner decor, the Sunset's floor was covered with gray and blue tiles, while the booths were pink. At the counter, maroon stools sat on stainless steel bases and blue tiles with a gray border covered the front of the counter, which was gray and white. "There was recessed lighting above the windows," Josephine said.

"The ceiling was curved and there were jukeboxes on every table. It was a job keeping all the stainless steel clean." A floor-model jukebox was at the north side of the diner, which also contained a tiny room for pinball machines. Unlike its predecessor, the new Sunset did not come from the factory with cooking facilities behind the counter and all food was prepared in the kitchen, which was a block addition at the rear of the diner. Like most diners of the period, the Sunset had a clock mounted above the swinging doors that led to the kitchen. With front and rear lots that could accommodate 30 cars, Josephine and her son said parking was never a problem.

In the front was a large neon sign that said, "Ferdinand's Sunset Diner." "We had a big business with truckers," Josephine said. "A lot of the trucks that stopped were from out of state." She recalled that in the early days, coffee was 10 cents a cup and pie cost 25 cents a slice. A bacon-and-egg breakfast was 25 cents. "People loved our milk shakes," she commented. Although most diners catered primarily to travelers, it wasn't just people passing through that patronized the Sunset.

"It was a gathering place for a lot of local people," Josephine have had futuristic designs and large neon signs. Kullman Industries Inc. of Avenel, N.J., also continues the business it started in 1927. Kullman was the first diner manufacturer to revive stainless steel in the 1980s and in recent years has built many in the classic style. The Valentine Manufacturing Co.

of Wichita, was the only significant diner tables. "He got some tips, too," she said. Although almost 30 years have passed since the Ferdinands served their last meal in the Sunset Diner, Joseph still meets people who talk about the place. The Sunset Diner closed in 1973. The structure then housed the Pizza City restaurant until it was destroyed by fire a few years later.

A Mister Donut shop occupied the site until Rite Aid was built. In recent years, several firms have been purchasing ana restoring oia diners and finding a solid market both in .1 I 1 1 1 Other businesses specialize in converting old restaurants to the "diner" look. "I'm glad diners are coming back in popularity," Josephine Ferdinand said. the most famous diner styles to have ever hit the market. The oldest surviving diner in the area is the Tamaqua Diner, a barrel-roof eatery created by the Bixler Co.

in the early 1930s. A second, non-diner dining room was added, making it appear like two diners were joined together. On the Internet: http:www.dinercity.com 0 fli vfZ This Silk City model diner served as the second Sunset Diner, and was located on the opposite side of North Church Street as the first. At left is a representative of the manufacturer, Paterson Vehicle as he congratulates John Butala and Emma Maholick Council. diners was specialty of several companies builder outside the northeast and operated from 1938 to 1974.

Valentine diners were different from others, in that the firm built small, boxy buildings. One of the most distinctive diner styles ever was built by Sterling Diners of Merrimac, Mass. Although only in business from 1936 until 1942, their "streamliner" model was made to look like a streamlined railroad car and is one of Building By RICHARD W. FUNK rich(standardspeakercom Through the years, the word diner has been applied to a variety of restaurants, truck stops, small roadside eateries and even ice cream stands. However, according to the Internet site, Diner City, most agree that for a diner to be a diner, it has to be a prefabricated structure, with built-in counter, stools, windows and stainless steel.

Webster's Dictionary defines diner as "a restaurant in the shape of a railroad car." According to the Web site, many people mistakenly believe that all diners are converted railroad or trolley cars. This, however, was not the case, and most diners were built by several manufacturers, with the "golden age" between 1930 and 1960. Building diners since 1913, the Jerry O'Mahoney Co. introduced stainless steel exteriors in the late 1940s. The last diner built by the firm, Philadelphia's Mayfair Diner, rolled off the assembly line of the Elizabeth, N.J.

plant in 1956. Nearby, the Sunrise Diner, in Jim Thorpe is a 1951 O'Mahoney creation. The Worcester Lunch Car Co. of Worcester, Mass. was an early pioneer in the industry and rode the diner tide from 19GB until 1961.

Many of its diners had a porcelain exterior and sported Gothic lettering. Worcester diner interiors were known for marble coun-tertops, stainless steel panels with the starburst pattern and hardwood booths. Silk City Diners were manufactured in Paterson, N.J. from 1927 until 1964. Two of I 4 I the firm's productions are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

New Jersey could be considered the capital of the diner industry. It is home to Paramount, in Oakland, which started business in 1932 and continues to build diners today. Earlier Paramount diners featured a curved roofline and rounded glass block corners. Locally, the White Haven Diner is a 1950s-era Paramount. Mountain View Diners of Singac, N.J., was in business from 1939 to 1957.

Hazleton's Blue Comet is a heavily remodeled 1957 model. This firm was known as a very aggressive marketer in the 1950s and its diners were shipped all over the country. It's interesting to note that are more Mountain View diners in northeastern Pennsylvania than any other brand. Bloomfield, N.J. was the home of the Fodero Dining Car which operated from 1933 until 1981.

One of the largest diners it made was the Ingle-side Diner in Thorndale, Pa. The Bowmanstown Diner, in Carbon County, is a 1952 Fodero with a Silk City dining room. The DfeRaffle Manufacturing Co. of New Rochelle, N.Y., is the largest surviving diner manufacturer, having started business in 1933. In recent years, diners built by this firm i in The Sunrise Diner in Jim Thorpe.