WEBVTT - Diners: The Most American Establishment?

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, everybody get this. Chuck and I will be back

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<v Speaker 1>on tour this January out in the Pacific Northwest. On

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<v Speaker 1>the twenty fourth of January, we'll be in Seattle at

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<v Speaker 1>the Paramount Theater and the next day, January twenty fifth,

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<v Speaker 1>will be in Portland, Oregon at our beloved Revolution Hall.

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<v Speaker 1>You can get tickets on pre sale right now use

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<v Speaker 1>our offer code sysk live or the promoter's offer code

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<v Speaker 1>true West, and then general sale tickets start Friday. We'll

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<v Speaker 1>see you guys in January.

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<v Speaker 2>Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's

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<v Speaker 1>Chuck and Jerry's here too, and this is Stuff you

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<v Speaker 1>should Know, the Greasiest of the Greasy Spoons edition.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right. May I have a moment at the top

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<v Speaker 2>here to speak to our layoff of last week that

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<v Speaker 2>no one even knows because the Stuff you should listener

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<v Speaker 2>were right on time.

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<v Speaker 1>I'll step aside into the wings as the spotlight zero's

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<v Speaker 1>in on you. Well.

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<v Speaker 2>First of all, I just wanted to thank everybody. My

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<v Speaker 2>my we lost our dog, Charlie. We had to put

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<v Speaker 2>our eldest Charlie to sleep last week, and so I

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<v Speaker 2>wanted to say thank you to all the people on

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<v Speaker 2>Instagram who were so kind, many many hundreds of people

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<v Speaker 2>commenting and many many thousands of people parting, and that always,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, helps out. But this was a tough one.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, we've lost five animals now since stuff you

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<v Speaker 2>should know launched, which is remarkable. Don't you think you

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<v Speaker 2>have a huge bummer, huge bummer. But Charlie, it was rough.

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<v Speaker 2>This was Ruby's first loss, and she insisted on being there,

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<v Speaker 2>so we kept her out of school and the vet

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<v Speaker 2>comes out of our house and Ruby was there for

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<v Speaker 2>the whole thing and she did you know, it was

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<v Speaker 2>devis but she did great and many many lessons were learned.

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<v Speaker 1>Man, that's amazing.

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<v Speaker 2>Chuck, Yeah, she did a good job. It was yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean they're all very hard always, but I think

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<v Speaker 2>maybe being Ruby's first made it a little tougher even

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<v Speaker 2>she had. I think I've been saying it this way,

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<v Speaker 2>which is when you have an eight year old, you

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<v Speaker 2>hear all different kinds of cries out of your kid,

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<v Speaker 2>and they all have an agenda, usually right like I

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<v Speaker 2>didn't get this, or I wanted that, or I'm hungry,

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<v Speaker 2>or I got hurt or whatever, like they all have

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<v Speaker 2>like a different sound and a different meaning, but this

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<v Speaker 2>one was brand new, and this was a cry of

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<v Speaker 2>pure heartbreak and it was awful. So it sounded different

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<v Speaker 2>and it was not something I want to hear again

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<v Speaker 2>anytime soon. I had no agenda attached to it, and

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<v Speaker 2>then I think that's what part of the awfulness was.

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<v Speaker 2>It was just just heartbreak. So it was rough. We

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<v Speaker 2>got through it. And I know I told you guys

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<v Speaker 2>this personally, but I want like the world to know

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<v Speaker 2>how amazing you and Jerry are for basically just saying

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<v Speaker 2>like this. We record on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Two hours

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<v Speaker 2>before we were set to record is when we decided

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<v Speaker 2>to do it, like we got to do this tomorrow.

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<v Speaker 2>So I was clearly not going to record then, and

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<v Speaker 2>then we did it Wednesday, and Thursday rolls around and

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<v Speaker 2>I still was in no shape to do it, and

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<v Speaker 2>this screwed up our schedule, and you guys were just

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<v Speaker 2>really supportive, like family is. So I want everyone to

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<v Speaker 2>understand that.

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<v Speaker 1>You got it. Of course we wouldn't be any other

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<v Speaker 1>way because we are family.

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<v Speaker 2>I appreciate that. And now we are in phase three.

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<v Speaker 2>The decision is phase one, which is awful doing it

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<v Speaker 2>is Phase two and now the not thereness is the

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<v Speaker 2>extended just sort of muscle memory of all the you know,

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<v Speaker 2>the routines that are built into your life with a

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<v Speaker 2>pet that all of a sudden you go to do

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<v Speaker 2>and it's not happening. So adjusting to that.

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<v Speaker 1>I was holding it okay for phase one and two,

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<v Speaker 1>but you just got me with phase three.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's it's the little things like, oh, Charlie licks

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<v Speaker 2>the cats spoon, so when you do the cat's meal,

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<v Speaker 2>you go your body still goes to put the spoon down, stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>Like that, and then you just have to look at

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<v Speaker 1>yourself and sob well you do.

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<v Speaker 2>That's exactly right. I've been eating a lot of cat food.

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<v Speaker 1>That's gotta make the whole thing that much worse too.

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<v Speaker 2>I have been sick to my stomach, but it's pretty tasty.

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<v Speaker 1>Well on behalf of everybody who knows and loves you,

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<v Speaker 1>or even people who don't like you. I'm very sorry

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<v Speaker 1>that you guys could go through that. That's an awful thing.

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<v Speaker 1>And I can't even make myself get into your shoes.

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<v Speaker 1>I won't do it, So don't I am You.

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<v Speaker 2>Can take the mon you can take the month off

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<v Speaker 2>one day when when you need to.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I don't want to talk about that.

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<v Speaker 2>Now you don't have to, So okay, well, welcome back.

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<v Speaker 2>Now let's talk about diners.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's good we're easing into diners like it's

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<v Speaker 1>a warm bath, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, because diners, agreed,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe the easiest topic we've ever done in our entire lives.

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<v Speaker 1>I cannot think of an easier one, can you.

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<v Speaker 2>Well. I mean I think we've had a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>stuff that's easy, all right, Like like any of the

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<v Speaker 2>toy episodes stuff like that is all easy.

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<v Speaker 1>Uh yeah, yeah, I guess you're right. But this one,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know. For some reason, it just struck me

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<v Speaker 1>as easy. It has like a lot of like a

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<v Speaker 1>narrative arc. It has overlooked pop culture here there peppering

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<v Speaker 1>with it. It's got some neat little just kind of

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<v Speaker 1>pull points bullet points that we can go. I just

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<v Speaker 1>like it. It's just easy. And thanks to Olivia for helping

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<v Speaker 1>us with it.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Oh, and speaking of Livia, this turned out to

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<v Speaker 2>be a great assignment because Livia is sibling in law

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<v Speaker 2>runs a diner. Ember is o, Livia's sibling in law,

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<v Speaker 2>and they restored not only a diner, but they restored

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<v Speaker 2>the Wooster lunch car number seven sixty five man from

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<v Speaker 2>all the way back in nineteen thirty nine. And that

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<v Speaker 2>will all make sense what that is shortly, Yeah, it'll

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<v Speaker 2>be and super impressive. But this is in Moran. It's

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<v Speaker 2>the Moran Square Diner in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. And this thing

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<v Speaker 2>is awesome and the genuine article, and they serve you know,

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<v Speaker 2>like a diner food but updated and not fancy. But

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<v Speaker 2>you know, it's just sort of a more modern telling,

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<v Speaker 2>like there's some vegan options and from local farms, just

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<v Speaker 2>sort of elevated diner food. Right, So guys, say hi

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<v Speaker 2>to Ember.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, Hey, Ember and the diner. I know we're all

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<v Speaker 1>be eating next time. I'm in Fitchburg.

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<v Speaker 2>I know where's Pitchburg.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know, But what's the name of it? Again?

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<v Speaker 1>Tell everybody so they can.

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<v Speaker 2>Go there in the square or for all I know,

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<v Speaker 2>it's the Moran Square Diner. Mrin.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, that's great. Yeah, thanks to Livia for helping us

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<v Speaker 1>with this one. Thanks to her family members for keeping

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<v Speaker 1>the diner thing going. And really, chuck if you want

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<v Speaker 1>to thank anybody, I feel like we have to thank

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<v Speaker 1>Walter Scott.

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<v Speaker 2>Let's do it.

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<v Speaker 1>So Walter Scott. The reason we're thanking him is he

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<v Speaker 1>is a printer for Providence, Rhode Island. And this was

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<v Speaker 1>at the time where people who were in one profession

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<v Speaker 1>could break into completely other professions. It's just what they

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<v Speaker 1>did back then in the.

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<v Speaker 2>Nineteenth century, not like today.

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<v Speaker 1>No, not like today. You like, keep your head down

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<v Speaker 1>and stay in your lane. That's what you do, that's right.

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<v Speaker 1>So Walter Scott decided that there was a whole market

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<v Speaker 1>that was being missed. That there were people who worked

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<v Speaker 1>the late shift and when they were either going into

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<v Speaker 1>or coming off of that shift, the restaurants weren't open.

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<v Speaker 1>There was nowhere for them to get food. They didn't

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<v Speaker 1>have cafeterias that were They were totally esked, you know.

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<v Speaker 1>So he said, I'm going to start selling food to

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<v Speaker 1>these people, and the best way to do that is

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<v Speaker 1>to just sell it out of a horse and carriage.

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<v Speaker 2>Basically, yeah, which was essentially a food truck.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>They called him lunch Wagons and he got copped pretty

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<v Speaker 2>quick or imitated, I guess, because people, you know, back then,

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<v Speaker 2>ingenuity and starting a new business was all the rage.

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<v Speaker 2>So it's a guy named Sam Jones who said, all right,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm going to start up my own late night food

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<v Speaker 2>truck wagon. I'm going to name it the Owl. It's

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<v Speaker 2>going to be in what's the Mass And.

