NJ Diner History Exhibit at Cornelius Low House Museum Opens this Sunday, April 12
Press Release:
Clifton author and historian Michael Gabriele will be a featured participant at “History of New Jersey Diners,” a major exhibition sponsored by the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission and the Middlesex County Museum/Cornelius Low House, located at 1225 River Rd., Piscataway, NJ.
The Cornelius Low House will host a gala grand-opening reception for the exhibit on Sunday, April 12, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend. The show runs through June 26, 2016 and features photos, paintings, artifacts, blueprints, and food, all of which will provide a comprehensive review of the colorful, 100-year history of the Garden State’s diner business. Call the museum at (732) 745-4177 for additional information.
Gabriele has been retained by the Middlesex County museum as a co-curator for the exhibit, contributing information and photos from his book, “The History of Diners in New Jersey,” which was published in September 2013 by The History Press. During the last 10 months he has worked with staff members at the Cornelius Low House to develop the show.
New Jersey is universally celebrated as “the diner capital of the world.” More than just places to stop for hamburgers and French fries, diners are a vibrant part of the state’s culture, history, commerce and mythology. Many classic, factory-built, stainless steel diners are friendly landmarks and architecturally significant structures in the state’s “built landscape”—iconic examples of American industrial design in the 20th century.
Since his book was first published 18 months ago, Gabriele has served a guest speaker at more than 50 libraries, book stores and historical societies located throughout the state. Last fall, he was a co-curator at Lambert Castle Museum for an exhibit on the Silk City Diner manufacturing business that was located in Paterson, from the late 1920s to the mid-1960s.
New Jersey is renowned as the “diner capital of the world.” The title refers to the vast number of diners that operate in the state (an estimated 600—more than anywhere else). Diners serve as friendly, familiar beacons on Garden State byways, highways and cities. The title also reflects the grand legacy of the many major U.S. diner manufacturers that once operated throughout the state during the 20th century. These small, trailblazing production companies—a list of that includes O’Mahony, Kullman, Fodero, Paramount, Silk City, Mountain View, Master, Swingle, and others—designed and built the vintage stainless steel eateries that are admired and loved throughout the world. A handful of New Jersey-built diners, located in other states, have been designated as National Historic Landmarks.
For over 90 years these New Jersey diner builders turned out thousands of prefabricated, modular architectural gems that were constructed as engineered products inside of factories, much like a car or a plane. These visionary manufacturers combined distinctive “modern” design concepts (“Streamline Moderne” structures that featured stainless steel exteriors and interiors, juke boxes and neon lights) with old-world skills and materials (terrazzo floors, marble counters, elegant wood and decorative tile).
As the diner business evolved to a preference for larger, site-built structures, one by one, all of New Jersey’s classic diner builders vanished, which signaled the end of an era. In addition, national, mass-market, fast-food chains crowded out many of the small, independent, family-owned diners.