Rhode Island Diners Today

Product Detail:

Walter Scott created the first "diner" in 1872 in Providence, Rhode Island. It was a horse-drawn cart that he parked beside the sidewalk in front of the Providence Journal building. He equipped it so he could sell food to the night shifts of employees through a window. In 1887 Thomas Buckley began the first commercial production of lunch wagons in Worcester, Massachusetts.
     In 1893 a widowed Anne P. Haven opened her own horse-drawn lunch wagon on the corner of Dorrance and Washington Strets in Providence. It was a "White House Cafe" manufactured by Thomas Buckley. She named it Haven Brothers Diner because all her brothers helped her run the business.
     Rhode Island Diners Today spotlights 50 diners remaining in the state the author located after a great deal of research. He visited each one from Woonsocket to Wakefield and Burrillville to Block Island. The purpose of this book is simply to determine the location of all the diners in Rhode Island. There was no intention to rate the food or service.
     This book gives a glance of the exterior of each diner and a few views of the interior. Each photograph is also accompanied by a brief narrative.
     Whenever possible the author has include archival photographs that the owners have been so gracious to loan for the inclusion in this book.