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<v Speaker 1>Walter Scott was like, oh, I hadn't thought of naming it.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's a pretty good name too for a late

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<v Speaker 2>night eatery, for sure. And that was imitated and people,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, it was a bible business all of a sudden.

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<v Speaker 2>Jones expanded his own enterprise in eighteen eighty seven by saying, hey,

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<v Speaker 2>let's go ahead and make one of these that actually

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<v Speaker 2>has a kitchen and maybe a few spots at a

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<v Speaker 2>counter where you can eat. No servers yet at this point,

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<v Speaker 2>it's just like people got their food through a window.

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<v Speaker 2>And then he started adding more and more carts, and

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<v Speaker 2>then he moved to Springfield, added more carts there, and

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<v Speaker 2>it was a legit business at that point.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. So between eighteen seventy two and by eighteen ninety one,

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<v Speaker 1>the concept had been born, added upon and then was

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<v Speaker 1>patented in eighteen ninety one by a guy named Charles Palmer,

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<v Speaker 1>and Charles Palmer bought Sam Jones's wooster setup. When Sam

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<v Speaker 1>Jones moved to Springfield, and he's the one who patented it.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, I don't know why you didn't do this,

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<v Speaker 1>but I'm going to patent it. And his design was

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<v Speaker 1>extremely simple, but he added a counter, so now there

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<v Speaker 1>was a separation between the kitchen and where you sat

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<v Speaker 1>inside the dining area like in the actual diner. He

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<v Speaker 1>added those windows, or at least he patented those windows

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<v Speaker 1>that you handed food to other people who were just

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<v Speaker 1>taking it to go. Just the barest minimum of an idea.

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<v Speaker 1>He went and patented it. But it eventually became Diners.

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<v Speaker 1>And what's interesting is the reason it became Diners was

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<v Speaker 1>not from like some normal evolution. It was from social

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<v Speaker 1>pressures instead that basically took these mobile food trucks and said, hey,

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<v Speaker 1>take the wheels off of those things. Guys.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Yeah, Well what happened was, you know, this was

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<v Speaker 2>such a viable business model for people opening these And

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<v Speaker 2>this is what happens a lot of times with early

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<v Speaker 2>sort of innovations is then you innovate around it. So

0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:42.480
<v Speaker 2>companies that manufactured like buildings and things and as you'll

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<v Speaker 2>see railroad cars, they saw that people were doing this

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<v Speaker 2>in little structures, and they said, well, we're going to

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<v Speaker 2>start manufacturing these little food wagons and just selling them

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<v Speaker 2>to people, these boxes on wheels with little kitchens. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>and maybe we'll make them kind of cool looking on

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<v Speaker 2>the outside and paint them so they're sthetically pleasing, and

0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:03.440
<v Speaker 2>we can ship them. We can ship them on trains.

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<v Speaker 2>They're small enough at this point where you can put

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<v Speaker 2>them on a truck if you need to. And there

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<v Speaker 2>were three big builders of these at the time. The

0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:15.920
<v Speaker 2>Wooster Lunch Car and Carriage Car and Carriage Manufacturing Company

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<v Speaker 2>this is a Massachusetts and then there was one in

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<v Speaker 2>New Jersey called the Jerry O. Mahoney Company, and then

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<v Speaker 2>the PJ. Tyranny Company in New York building these sort

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<v Speaker 2>of made to order little restaurants that you can just

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<v Speaker 2>PLoP down and start working on.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And like you said, the Marin Square Diner Olivia's

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<v Speaker 1>Relatives Diner in Fitchburg, they redid or refurbished a Worcester

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<v Speaker 1>Lunch Car and Carriage Manufacturing Company prefab.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and number seven sixty five.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, there are some still around, not just from that company,

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<v Speaker 1>but it seems like there's a lot of Jerry o'

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<v Speaker 1>mahoney's still around and in operation. Like they built these

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<v Speaker 1>things solid. As a matter of fact, one of them,

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<v Speaker 1>I think it might have been PJ. Tierney said, if

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<v Speaker 1>there's something wrong with it, or your thing starts coming apart,

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<v Speaker 1>put it back on a train, ship it to us.

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<v Speaker 1>We'll tune it up and send it back to you,

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<v Speaker 1>which I mean, and then he was like, nobody's going

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<v Speaker 1>to do it, No, exactly, Like I can't imagine anyone

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<v Speaker 1>took them up on it. I mean, what a pain

0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:16.680
<v Speaker 1>that would be. But it kind of goes to show

0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:19.640
<v Speaker 1>like they stood behind their caftsmanship and just the fact

0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:22.080
<v Speaker 1>that these things have been around for one hundred years.

0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:26.360
<v Speaker 1>Some of them haven't even been refurbished. Yeah, that you know,

0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:28.120
<v Speaker 1>they did a good job making. I'm I guess, is

0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:29.120
<v Speaker 1>what I'm trying to say.

0:12:29.640 --> 0:12:32.360
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Absolutely. And then kind of what you were talking

0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:35.800
<v Speaker 2>about in the early twentieth century, you know, you start

0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:38.560
<v Speaker 2>parking these lunch wagons everywhere, a couple of things are

0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:42.040
<v Speaker 2>going to happen. Restaurants nearby are going to say, hey,

0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:44.400
<v Speaker 2>wait a minute, what the heck? These people can just

0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:47.640
<v Speaker 2>move all over town and serve wherever they want. That's

0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:51.520
<v Speaker 2>no good for us, and then people that lived in

0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:53.520
<v Speaker 2>these towns and some of them they're like, I don't

0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:55.880
<v Speaker 2>like these things moving all over the place and parking

0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:59.600
<v Speaker 2>on the street. So they just started to park it

0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:02.480
<v Speaker 2>where they were and just serve food from one place.

0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:07.679
<v Speaker 2>And in nineteen thirteen, with the Jerry o' mahoney company,

0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:13.559
<v Speaker 2>they started producing sort of the same thing, a prefab restaurant,

0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:16.240
<v Speaker 2>but this time they were made to just sit there.

0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:22.120
<v Speaker 1>Right. They were about twenty six feet long, which is

0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:24.400
<v Speaker 1>really specific.

0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:26.280
<v Speaker 2>Right, Yeah, it was very specific.

0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:29.920
<v Speaker 1>And I think Jerry o' mahoney, I think it was no.

0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:33.520
<v Speaker 1>Patrick Tierney was the one who took this idea when

0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:35.640
<v Speaker 1>they started making them stationary, and it was like, let's

0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:37.560
<v Speaker 1>dress these up a little bit. So like if you

0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:39.600
<v Speaker 1>look at some of the old ones that are still around,

0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:44.199
<v Speaker 1>like they have like handlaid tile, the wood sometimes has

0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:47.800
<v Speaker 1>like carvings in it. They're pretty neat. They're very cool

0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:50.079
<v Speaker 1>look and they look super nineteen twenties. Even. I think

0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:52.440
<v Speaker 1>there's one called Casey's. I can't remember where it is.

0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:54.800
<v Speaker 1>I think it'll come up later. Where like that. The

0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.800
<v Speaker 1>light fixtures are original to it too. But this whole

0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:00.360
<v Speaker 1>thing was like it was a diner that it came

0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.000
<v Speaker 1>to you, the diner owner, on a train car and

0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:06.080
<v Speaker 1>then was taken to your location and set up and

0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:08.000
<v Speaker 1>you would hook water up to it and gas up

0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:11.160
<v Speaker 1>to it, bring in your appliances and just open your

0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:14.720
<v Speaker 1>doors and start serving hash browns.

0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:17.800
<v Speaker 2>I guess, or at the very least hash.

0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:20.960
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that's how you made your initial money, I think.

0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:26.960
<v Speaker 2>So the deal with why they're called diners is very

0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:30.920
<v Speaker 2>simple is because they were shipped on these trains. In

0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:33.440
<v Speaker 2>order to fit on the trains, they were shaped like

0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:38.600
<v Speaker 2>railroad cars and they essentially were modeled after railroad dining cars.

0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.200
<v Speaker 2>So they called them diners like the diner car on

0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:47.320
<v Speaker 2>a train, and they, you know, were sort of smoothly

0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:51.040
<v Speaker 2>curved for aerodynamics, and like you said, Tierney came along

0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:53.560
<v Speaker 2>and added some like chrome and this is in the

0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:56.680
<v Speaker 2>nineteen thirties when that Art Deco thing was happening. And

0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:59.600
<v Speaker 2>so that's why you know the diners, the sort of

0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:02.560
<v Speaker 2>the class diner that you think of has that chrome

0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:06.880
<v Speaker 2>look and neon and these padded benches and built in

0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.280
<v Speaker 2>boosts is all modeled after these cool trains, and they're

0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:11.360
<v Speaker 2>dining cars at the time.

0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:15.840
<v Speaker 1>If I remember correctly from our Googie episode though that

0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:20.320
<v Speaker 1>streamline modern look, yeah that you think of with the

0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:23.480
<v Speaker 1>classic diner that was modeled on the trains of the time.

0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:27.760
<v Speaker 1>I think the trains were actually modeled on ships. I

0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:30.680
<v Speaker 1>think the ships were the ones that originally, oh really

0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:32.880
<v Speaker 1>had that look. Yeah, and then it was taken from

0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:36.080
<v Speaker 1>that for buildings and trains and diners eventually.

0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:39.440
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. And you may have been thinking of Mickey's because

0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:43.640
<v Speaker 2>Libya listed Mickey's Diner in Saint Paul, Minnesota is one

0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:47.040
<v Speaker 2>of the O Mahoney ones, And just do yourself a

0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:49.600
<v Speaker 2>favor and look this thing up at some point if

0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:53.200
<v Speaker 2>you're listening, because the Mickeys Diner in Saint Paul is

0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.960
<v Speaker 2>beautiful and gorgeous and a kind of a perfect quintessential

0:15:57.080 --> 0:16:00.800
<v Speaker 2>example of these shipped pre ab restaurants.

