American Diner Then and Now (Paperback)

~ Richard J. S. Gutman (Author) "The classic stainless steel, streamlined diner could not have been a glint in the eye of Walter Scott, of Providence, Rhode Island, when he trundled..." (more)
Key Phrases: diner builders, lunch wagon business, dining car company, New York, Worcester Lunch Car, Jerry O'Mahony (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A great guide. -- Los Angeles Times

Diners are quintessential Americana... offers a comprehensive view from their humble beginning to their heyday, decline, and revival. -- Baltimore Sun

Stuffed with facts and photos, including pictures of old menus, advertising and blueprints. -- Chicago Tribune

The next time you eat in a diner, thank Richard J. S. Gutman for the experience. -- Wall Street Journal

Review

"The next time you eat in a diner, thank Richard J. S. Gutman for the experience." -- Wall Street Journal

"Stuffed with facts and photos, including pictures of old menus, advertising and blueprints. Two directories in the back provide information on diner manufacturers and list, state by state, 1,400 operating diners." -- Chicago Tribune

"A great guide." -- Los Angeles Times

"Diners are quintessential Americana, and Mr. Gutman offers a comprehensive view from their humble beginning to their heyday, decline, and revival." -- Baltimore Sun

"The Bible, the Torah, and the Koran of diner lore, all in one handy volume." -- Hartford Courant

"A welcome revised and expanded edition of Richard Gutman's now classic American Diner.." -- SCA Journal

"Beautifully illustrated, generously designed, and very well written." -- The Flying Lady

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (October 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801865360
• ISBN-13: 978-0801865367
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #495,333 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4.9 stars, December 10, 2000

By	bruce horner (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This is actually the third edition of this work. In 1979, Gutman took the plunge with the simply titled "American Diner" published in hardback by Harper & Row. Done in collaboration with Elliott Kaufman and David Slovic, it was shorter and more loosely organized than the later edition, but a nice and welcome diner book at a time when there still weren't many such books around. In 1993 Gutman came out with "American Diner, Then and Now" which sported revised and substantially enlarged text and better-integrated photos (the Kaufman photo portfolios had also been dropped). This revamped '93 version was a high-water mark for diner books, a now numerous field. With it's perfect balance between individual diner stories ("dinerlore"), photos, and history, and great attention to detail which bespeaks a real love of the subject, this has been an unofficial bible for diner afficionados for the last 7 years.

Now here is the 2000 edition, published in paperback by Johns Hopkins (apparently Barry Levinson's hometown has more interest in diners than the folks at Harper). This is basically just a reprint of the 1993 edition, with a different cover, a new introduction, and a few names added to the diner index at the end. While on the one hand it's great that this modern classic is available again (it had been out of print for several years) I had hoped that there would be some new material in it. To be sure, this book still teaches you how to tell a Paramount from a Mountain View, or a Fodero from a Worcester Lunch Car, and makes a fine gift (Christmas or otherwise) for someone who doesn't have the '93 edition. Nevertheless, at the risk of sounding like an ingrate, I would have to say I slightly prefer the '93 edition, mainly because the cover photo, an interior shot of a restored Worcester Lunch Car, with all that luscious wood, is more attractive than the rather bland shot of Ford's Diner that graces the cover of the 2000 edition. But make no mistake, if you don't have any diner books and are looking for a good one, this is THE one to get----and if you've already got five other diner books, you should still get this, as it has the clearest explication of American diner history you're ever likely to read.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best history of an american icon i have read!, August 23, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: American Diner: Then and Now (Paperback)

gutman has updated his earlier book to make this one more interesting to the casual reader. Those of us who have an intrest in the history find this to be the consumate source of information. all he could do to improve this is add more pictures both interior and exterior. Gutman has preserved an American ICON forever

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A complete history of diners, March 18, 2005

By	Richard J. S. Gutman - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As the author of this book, I beg to differ with the reviewer who said there are no menus reproduced. In fact, five typical menus are illustrated, dating from the "dog wagons" of the 1890s to the "blue plate specials" featured in the 1950s and '60s.

This is not meant to be a cookbook or recipe source for diner food, but it does list hundreds of diners and their addresses where the reader can go and sample the real thing.

This is a history of diners that traces their development from horse-drawn lunch wagons to the neon-trimmed, stainless steel diners of today.