The American Diner: A Cultural Icon

Few things in the cultural landscape are instantly recognizable as quintessentially American: Elvis, apple pie, and the diner. In fact, it’s not unusual to find all three housed together in a chrome-trimmed roadside package. Although these mainstay eating establishments that dot big cities, rural outposts, and the highways in between have changed with the times, they retain an air of familiarity and a taste of home.

The American diner can be dismissed as an overwrought nostalgia ploy, a throwback to an erstwhile time, or a holdover from a bygone era that outlived its usefulness. But it is overlooked precisely because it is seamlessly woven into the fabric of America; taken for granted because, no matter where one finds oneself, there’s always a seat at the counter; and treasured so passionately because it acts as an anchor in a time when the country seems unmoored from its past.

The typical diner, as most Americans know it, harkens back to the 1950s, well over a half-century after Walter Scott refashioned a horse cart into a mobile lunch wagon to feed a burgeoning American working class in 1872. Its basic design underwent a few changes, often to reflect the evolving landscape of American society and the customers they served, from industrialization up through the 1920s, the Depression era of the ’30s, and the post-war boom of the 1940s and ’50s. Settling on the aesthetic of the mid-19th century, however, was pivotal in cementing the diner as an American cultural icon.

The diner pops up everywhere. One of Edward Hopper’s most recognizable paintings, “Nighthawks,” reflects the noir feel popular in film in the early 1940s. Later, Norman Rockwell would use the diner as the backdrop for many of his works featured in the Saturday Evening Post. Small town Lee, Massachusetts’ own Joe’s Diner was the inspiration for (and frequented by) Rockwell’s 1958 Post cover “The Runaway,” featuring a Massachusetts state trooper and young boy with a hobo bindle at his feet sitting side-by-side at a diner counter — a heartfelt depiction of the bond between law enforcement and the community that one would be hard-pressed to see, let alone celebrate today. Rockwell’s timeless appeal was in depicting common scenes of everyday life in America, frequently taking place in a diner. (READ MORE from Jenna Stocker: The Class Divide Is Killing the American Dream)

On both the big and small screens, diners provide the essential backdrop to depict the ordinary realism of everyday life. So, we have 1982’s Diner, Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, 90’s cult-classic Swingers, and the mystery-drama television series Twin Peaks, to name a few. The diner accomplishes this atmosphere through its relatability and familiarity. Nearly everyone has been the lonely heart nursing a breakup with a milkshake, turned off the highway for a bottomless cup of coffee during a road trip, or indulged in budding love and a slice of cherry pie nestled in the corner booth where time seemed to stand still. It’s a good thing many diners stay open late, if not 24 hours. We can imagine the story taking place around us because we have sat on similar vinyl-wrapped stools and exchanged smiles with familiar apron-clad waitresses.

Our own lives often play out in diners, whether it’s being a regular or having a first date. I was a waitress in a 1950s diner as a young woman. It only took me a few shifts to learn who the regulars were, what comprised the Blue Plate Special, and the art of small talk. It’s also where I met my husband, arguably my best customer. But in my time as a waitress and customer, there weren’t heated cultural arguments, and no one was turned away for his political views. We never had a sign that read, “All Are Welcome Here,” because it was implied. We had an American flag, and that was enough.

The diner is a stalwart reminder of what defines America: hard work, democratizer of men, and a humbleness that garners criticism from the cosmopolitan set. It is a gathering place for blue-collar workers and middle-class families alike. A place where you’re just as likely to sidle up to the counter elbow-to-elbow with a cross-country truck driver as with a New Jersey businessman commuting to New York City. David Lynch, the co-creator of Twin Peaks, says: “There’s a safety in thinking in a diner. You can have your coffee or your milkshake, and you can go off into strange dark areas, and always come back to the safety of the diner.”

And, for an extra helping of comfort, a slice of pie à la mode.

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