0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:04.520
<v Speaker 1>I think I think the one I'm talking about is

0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:09.520
<v Speaker 1>Casey's Diner and Natick Okay, I think that's the one.

0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:10.680
<v Speaker 2>You're all gorgeous though.

0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:12.160
<v Speaker 1>They are, and that's the one that still has like

0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:17.400
<v Speaker 1>Handley tile and it looks like the original like light

0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:19.720
<v Speaker 1>fixtures and all that. There's still some pea in the

0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:23.400
<v Speaker 1>toilet from the very first customer, like it is authentic.

0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:25.280
<v Speaker 2>Should we take a break?

0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:25.840
<v Speaker 1>I think so?

0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:29.360
<v Speaker 2>Now, all right, somebody at Casey's needs to instagrab that

0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:30.560
<v Speaker 2>toilet and we'll be right back.

0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:59.440
<v Speaker 1>So we have like a oh, we're back by the way, Chuck,

0:16:59.480 --> 0:17:03.479
<v Speaker 1>just stuy. I know it's been a minute since we recorded.

0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:08.840
<v Speaker 1>But the kind of view that we have of diners

0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.400
<v Speaker 1>today is set in time, as we'll see, and it's

0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:15.600
<v Speaker 1>set in a certain period of time. But prior to that,

0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:19.280
<v Speaker 1>there was a pretty different view of diners, and it

0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:23.040
<v Speaker 1>was that it was like basically a working man's place

0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:26.600
<v Speaker 1>to get grub, and that very much grew out of

0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:32.080
<v Speaker 1>where diners originated. They served food grub to working men,

0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:37.359
<v Speaker 1>and you didn't have to basically be particularly genteel or

0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:41.399
<v Speaker 1>mannerly to go to a diner. So diners started to

0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:44.359
<v Speaker 1>get reputations as places where, you know, if you're a

0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:47.919
<v Speaker 1>middle class man or a woman of any kind, you

0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:51.720
<v Speaker 1>would probably steer clear of diners. Up until about World

0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:55.120
<v Speaker 1>War two, that's the reputation that they had. Even as

0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:58.639
<v Speaker 1>cool as they looked, you didn't really go there unless

0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:01.399
<v Speaker 1>you were like a blue collar dude. Essentially, there were,

0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:05.000
<v Speaker 1>of course, people who would kind of break custom and go.

0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:07.560
<v Speaker 1>But for the most part, that's kind of what they

0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:10.920
<v Speaker 1>regarded as that kind of place like a Dave and

0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:11.840
<v Speaker 1>Busters today.

0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:17.919
<v Speaker 2>Right, you know my beef with Dave and Busters is

0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:19.320
<v Speaker 2>when was the last time you went in one? Or

0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:19.920
<v Speaker 2>have you ever?

0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:22.480
<v Speaker 1>Oh? I have, it's been a really long time.

0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:27.960
<v Speaker 2>There aren't enough just regular arcade games. I think it's

0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:31.399
<v Speaker 2>weird now like they have it. Yeah, they'll have like

0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:33.719
<v Speaker 2>a pac Man, but it's on a fifteen foot screen.

0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:37.600
<v Speaker 2>They just need an area, you know, a little bit

0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:40.280
<v Speaker 2>for the for our generation who are taking children and

0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:42.280
<v Speaker 2>stuff to where you know, dad wants to play a

0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:43.600
<v Speaker 2>little galaga and dad can't.

0:18:43.840 --> 0:18:45.200
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I'm totally with you, man.

0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:50.719
<v Speaker 2>Anyway, kids love them. They don't know what a galagh is.

0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:52.399
<v Speaker 1>No, they're done.

0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:59.240
<v Speaker 2>So the menus at this time were not the most expansive.

0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:02.280
<v Speaker 2>I know these days are kind of known like you

0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:04.520
<v Speaker 2>go into a good Greek diner and there's like nine

0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:07.200
<v Speaker 2>pages of things. You'd get a pot roast, or you

0:19:07.200 --> 0:19:10.200
<v Speaker 2>can get an omelet. But back then it was kind

0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:12.920
<v Speaker 2>of grab and go, or you would eat kind of

0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:14.800
<v Speaker 2>quick because you got to get back to your shift,

0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:16.920
<v Speaker 2>or if you didn't have to get back to your shift.

0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:18.360
<v Speaker 2>You just ate and kind of hung around and maybe

0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:20.640
<v Speaker 2>gambled a little bit or something like that.

0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:23.560
<v Speaker 1>It was like the local diner. Yeah.

0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:26.280
<v Speaker 2>Probably it was like you know what you would imagine,

0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:29.360
<v Speaker 2>like eggs and you know, stuff like that. It's real satisfying,

0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:33.679
<v Speaker 2>maybe a sandwich, but pretty limited. They were generally owned

0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:37.720
<v Speaker 2>and frequented at the time by second generation, maybe first

0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:42.640
<v Speaker 2>generation European immigrants. So you might also find some sort

0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:46.800
<v Speaker 2>of local to their place in Europe stuff like you

0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:49.840
<v Speaker 2>might find spaghetti or a goulash or something like that,

0:19:49.920 --> 0:19:51.879
<v Speaker 2>along with some American style stuff.

0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:54.359
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. So the fact that you can find the best

0:19:54.359 --> 0:19:57.919
<v Speaker 1>bakleva in America at diners is it follows in that

0:19:58.000 --> 0:20:01.640
<v Speaker 1>tradition because so many diners are owned by Greek immigrant families.

0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:03.879
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, well, should we go ahead and talk about that?

0:20:04.240 --> 0:20:08.119
<v Speaker 1>Yeah? Why not? Because apparently there was a point in time,

0:20:08.440 --> 0:20:11.520
<v Speaker 1>if it's not still going on, where Greek immigrants basically

0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:13.879
<v Speaker 1>ran the show as far as diners went in the

0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:15.920
<v Speaker 1>entire United States.

0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:20.000
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think the Livia found one source that said

0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:24.159
<v Speaker 2>ninety percent of diner owners in the US were Greek,

0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:27.760
<v Speaker 2>and not only that, they were from the island of

0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:31.600
<v Speaker 2>Carpathos or Carpathos. I'm not sure that they pronounced it.

0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:34.080
<v Speaker 1>I'm going with Carpathos Carpathos.

0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:35.719
<v Speaker 2>What I say, Pathos Carpathos.

0:20:35.720 --> 0:20:40.439
<v Speaker 1>I think that's where Balki came from. Uh.

0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:44.280
<v Speaker 2>And there were a couple of waves of these immigrations

0:20:44.840 --> 0:20:48.480
<v Speaker 2>the early twentieth century. They would own coffee shops and

0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:52.200
<v Speaker 2>Greek neighborhoods. But the diners that we're thinking of today

0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:56.480
<v Speaker 2>happened after an influx of Greek immigrants in nineteen sixty five.

0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:01.680
<v Speaker 2>And like a lot of businesses is sort of where

0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:03.560
<v Speaker 2>you might think, like, wait, it seems like a lot

0:21:03.600 --> 0:21:05.680
<v Speaker 2>of people from this country run this kind of business.

0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:08.840
<v Speaker 2>It's because they come here, they run it. Their family

0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:12.160
<v Speaker 2>works there, and then the son or daughter maybe splinters

0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:14.720
<v Speaker 2>often opens one and some of their family might come

0:21:14.720 --> 0:21:16.959
<v Speaker 2>over and cousins and work there, right, And it's just

0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:20.600
<v Speaker 2>it's a family business, and it expands in such a

0:21:20.600 --> 0:21:23.240
<v Speaker 2>way where all of a sudden, ninety percent of them

0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:24.400
<v Speaker 2>are Greek diners.

0:21:24.600 --> 0:21:28.439
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. It also explains that those coffee cups that were

0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:31.080
<v Speaker 1>huge in the late twentieth century in New York that

0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:33.600
<v Speaker 1>were blue with white lettering and kind of like a

0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:37.680
<v Speaker 1>classic Greek style because the Greek's owned the diners. It's

0:21:37.720 --> 0:21:40.600
<v Speaker 1>just as simple as that, which I'd know the Broadway

0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:44.919
<v Speaker 1>diner that used to be here in Atlanta that was

0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:50.800
<v Speaker 1>definitely owned by Greek people. There's one on not Holcombe Bridge.

0:21:50.800 --> 0:21:53.520
<v Speaker 1>What's the other bridge that's done off of Piedmont that

0:21:54.359 --> 0:21:57.040
<v Speaker 1>Cheshire Bridge. I can't remember the name of that diner,

0:21:57.040 --> 0:21:58.920
<v Speaker 1>but that's owned by Greek people. These are like, I

0:21:59.000 --> 0:22:02.160
<v Speaker 1>know what you mean, quality diners too, by the way,

0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:04.800
<v Speaker 1>but I don't think I've been in a diner that

0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:09.040
<v Speaker 1>didn't at least show its Greek roots by offering like

0:22:09.080 --> 0:22:13.000
<v Speaker 1>baclava or euros or something like that. And maybe even

0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:15.080
<v Speaker 1>my life, I don't think I've been in a diner

0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:18.679
<v Speaker 1>that wasn't a chain, that wasn't owned clearly by a

0:22:18.720 --> 0:22:22.680
<v Speaker 1>Greek family. Yeah, so at that ninety percent checks out,

0:22:22.720 --> 0:22:25.080
<v Speaker 1>I guess, is what I'm trying to say. Anecdotally, at

0:22:25.160 --> 0:22:26.880
<v Speaker 1>least I agree.

0:22:28.000 --> 0:22:30.480
<v Speaker 2>So post World War Two, we kind of brought you

0:22:30.560 --> 0:22:31.960
<v Speaker 2>up to World War two and what it was like.

0:22:33.160 --> 0:22:38.000
<v Speaker 2>WW two brought all kinds of changes to America, a

0:22:38.000 --> 0:22:40.240
<v Speaker 2>couple of which were really important as far as diners

0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:44.200
<v Speaker 2>were concerned. One was people, you know, that was sort

0:22:44.200 --> 0:22:46.239
<v Speaker 2>of an economic boom, so people had a little bit

0:22:46.240 --> 0:22:49.600
<v Speaker 2>more money to eat out at restaurants, which wasn't a

0:22:49.680 --> 0:22:52.119
<v Speaker 2>huge thing prior to that. And the other thing that

0:22:52.160 --> 0:22:57.240
<v Speaker 2>happened was suburbia kind of started happening, which included one,

0:22:57.359 --> 0:23:03.320
<v Speaker 2>families moving to suburbia and two big you know, facilities

0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:06.520
<v Speaker 2>and factories and plants in suburbia. But they had their

0:23:06.520 --> 0:23:11.040
<v Speaker 2>own cafeterias, right, so their markets were sort of declining

0:23:11.080 --> 0:23:14.800
<v Speaker 2>in one way. But at the same time, these middle

0:23:14.800 --> 0:23:18.080
<v Speaker 2>class families started coming out and they wanted to eat

0:23:18.080 --> 0:23:20.320
<v Speaker 2>in these diners, and so they made changes to sort

0:23:20.320 --> 0:23:21.239
<v Speaker 2>of accommodate for that.

0:23:21.640 --> 0:23:25.520
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, they were so lucky because their market just bottomed

0:23:25.560 --> 0:23:29.240
<v Speaker 1>out like almost overnight after the war. And the fact

0:23:29.280 --> 0:23:31.639
<v Speaker 1>that they were able to just kind of adapt and

0:23:31.760 --> 0:23:34.960
<v Speaker 1>change their whole jam and be successful again, that's hats

0:23:34.960 --> 0:23:37.440
<v Speaker 1>off to them. But the way that they were able

0:23:37.480 --> 0:23:40.560
<v Speaker 1>to kind of find another market was that those families

0:23:40.560 --> 0:23:43.760
<v Speaker 1>that had more money to eat out. And interestingly, I

0:23:43.800 --> 0:23:45.920
<v Speaker 1>hadn't thought about this, but a lot of women entered

0:23:45.920 --> 0:23:47.880
<v Speaker 1>the workforce for the first time in World War two,

0:23:48.359 --> 0:23:50.320
<v Speaker 1>and after the war, a lot of them stayed in

0:23:50.359 --> 0:23:54.320
<v Speaker 1>the workforce like this. This custom had been broken, and

0:23:54.359 --> 0:23:58.199
<v Speaker 1>there was a new social acceptance of women working. It

0:23:58.280 --> 0:24:01.000
<v Speaker 1>was more socially accepted than it was before. And if

0:24:01.000 --> 0:24:03.680
<v Speaker 1>you're working every day, you probably don't want to cook

0:24:03.720 --> 0:24:06.560
<v Speaker 1>every day. So now not only does your family have

0:24:06.640 --> 0:24:08.879
<v Speaker 1>the money to go eat out, you have a great

0:24:08.880 --> 0:24:10.919
<v Speaker 1>incentive to go eat out if you're the mom too, like,

0:24:11.000 --> 0:24:13.080
<v Speaker 1>let's go eat out somewhere. But you don't want to

0:24:13.119 --> 0:24:15.320
<v Speaker 1>spend all of your money every time you go out.

0:24:15.440 --> 0:24:18.520
<v Speaker 1>So diners kind of moved to the suburbs and said

0:24:18.880 --> 0:24:21.960
<v Speaker 1>to and open their doors, and those families with the

0:24:22.000 --> 0:24:24.640
<v Speaker 1>little extra money and working moms came to eat there.

0:24:25.320 --> 0:24:28.359
<v Speaker 2>That's right. And I'm gonna go ahead and stop people

0:24:28.400 --> 0:24:31.480
<v Speaker 2>emailing to say, Josh, you missed a great joke opportunity.

0:24:31.560 --> 0:24:32.280
<v Speaker 1>Oh what was it?

0:24:32.880 --> 0:24:35.120
<v Speaker 2>Well, when you said hats off, you probably should have said,

0:24:35.200 --> 0:24:36.320
<v Speaker 2>my fez is off to you?

0:24:38.080 --> 0:24:39.359
<v Speaker 1>Where feeses increase?

0:24:40.520 --> 0:24:41.080
<v Speaker 2>Isn't it Greek?

0:24:41.160 --> 0:24:47.280
<v Speaker 1>No, that's Northern African, like Morocca, Moroccan or something or Tunisian. Okay,

0:24:47.480 --> 0:24:50.760
<v Speaker 1>I think you're thinking of Shriners, and there may be

0:24:50.840 --> 0:24:53.239
<v Speaker 1>some Greek Shriners. I'm not sure. But in Greece they

0:24:53.240 --> 0:24:56.720
<v Speaker 1>wear those little kind of sailors caps, almost like a sailor.

0:24:57.680 --> 0:25:00.760
<v Speaker 1>It's a cruss between a newsboy cap and a cap

0:25:01.040 --> 0:25:04.200
<v Speaker 1>captain's cap. Okay, do you know what I'm talking about?

0:25:04.520 --> 0:25:05.960
<v Speaker 1>Look up Greek Greek cap?

0:25:07.280 --> 0:25:09.920
<v Speaker 2>Well you know what, I just looked up Fez's Moroccan.

0:25:09.960 --> 0:25:12.600
<v Speaker 2>But it's actually ancient Greek in origin.

0:25:12.800 --> 0:25:16.200
<v Speaker 1>That seems like a pretty wild technicality if you.

0:25:16.200 --> 0:25:18.880
<v Speaker 2>Ask me, it is because it is probably not associate

0:25:18.920 --> 0:25:19.240
<v Speaker 2>with Greece.

0:25:19.280 --> 0:25:21.080
<v Speaker 1>But look right, my Greek cap. You'll know exactly what

0:25:21.080 --> 0:25:21.680
<v Speaker 1>I'm talking about.

0:25:21.680 --> 0:25:24.440
<v Speaker 2>Well, wait, but I bet there's a name for it, right,

0:25:24.880 --> 0:25:29.480
<v Speaker 2>the Greek cap. It doesn't have a I don't know,

0:25:29.480 --> 0:25:31.360
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, like a Greek fisherman's cap.

0:25:31.480 --> 0:25:34.119
<v Speaker 1>Yes, exactly, that's exactly what I mean. That's what you

0:25:34.119 --> 0:25:36.520
<v Speaker 1>would find somebody wearing it a diner who worked there.

0:25:37.359 --> 0:25:39.520
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, a skipper cap or a Breton cap.

0:25:39.640 --> 0:25:43.119
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so there you go. So I tip my Breton cap.

0:25:44.760 --> 0:25:47.040
<v Speaker 2>Where were we? Oh, we were talking about women all

0:25:47.040 --> 0:25:48.560
<v Speaker 2>of a sudden, being like, hey, I don't have to

0:25:48.600 --> 0:25:50.160
<v Speaker 2>cook all these meals. That's great, right.

0:25:50.200 --> 0:25:52.760
<v Speaker 1>And then the diners moved to the suburbs and found

0:25:52.760 --> 0:25:54.920
<v Speaker 1>like a whole new market. Yeah.

0:25:54.960 --> 0:25:56.919
<v Speaker 2>And the other thing that they did to help sort of,

0:25:57.200 --> 0:25:58.679
<v Speaker 2>you know, they kind of cleaned up their act a

0:25:58.680 --> 0:26:01.160
<v Speaker 2>little bit, yeah, and said listen to you guys, maybe

0:26:01.240 --> 0:26:05.639
<v Speaker 2>don't gamble. Inside the restaurant, they started all of a

0:26:05.680 --> 0:26:08.480
<v Speaker 2>sudden there were servers, Like they wanted to make it

0:26:08.520 --> 0:26:13.440
<v Speaker 2>a more you know, full restaurant kind of experience, so

0:26:13.840 --> 0:26:15.800
<v Speaker 2>you don't even have to get up and go get

0:26:15.880 --> 0:26:18.160
<v Speaker 2>the plates of food. Now we're going to have people

0:26:18.160 --> 0:26:23.280
<v Speaker 2>serving them to you, yeah, domesticate them. And and teenagers

0:26:23.520 --> 0:26:25.159
<v Speaker 2>all of a sudden it was like, hey, we can

0:26:25.240 --> 0:26:27.280
<v Speaker 2>go hang out of the diner after school, or like

0:26:27.359 --> 0:26:28.879
<v Speaker 2>these things are open light at night. If we're up

0:26:28.880 --> 0:26:30.879
<v Speaker 2>to no good, we can go buy the diner and

0:26:31.359 --> 0:26:33.760
<v Speaker 2>you know and pour a little whiskey into our soda pop.

0:26:34.040 --> 0:26:38.480
<v Speaker 1>So Also, and another thing that domesticated the those diners

0:26:39.119 --> 0:26:42.520
<v Speaker 1>was that those servers were in large part women. The

0:26:42.600 --> 0:26:44.600
<v Speaker 1>new servers that have been brought on board were women,

0:26:44.920 --> 0:26:47.439
<v Speaker 1>and that signaled to families like, hey, this is a

0:26:47.480 --> 0:26:50.120
<v Speaker 1>safe place. Like if I'm safe to work here, you're

0:26:50.200 --> 0:26:52.359
<v Speaker 1>safe to eat here. Hun right, you know.

0:26:53.000 --> 0:26:57.959
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, they were to say, yeah, uh, these were still

0:26:58.560 --> 0:27:02.840
<v Speaker 2>prefab restaurants for the most part, even post war, but

0:27:03.080 --> 0:27:06.800
<v Speaker 2>they added more windows, they added like sort of that

0:27:06.840 --> 0:27:09.880
<v Speaker 2>pastel color theme that you see in diners came along then, yes,

0:27:10.280 --> 0:27:15.840
<v Speaker 2>sometimes mirrored ceilings, yeah, tile for mica counters. That's that

0:27:16.000 --> 0:27:20.040
<v Speaker 2>nineteen fifties kind of look because they had to all

0:27:20.040 --> 0:27:21.680
<v Speaker 2>of a sudden, you know, cars were resuming by in

0:27:21.680 --> 0:27:23.879
<v Speaker 2>the road and they had to get people's attention to

0:27:23.960 --> 0:27:26.959
<v Speaker 2>stop and eat. So the diners had to look you know, cooler.

0:27:26.960 --> 0:27:28.639
<v Speaker 2>And that's kind of where that Googi thing come in.

0:27:28.680 --> 0:27:30.920
<v Speaker 2>You might have a cool Googi sign, so a car

0:27:30.960 --> 0:27:33.320
<v Speaker 2>would go, ah, I got to stop there, right.

0:27:33.560 --> 0:27:36.040
<v Speaker 1>So the image that you have of diners, like popular

0:27:36.080 --> 0:27:38.080
<v Speaker 1>diners that you see in like a movie like Greece

0:27:38.200 --> 0:27:40.879
<v Speaker 1>or something like that, or Happy Days or whatever that was.

0:27:42.240 --> 0:27:45.439
<v Speaker 1>It solidified to this era, the suburban post World War

0:27:45.520 --> 0:27:48.200
<v Speaker 1>two diners. The image that we have of diners is

0:27:48.240 --> 0:27:49.200
<v Speaker 1>like the classic thing.

0:27:49.920 --> 0:27:55.840
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, still mainly in Northeast affair, but starting around the

0:27:55.880 --> 0:27:59.679
<v Speaker 2>fifties and into the sixties is when they tried to

0:27:59.680 --> 0:28:04.119
<v Speaker 2>expect and west and South and it didn't go quite

0:28:04.160 --> 0:28:07.119
<v Speaker 2>like it did in the Northeast. In the South, I

0:28:07.119 --> 0:28:10.840
<v Speaker 2>think people associated diners with the Northeast.

0:28:10.440 --> 0:28:13.280
<v Speaker 1>And the War of Northern Aggression, I think still too.

0:28:13.720 --> 0:28:16.000
<v Speaker 2>Well sure, and just there was you know, in the

0:28:16.040 --> 0:28:17.480
<v Speaker 2>South at the time, there were just a lot of

0:28:17.480 --> 0:28:19.440
<v Speaker 2>things where it was like, oh, you know, that's how

0:28:19.480 --> 0:28:21.880
<v Speaker 2>the Northerners do it, and we don't do things that way,

0:28:22.280 --> 0:28:24.159
<v Speaker 2>so that we didn't have diners down here like they

0:28:24.160 --> 0:28:24.680
<v Speaker 2>did up there.

0:28:24.800 --> 0:28:29.600
<v Speaker 1>No, not in classic style, but diners in everything but

0:28:29.920 --> 0:28:33.880
<v Speaker 1>name were here pretty early on. I think waffle House

0:28:33.880 --> 0:28:37.320
<v Speaker 1>started in nineteen fifty five, and I'm sure there were

0:28:37.359 --> 0:28:41.600
<v Speaker 1>diners that, like silver Skillet has to have started before

0:28:41.600 --> 0:28:45.960
<v Speaker 1>the fifties. It is old, the majestic, yes, old. So

0:28:46.160 --> 0:28:48.280
<v Speaker 1>I mean we had things, they just weren't prefab They

0:28:48.320 --> 0:28:51.040
<v Speaker 1>didn't look like trains necessarily, although some did or had

0:28:51.040 --> 0:28:53.400
<v Speaker 1>some qualities like that. They just didn't call them diners

0:28:53.400 --> 0:28:56.000
<v Speaker 1>down here because diners were Yankee.

0:28:56.240 --> 0:28:58.800
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's pretty much exactly right.

0:28:58.920 --> 0:28:59.160
<v Speaker 1>Right.

0:29:00.840 --> 0:29:02.640
<v Speaker 2>Well, we can go ahead and talk about waffle House

0:29:02.680 --> 0:29:05.720
<v Speaker 2>because they kind of figure in. In the nineteen fifties,

0:29:06.320 --> 0:29:09.720
<v Speaker 2>these new places, these new chains started popping up that

0:29:10.680 --> 0:29:12.960
<v Speaker 2>you know, you may not call it a diner, but

0:29:13.040 --> 0:29:17.360
<v Speaker 2>something like Denny's opened in California in nineteen fifty three

0:29:17.840 --> 0:29:21.440
<v Speaker 2>originally Danny's Donuts and morphed into Denny's and Denny's and

0:29:21.600 --> 0:29:24.080
<v Speaker 2>Ihop which was in nineteen fifty eight, also in the

0:29:24.200 --> 0:29:29.840
<v Speaker 2>LA area. They're both essentially diners and even in kind

0:29:29.840 --> 0:29:31.720
<v Speaker 2>of how they look on the inside and the things

0:29:31.720 --> 0:29:36.000
<v Speaker 2>they serve and the spirit waffle house is a diner

0:29:36.800 --> 0:29:39.719
<v Speaker 2>like kind of full stop. They even I don't think

0:29:39.720 --> 0:29:42.440
<v Speaker 2>they're prefab but like I think opening a waffle house

0:29:42.520 --> 0:29:47.760
<v Speaker 2>is like this kit in a box built yeah.

0:29:47.120 --> 0:29:49.560
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I mean, but they have like all of the

0:29:49.640 --> 0:29:52.720
<v Speaker 1>classic trappings of a diner. There's the kitchen area that's

0:29:52.760 --> 0:29:56.200
<v Speaker 1>separated by a counter that people sit at. There's servers

0:29:56.200 --> 0:29:58.720
<v Speaker 1>that come out from behind the counter to help the

0:29:58.760 --> 0:30:01.920
<v Speaker 1>people in the booths booths or booth seating is like

0:30:02.160 --> 0:30:05.280
<v Speaker 1>actually a diner innovation from way back, and you know,

0:30:05.320 --> 0:30:07.480
<v Speaker 1>there's a door that separates the booths that you come

0:30:07.480 --> 0:30:10.680
<v Speaker 1>in like this is a diner. It's a diying expensive

0:30:10.720 --> 0:30:14.440
<v Speaker 1>food exactly, yeah, exactly that can may or may not

0:30:14.520 --> 0:30:15.520
<v Speaker 1>give you dysentery.

0:30:16.760 --> 0:30:18.160
<v Speaker 2>No, no, no, I love waffle house.

0:30:18.360 --> 0:30:21.040
<v Speaker 1>If house the other day and it was not good.

0:30:22.040 --> 0:30:23.920
<v Speaker 2>I did too, And that's the first time I've eaten

0:30:23.960 --> 0:30:25.840
<v Speaker 2>there in years. Where what did you have?

0:30:25.960 --> 0:30:27.560
<v Speaker 1>And where did you go? And why I was on

0:30:28.360 --> 0:30:31.640
<v Speaker 1>in Smyrna. Okay, I went because I hadn't been in

0:30:31.680 --> 0:30:38.080
<v Speaker 1>a while, and I was craving scattered and covered hash browns, okay,

0:30:38.400 --> 0:30:41.040
<v Speaker 1>And it was just gross. I don't know if it

0:30:41.080 --> 0:30:44.560
<v Speaker 1>was I've changed or this particular waffle house was bad,

0:30:45.160 --> 0:30:48.400
<v Speaker 1>I don't know, but it was a gross experience for

0:30:48.880 --> 0:30:50.040
<v Speaker 1>men like gross.

0:30:50.760 --> 0:30:52.880
<v Speaker 2>Well, I'm sorry to hear that, because I think one

0:30:52.880 --> 0:30:56.560
<v Speaker 2>thing waffle house is known for is their remarkable consistency

0:30:56.560 --> 0:30:58.440
<v Speaker 2>of like the food is kind of exactly the same

0:30:58.480 --> 0:30:58.959
<v Speaker 2>at all of them.

0:30:59.000 --> 0:31:01.080
<v Speaker 1>Okay, sorry, I don't I don't mean the food. The

0:31:01.120 --> 0:31:05.040
<v Speaker 1>food was generally fine. I mean like watching a cook

0:31:05.120 --> 0:31:06.719
<v Speaker 1>drop something on the floor and just pick it up

0:31:06.720 --> 0:31:09.360
<v Speaker 1>and use it to stuff like that. Really, there was

0:31:09.400 --> 0:31:12.880
<v Speaker 1>a seat that had inexplicably had like a trash bag

0:31:12.920 --> 0:31:16.360
<v Speaker 1>over it and some tape at the counter, like it

0:31:16.400 --> 0:31:19.600
<v Speaker 1>was just a gross scene. It had like all waffle

0:31:19.640 --> 0:31:25.480
<v Speaker 1>houses had that just structural grease that has never been cleaned,

0:31:25.560 --> 0:31:29.200
<v Speaker 1>that is holding the place together like glue, And for

0:31:29.240 --> 0:31:32.400
<v Speaker 1>some reason this one was just grosser than the normal

0:31:32.400 --> 0:31:35.360
<v Speaker 1>waffle houses grease structure all.

0:31:35.320 --> 0:31:37.280
<v Speaker 2>Right, Well, I had a great experience. Actually went to

0:31:37.280 --> 0:31:39.760
<v Speaker 2>waffle House with our friend John Hodgman.

0:31:39.920 --> 0:31:40.920
<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, where'd you go?

0:31:42.080 --> 0:31:45.600
<v Speaker 2>Well, somehow, and this might chock some people who know

0:31:45.680 --> 0:31:48.760
<v Speaker 2>about John, I managed to get him to the camp

0:31:48.920 --> 0:31:52.560
<v Speaker 2>and he went camping, yeah, before his Atlanta show. And

0:31:52.600 --> 0:31:56.240
<v Speaker 2>then after the camp, on the way back to Atlanta,

0:31:56.320 --> 0:31:59.520
<v Speaker 2>we stopped at one in you know, North Georgia. So

0:31:59.560 --> 0:32:03.800
<v Speaker 2>that's like a more real deal experienced waffle house then

0:32:04.120 --> 0:32:05.240
<v Speaker 2>you could probably imagine.

0:32:05.320 --> 0:32:08.200
<v Speaker 1>I think they probably keep theirs cleaner because there are

0:32:08.680 --> 0:32:11.040
<v Speaker 1>very few places to eat out, so they kind of

0:32:11.040 --> 0:32:12.200
<v Speaker 1>take pride in what they got.

0:32:13.040 --> 0:32:15.960
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it was good. I had an egg sandwich and

0:32:16.240 --> 0:32:19.680
<v Speaker 2>some hash Browns and John and I splittle country Ham.

0:32:20.200 --> 0:32:23.400
<v Speaker 1>Oh boy, it was good. You were being bad.

0:32:24.320 --> 0:32:25.800
<v Speaker 2>But boy, I used to go there a lot late

0:32:25.880 --> 0:32:27.240
<v Speaker 2>night in college. That was the thing.

0:32:28.240 --> 0:32:31.000
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. No, I loved waffle House in high school. I

0:32:31.000 --> 0:32:32.640
<v Speaker 1>always has a place in my heart. I was just

0:32:32.720 --> 0:32:34.640
<v Speaker 1>very disappointed that, well that's why you went there. It's

0:32:34.840 --> 0:32:39.160
<v Speaker 1>entirely possible that I have become more of a germophobe

0:32:39.160 --> 0:32:40.719
<v Speaker 1>than I was in high school.

0:32:41.040 --> 0:32:42.400
<v Speaker 2>I think you and I should hit one up at

0:32:42.400 --> 0:32:42.840
<v Speaker 2>some point.

0:32:43.880 --> 0:32:47.360
<v Speaker 1>But if I'm just sitting there and like, don't touch anything. Well, no,

0:32:47.440 --> 0:32:49.400
<v Speaker 1>it's me. You can be the gauge of whether it's

0:32:49.400 --> 0:32:49.840
<v Speaker 1>me or not.

0:32:51.000 --> 0:32:52.680
<v Speaker 2>Just to put a button on this. The very first

0:32:52.720 --> 0:32:55.200
<v Speaker 2>waffle house you mentioned in nineteen fifty five that upened

0:32:55.200 --> 0:32:58.040
<v Speaker 2>in Avondale, Estates, which is just a few minutes from

0:32:58.040 --> 0:33:03.480
<v Speaker 2>where I live, and there is a restored a sort

0:33:03.520 --> 0:33:06.800
<v Speaker 2>of original waffle house. I guess it was the original

0:33:06.840 --> 0:33:09.280
<v Speaker 2>waffle house. They have restored as kind of a museum,

0:33:09.960 --> 0:33:11.920
<v Speaker 2>but I don't know if it's ever open. I think

0:33:11.960 --> 0:33:14.720
<v Speaker 2>you can do events there, but it's it's never opened,

0:33:14.800 --> 0:33:16.200
<v Speaker 2>so I'm not even sure what the deal is.

0:33:16.640 --> 0:33:19.400
<v Speaker 1>That's like strange the world of coke having like the

0:33:19.440 --> 0:33:23.960
<v Speaker 1>coke fountains, but nothing comes out of them. So just

0:33:24.000 --> 0:33:26.120
<v Speaker 1>to button this whole thing up about like Denny's and

0:33:26.160 --> 0:33:29.400
<v Speaker 1>I hop in waffle House. Yeah, they were diners, but

0:33:29.560 --> 0:33:31.880
<v Speaker 1>they were diners that you knew what you were getting

0:33:32.080 --> 0:33:34.400
<v Speaker 1>no matter where you were in the country because they

0:33:34.400 --> 0:33:40.200
<v Speaker 1>were chains, and they really gave locally owned diners, like

0:33:40.280 --> 0:33:43.240
<v Speaker 1>the real deal diners a run for their money and

0:33:43.360 --> 0:33:46.760
<v Speaker 1>almost squished them out of existence. So too did fast

0:33:46.800 --> 0:33:49.520
<v Speaker 1>food chains that were coming up about the same time,

0:33:49.760 --> 0:33:52.800
<v Speaker 1>Southern California almost killed the diner. Essentially, is what we're

0:33:52.880 --> 0:33:56.840
<v Speaker 1>what we're saying by spitting out. I hop Denny's, fast

0:33:56.840 --> 0:34:01.200
<v Speaker 1>food stuff like McDonald's, and I think Taco Bell. But

0:34:02.000 --> 0:34:06.960
<v Speaker 1>thanks to that fifties nostalgia of the seventies, Yeah, like

0:34:07.040 --> 0:34:13.000
<v Speaker 1>Greece Happy Days, Shanna. No, yeah, exactly, Shanna. I can't

0:34:13.040 --> 0:34:14.799
<v Speaker 1>think of any other examples, but it was a big

0:34:14.800 --> 0:34:17.719
<v Speaker 1>deal back then. They loved the fifties. In the late seventies,

0:34:17.920 --> 0:34:21.600
<v Speaker 1>it managed to like rescue the diner and basically revive

0:34:21.640 --> 0:34:24.440
<v Speaker 1>it and keep it alive just enough so that you

0:34:24.480 --> 0:34:27.960
<v Speaker 1>could make a living again as a family, a Greek

0:34:27.960 --> 0:34:32.120
<v Speaker 1>family apparently owning a diner and just you know, cooking

0:34:32.120 --> 0:34:33.000
<v Speaker 1>great diner food.

0:34:33.760 --> 0:34:35.759
<v Speaker 2>Totally. Should we take a break?

0:34:35.840 --> 0:34:36.560
<v Speaker 1>I think we should.

0:34:37.160 --> 0:35:02.759
<v Speaker 3>All right, we'll call this the post waffle House break. Shit,

0:35:08.560 --> 0:35:09.280
<v Speaker 3>all right.

0:35:09.400 --> 0:35:12.319
<v Speaker 2>Now I can think about is setting waffle house right

0:35:12.360 --> 0:35:13.160
<v Speaker 2>in your mind again?

0:35:13.800 --> 0:35:16.400
<v Speaker 1>Well we'll go. It's not like that was its last chance.

0:35:16.440 --> 0:35:18.200
<v Speaker 1>I won't be going back to that one again.

0:35:18.280 --> 0:35:20.759
<v Speaker 2>But Okay, it sounded like you were kind of like,

0:35:21.080 --> 0:35:22.640
<v Speaker 2>I don't know, why would I even risk it again?

0:35:22.719 --> 0:35:25.000
<v Speaker 1>No, No, I think it could be that location.

0:35:25.760 --> 0:35:29.320
<v Speaker 2>Okay, fantastic, that one's dead to you. We should go

0:35:29.360 --> 0:35:31.120
<v Speaker 2>to the one over near me where Kid Rock got

0:35:31.120 --> 0:35:36.680
<v Speaker 2>in a fistfight man that guy. Uh Oh. The other

0:35:36.680 --> 0:35:39.399
<v Speaker 2>thing we didn't mention about waffle House, which is they

0:35:39.600 --> 0:35:42.920
<v Speaker 2>are open twenty four to seven three sixty five and

0:35:43.040 --> 0:35:48.160
<v Speaker 2>FEMA actually uses what's called the waffle House Index, wherein

0:35:48.280 --> 0:35:50.400
<v Speaker 2>if there's a natural disaster in the area, if the

0:35:50.440 --> 0:35:53.719
<v Speaker 2>waffle house actually is closed, then they will say that

0:35:53.719 --> 0:35:56.000
<v Speaker 2>they were like even the waffle house is closed, which

0:35:56.000 --> 0:35:57.120
<v Speaker 2>means we're in real trouble.

0:35:57.200 --> 0:35:59.800
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, Like things are really bad there because the waffle

0:36:00.239 --> 0:36:01.080
<v Speaker 1>does not close.

0:36:01.880 --> 0:36:04.240
<v Speaker 2>I had a Thanksgiving there once when I was alone.

0:36:05.200 --> 0:36:07.520
<v Speaker 1>How was it? You know? It was.

0:36:09.080 --> 0:36:11.040
<v Speaker 2>Fine and kind of fun and kitchy, but then also

0:36:11.160 --> 0:36:14.640
<v Speaker 2>a little lonely and sad. Yeah, as you would imagine that.

0:36:14.800 --> 0:36:17.200
<v Speaker 1>But also it's like one of those situations where you

0:36:17.719 --> 0:36:20.480
<v Speaker 1>connect with the people that you're surrounded by, strangers that

0:36:20.520 --> 0:36:23.319
<v Speaker 1>you meet ay more than under normal circumstances. That can

0:36:23.400 --> 0:36:25.080
<v Speaker 1>be pretty gratifying in and of itself.

0:36:25.680 --> 0:36:28.720
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, I still keep in touch with with Butch

0:36:28.800 --> 0:36:32.000
<v Speaker 2>and Trucky and uh, kid Rock, flim Flam and Kid

0:36:32.120 --> 0:36:34.440
<v Speaker 2>Rock and all those people flim flam.

0:36:34.520 --> 0:36:36.680
<v Speaker 1>Huh, what's flimflam about?

0:36:37.280 --> 0:36:39.440
<v Speaker 2>Flim flam? He's he's a brick layer.

0:36:39.560 --> 0:36:41.600
<v Speaker 1>Oh okay, I know that guy.

0:36:41.880 --> 0:36:42.560
<v Speaker 2>He's a good guy.

0:36:42.760 --> 0:36:45.440
<v Speaker 1>Did he go to Georgia stated?

0:36:45.560 --> 0:36:46.359
<v Speaker 2>He lays a heck of.

0:36:46.280 --> 0:36:46.839
<v Speaker 1>A brick too.

0:36:46.920 --> 0:36:54.560
<v Speaker 2>I uh so. The the tie between the diner and

0:36:54.640 --> 0:36:58.960
<v Speaker 2>just sort of pop culture and politics is one that's

0:36:59.000 --> 0:37:02.760
<v Speaker 2>always been around, even back in the very beginning. Lvia

0:37:02.840 --> 0:37:06.680
<v Speaker 2>found this article from eighteen ninety six from the Boston

0:37:06.719 --> 0:37:10.040
<v Speaker 2>Morning Journal where they talked about it was a place

0:37:10.080 --> 0:37:14.480
<v Speaker 2>where the fashional gentleman could rub elbows with the homeless itinerant.

0:37:14.760 --> 0:37:16.600
<v Speaker 2>But you know, it was always just sort of like

0:37:16.719 --> 0:37:19.719
<v Speaker 2>this is authentic America where all kinds of people can

0:37:19.719 --> 0:37:23.360
<v Speaker 2>get together. And that is why it became a stop

0:37:23.440 --> 0:37:26.360
<v Speaker 2>for many politicians when they were in town to maybe

0:37:26.360 --> 0:37:29.400
<v Speaker 2>go to the local diner wherever they were, when they

0:37:29.440 --> 0:37:32.759
<v Speaker 2>stopped in a town when they were on the campaign trail.

0:37:32.800 --> 0:37:36.640
<v Speaker 2>But certainly some diners have distinguished themselves as you have

0:37:36.719 --> 0:37:39.520
<v Speaker 2>to come here basically if you're campaigning for office.

0:37:39.680 --> 0:37:42.360
<v Speaker 1>It's interesting there's one in particular called the Red Arrow Diner.

0:37:42.400 --> 0:37:46.319
<v Speaker 1>It's in Manchester in New Hampshire and it was Bill

0:37:46.360 --> 0:37:49.080
<v Speaker 1>Clinton who put it on the map, at least the

0:37:49.120 --> 0:37:54.440
<v Speaker 1>campaign map. He apparently he lost pretty bad in Iowa.

0:37:54.520 --> 0:37:58.360
<v Speaker 1>I can't remember Tom Harkin, that's right, was one of

0:37:58.400 --> 0:38:02.280
<v Speaker 1>his who Tom Harkin. He was a senator from Iowa.

0:38:02.400 --> 0:38:05.080
<v Speaker 1>So he trounced Clinton and everybody else in Iowa at

0:38:05.120 --> 0:38:08.880
<v Speaker 1>the caucus. But Clinton made a huge comeback by getting

0:38:09.000 --> 0:38:12.200
<v Speaker 1>really like on the ground and shaking hands and kissing babies.

0:38:12.480 --> 0:38:14.000
<v Speaker 1>And one of the ways that he did that was

0:38:14.000 --> 0:38:16.520
<v Speaker 1>going to diners. And one of the diners that, for

0:38:16.560 --> 0:38:19.600
<v Speaker 1>some reason or another stuck was the Red Arrow Diner.

0:38:20.040 --> 0:38:23.880
<v Speaker 1>And it became tradition. Like when you go through New Hampshire,

0:38:23.880 --> 0:38:26.359
<v Speaker 1>if you're running for president in the United States, you

0:38:26.440 --> 0:38:29.560
<v Speaker 1>go to the Red Arrow Diner. You have a pressop there,

0:38:29.680 --> 0:38:31.800
<v Speaker 1>you go, meet a few people, you eat some pancakes

0:38:31.880 --> 0:38:34.480
<v Speaker 1>or something, and you leave. But you have to do it.

0:38:34.520 --> 0:38:37.160
<v Speaker 1>You can't not do it, which is pretty cool. But

0:38:37.200 --> 0:38:40.239
<v Speaker 1>the thing that surprised me is this actually goes a

0:38:40.280 --> 0:38:42.759
<v Speaker 1>little further back than nineteen ninety two is Jimmy Carter,

0:38:43.120 --> 0:38:46.680
<v Speaker 1>who first was like, man, I want to portray that

0:38:46.800 --> 0:38:50.040
<v Speaker 1>I'm going to the people. Where are the people, and

0:38:50.080 --> 0:38:53.200
<v Speaker 1>then he thought the diner, specifically the Chat and chew,

0:38:53.640 --> 0:38:56.160
<v Speaker 1>which is the worst name for any restaurant ever in

0:38:56.200 --> 0:38:59.359
<v Speaker 1>the history of civilization. I don't know if that's going

0:38:59.400 --> 0:39:01.719
<v Speaker 1>to track in Tunnel one to New York.

0:39:02.280 --> 0:39:05.600
<v Speaker 2>It should be the chat then chew, right, or the

0:39:05.680 --> 0:39:07.480
<v Speaker 2>chew then chat. Don't do both of the same.

0:39:07.320 --> 0:39:11.040
<v Speaker 1>Thing, right, or maybe the chew quietly swallow And then

0:39:11.040 --> 0:39:14.000
<v Speaker 1>when you think of something interesting to say, chat.

0:39:13.760 --> 0:39:17.719
<v Speaker 2>I like that, knew better. Yeah that's good. Yeah, Jimmy Carter.

0:39:18.080 --> 0:39:21.160
<v Speaker 2>It's been a thing ever since then. Diners have always

0:39:21.200 --> 0:39:25.439
<v Speaker 2>popped up in pop culture. There's a few notable instances.

0:39:25.840 --> 0:39:28.800
<v Speaker 2>One of course, is the Edward Hopper painting from nineteen

0:39:28.840 --> 0:39:32.560
<v Speaker 2>forty two Nighthawks, which is that classic painting of the

0:39:32.600 --> 0:39:36.799
<v Speaker 2>diner on the corner. And you know, all kinds of

0:39:36.800 --> 0:39:39.160
<v Speaker 2>people have been painted into that painting since then.

0:39:39.360 --> 0:39:42.360
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I had that poster the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

0:39:42.600 --> 0:39:45.360
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I was at Marilyn Monroe and James Dean.

0:39:45.400 --> 0:39:49.880
<v Speaker 1>Yep, and Bogie and Elvis is behind the counter working

0:39:50.200 --> 0:39:53.000
<v Speaker 1>for some reason. Now, okay, I don't know why Bogeye

0:39:53.000 --> 0:39:55.000
<v Speaker 1>would be included in that. He was fine, He had

0:39:55.000 --> 0:39:59.160
<v Speaker 1>a gratefulfilling, nice life, no broken dreams, not one. From

0:39:59.200 --> 0:39:59.920
<v Speaker 1>what I understand.

0:40:01.200 --> 0:40:03.880
<v Speaker 2>There was the movie Diner, of course, Barry Levinson's movie

0:40:03.920 --> 0:40:09.080
<v Speaker 2>from nineteen eighty two. Great movie set around these dudes

0:40:09.120 --> 0:40:12.680
<v Speaker 2>in nineteen fifty nine Baltimore and sort of that diner

0:40:12.719 --> 0:40:16.360
<v Speaker 2>culture of hanging out and you know, up to no goodness.

0:40:16.920 --> 0:40:20.239
<v Speaker 1>Apparently that that movie in particular, But I think Barry

0:40:20.280 --> 0:40:25.240
<v Speaker 1>Levinson's work in general inspired Quentin Tarantino. His whole banter

0:40:25.400 --> 0:40:27.680
<v Speaker 1>thing that he's so well known for. Apparently it comes

0:40:27.680 --> 0:40:29.400
<v Speaker 1>from Barry Levinson had no idea.

0:40:29.440 --> 0:40:32.440
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Old Tarantino has a lot of

0:40:32.440 --> 0:40:36.439
<v Speaker 2>diner stuff. The reservoir Dogs opening scene, yep, I don't

0:40:36.440 --> 0:40:38.440
<v Speaker 2>tip that whole classic scene.

0:40:38.440 --> 0:40:40.719
<v Speaker 1>A lot of barely scripted banter in all of his.

0:40:40.760 --> 0:40:44.080
<v Speaker 2>Movies, yeah, which is heavily scripted.

0:40:44.760 --> 0:40:49.760
<v Speaker 1>So god, that'd be so hard to do well. I mean, yeah,

0:40:50.040 --> 0:40:53.719
<v Speaker 1>Breton cap off to the actors in Tarantino movies who

0:40:53.760 --> 0:40:56.799
<v Speaker 1>can memorize that stuff and regurgitate it without making it

0:40:56.840 --> 0:40:58.759
<v Speaker 1>seem like it's win totally, you know.

0:40:59.480 --> 0:41:02.160
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. The great diner in pulp fiction, of course, is

0:41:02.200 --> 0:41:05.759
<v Speaker 2>the Hawthorne Grill in La which is now an AutoZone.

0:41:06.360 --> 0:41:10.000
<v Speaker 1>That's sad. But what about the Marte Cafe in North Bend, Washington,

0:41:10.000 --> 0:41:12.040
<v Speaker 1>which stood in as the Double R Diner.

0:41:11.719 --> 0:41:13.680
<v Speaker 2>In Twin Peaks Classic.

0:41:14.120 --> 0:41:16.239
<v Speaker 1>It is a classic diner so much so that you're like,

0:41:16.320 --> 0:41:19.279
<v Speaker 1>that's kind of a creddy diner. Like that's how well

0:41:19.320 --> 0:41:20.200
<v Speaker 1>they nailed it.

0:41:21.080 --> 0:41:24.840
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, big time. I think they shot the pilot in

0:41:24.920 --> 0:41:29.200
<v Speaker 2>the actual North Bend's location and then they moved to

0:41:29.239 --> 0:41:31.280
<v Speaker 2>a sound stage for a lot of the actual show

0:41:32.080 --> 0:41:34.759
<v Speaker 2>and rebuilt that diner, but then went back to the

0:41:34.760 --> 0:41:38.640
<v Speaker 2>real diner for the movie Firewalk with Me, and I

0:41:38.760 --> 0:41:43.640
<v Speaker 2>believe it was partially burned down in two thousand and rebuilt,

0:41:43.719 --> 0:41:46.439
<v Speaker 2>but it didn't look the same. So in twenty seventeen,

0:41:46.280 --> 0:41:49.520
<v Speaker 2>when David Lynch came out with the new Twin Peaks,

0:41:50.320 --> 0:41:53.400
<v Speaker 2>they actually paid to restore that diner to its original

0:41:53.400 --> 0:41:55.800
<v Speaker 2>appearance so they could film there, which is awesome.

0:41:55.880 --> 0:41:59.640
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, just goes to show you production companies get stuff done.

0:42:00.320 --> 0:42:03.720
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, like when they rebuilt Avondale Mall near me because

0:42:03.840 --> 0:42:06.719
<v Speaker 2>Chuck Norris drove a pickup through it in Invasion USA.

0:42:06.840 --> 0:42:11.960
<v Speaker 1>That's amazing. Yeah, there's one called Tom's, Well, Tom's Restaurant

0:42:11.960 --> 0:42:15.960
<v Speaker 1>I think it's just called Tom's. It's in Manhattan on Broadway,

0:42:16.440 --> 0:42:19.480
<v Speaker 1>and if you've ever watched Seinfeld, that's what they uses

0:42:19.520 --> 0:42:25.320
<v Speaker 1>the establishing shot for their Monks Coffee Shop, I think right. Yeah,

0:42:25.360 --> 0:42:29.680
<v Speaker 1>and the Suzanne Vegas song Tom's Diner is about Tom's

0:42:30.280 --> 0:42:34.239
<v Speaker 1>as well. Oh, Susan Mega, Yeah you remember that song?

0:42:34.960 --> 0:42:35.240
<v Speaker 2>Sure?

0:42:36.800 --> 0:42:38.919
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm going to tell us a near worm.

0:42:41.480 --> 0:42:43.680
<v Speaker 2>Well I will, I will batty you. At the same time,

0:42:43.719 --> 0:42:45.799
<v Speaker 2>we can drive people crazy by me singing my name

0:42:45.840 --> 0:42:50.160
<v Speaker 2>is Luca. On top of no, you can't do it,

0:42:50.719 --> 0:42:54.680
<v Speaker 2>I will if you want. Okay, you ready, my name

0:42:54.800 --> 0:43:01.240
<v Speaker 2>is Luca. I live on the second floor. It definitely

0:43:01.280 --> 0:43:02.400
<v Speaker 2>makes Luca more upbeat.

0:43:02.680 --> 0:43:05.960
<v Speaker 1>W Yeah, for sure, it's a it's not supposed to

0:43:06.000 --> 0:43:06.440
<v Speaker 1>be upbeat.

0:43:06.480 --> 0:43:10.240
<v Speaker 2>For sure. We can mention cases because you are correct.

0:43:10.239 --> 0:43:14.840
<v Speaker 2>That is in uh Natic or I'm in Massachusetts. How

0:43:14.840 --> 0:43:20.600
<v Speaker 2>you pronounced Natick? Yeah, totally okay, And that's supposedly the

0:43:20.640 --> 0:43:24.520
<v Speaker 2>oldest diner in the United States. That's still a thing.

0:43:24.800 --> 0:43:28.480
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. It started out as like a lunch wagon, like

0:43:28.560 --> 0:43:32.279
<v Speaker 1>with a horse attached to it from eighteen ninety and

0:43:32.320 --> 0:43:35.000
<v Speaker 1>then it became one of those Worcester Lunch Car Company

0:43:35.360 --> 0:43:39.040
<v Speaker 1>models from nineteen twenty two, and I guess they bought

0:43:39.040 --> 0:43:41.960
<v Speaker 1>that and replaced the lunch Wagon with it in nineteen

0:43:42.000 --> 0:43:44.960
<v Speaker 1>twenty seven. It's been running ever since then. That's just amazing.

0:43:45.719 --> 0:43:49.280
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Absolutely, And we got to shout out New Jersey

0:43:49.960 --> 0:43:52.880
<v Speaker 2>because Jersey and when I lived there, there was a

0:43:52.920 --> 0:43:55.479
<v Speaker 2>kid from the South who who only knew waffle house.

0:43:55.520 --> 0:43:58.880
<v Speaker 2>Basically all I heard was diner this, and diner that.

0:43:59.120 --> 0:44:01.120
<v Speaker 2>You know, whenever people out, well, let's go to the diner.

0:44:01.160 --> 0:44:03.040
<v Speaker 2>Let's meet at the diner. I was like, what is

0:44:03.080 --> 0:44:05.320
<v Speaker 2>it with you people in diners? Because I didn't know

0:44:05.320 --> 0:44:08.560
<v Speaker 2>about this culture in the Northeast. And New Jersey is

0:44:09.160 --> 0:44:13.560
<v Speaker 2>I believe, still the leading state for the number of

0:44:13.680 --> 0:44:15.120
<v Speaker 2>diners today.

0:44:15.800 --> 0:44:18.120
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. If you've ever watched Sopranos, let's set in New

0:44:18.200 --> 0:44:20.320
<v Speaker 1>Jersey and they're in diners like all the time.

0:44:21.160 --> 0:44:25.200
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, six hundred of the roughly two thousand diners still around,

0:44:25.840 --> 0:44:30.400
<v Speaker 2>as according to Smithsonian Magazine, are in New Jersey. And

0:44:30.760 --> 0:44:33.319
<v Speaker 2>maybe the Jerio Mahoney company being based there had something

0:44:33.320 --> 0:44:36.640
<v Speaker 2>to do with that, but they love their diners in Jersey.

0:44:36.920 --> 0:44:40.080
<v Speaker 1>Well, there you go, Jersey. This episode was for you.

0:44:41.080 --> 0:44:41.440
<v Speaker 2>That's right.

0:44:41.440 --> 0:44:45.399
<v Speaker 1>Can you get anything else? Nah, I don't either. Since

0:44:45.480 --> 0:44:48.520
<v Speaker 1>Chuck said Nan, I said, I don't either. That unlocked

0:44:48.880 --> 0:44:49.760
<v Speaker 1>listener mail.

0:44:51.320 --> 0:44:54.799
<v Speaker 2>Okay, I'm gonna call this buttons buttons buttons. We heard

0:44:54.840 --> 0:44:57.759
<v Speaker 2>from a lot of people about why buttons are for

0:44:58.760 --> 0:45:01.759
<v Speaker 2>traditionally for a man's garment and a woman's garment on

0:45:01.800 --> 0:45:04.840
<v Speaker 2>different sides. I had heard this, but I forgot Okay,

0:45:05.160 --> 0:45:08.240
<v Speaker 2>so thanks to everyone who emailed in. But we're going

0:45:08.280 --> 0:45:12.680
<v Speaker 2>with Sheila from Decatur, Georgia, because Sheila's right down the

0:45:12.719 --> 0:45:16.960
<v Speaker 2>street to as a long time Atlanta and uga Alum.

0:45:17.000 --> 0:45:19.560
<v Speaker 2>I love your show, guys, especially when you reference Atlanta

0:45:19.600 --> 0:45:23.239
<v Speaker 2>and Athens go Dogs. Regarding your mention of buttons on

0:45:23.320 --> 0:45:27.080
<v Speaker 2>the opposite side, women's clothes have traditionally been made with

0:45:27.200 --> 0:45:30.200
<v Speaker 2>enclosures on the opposite of men's because of upper class

0:45:30.320 --> 0:45:35.720
<v Speaker 2>royal women having assistants when getting dressed. Therefore, and people

0:45:36.040 --> 0:45:39.760
<v Speaker 2>being traditionally or not traditionally but predominantly right handed. Therefore,

0:45:39.800 --> 0:45:41.600
<v Speaker 2>the buttons would be fastened by someone on the other

0:45:41.719 --> 0:45:45.719
<v Speaker 2>side of the person wearing the clothes. I guess with

0:45:45.760 --> 0:45:49.279
<v Speaker 2>the assumption that actually working the button with your right

0:45:49.320 --> 0:45:53.879
<v Speaker 2>hand is more intuitive and easier than your left hand,

0:45:53.920 --> 0:45:57.320
<v Speaker 2>your non dominant hand, so more right handed people. Means

0:45:57.840 --> 0:46:00.560
<v Speaker 2>men were dressing themselves with a button the right and

0:46:00.600 --> 0:46:04.200
<v Speaker 2>women were dressed by other women with their buttons on

0:46:04.239 --> 0:46:04.720
<v Speaker 2>the left.

0:46:04.840 --> 0:46:08.760
<v Speaker 1>That's fascinating. Who is that? Who wrote that? Suzanne Vega?

0:46:09.120 --> 0:46:12.840
<v Speaker 2>That was Susanna, That was Shila, Chila Vegas, Susanne's sister.

0:46:13.120 --> 0:46:15.880
<v Speaker 1>Thanks a lot, Sheila. We appreciate that from you, and

0:46:15.920 --> 0:46:18.160
<v Speaker 1>a lot of people wrote in, So yeah, thank you

0:46:18.239 --> 0:46:21.120
<v Speaker 1>to everybody like you said. And if you want to

0:46:21.120 --> 0:46:23.560
<v Speaker 1>be like Shila and the whole gang and write to

0:46:23.640 --> 0:46:25.759
<v Speaker 1>us and tell us something interesting that we didn't know,

0:46:26.320 --> 0:46:28.759
<v Speaker 1>you can do it via email, send it off to

0:46:28.920 --> 0:46:40.480
<v Speaker 1>stuff podcast at iHeartRadio dot com.

0:46:41.920 --> 0:46:44.719
<v Speaker 2>Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For

0:46:44.880 --> 0:46:49.040
<v Speaker 2>more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

0:46:49.160 --> 0:46:51.000
<v Speaker 2>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.