Walk Inside a 1938 Diner.
Booths, counter stools, neon glow — a roadside institution that almost didn't survive to tell its own story.
Where Diners Came From
Diners trace back to the late 19th century, when lunch wagons served workers on overnight factory shifts — by 1912, Providence, Rhode Island alone had about 50 of them rolling through its streets. Since the wagons had to be off the streets by morning, owners started parking them permanently on empty lots. They grew into "lunch cars," then "dining cars" serving all three meals — and by 1924, the word "diner" had entered everyday use. That train-car shape wasn't an accident; it was the whole design language diners grew out of.
This Diner’s Story
Fegely's Reading Diner was built in 1938 by the Jerry O'Mahony Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey — one of the era's premier diner manufacturers, in business from 1913 until 1950, closing for good in 1956. O'Mahony diners shipped complete: menu board, dishes, silverware, pots and pans, icebox, grill, even the cash register, all included. It served customers for decades in Exeter, PA, along Route 422, later expanded by the Fegely family. When it closed for business in 2003, it was slated for demolition — until the Archbury Foundation stepped in to save it. In 2009, it moved into the Museum, through a wall that had to be partially removed, carried the rest of the way by two forklifts.
Exterior
Interior Booth's & counter
The 2009 Move – Forklifts
Adopt This Piece – $1,200/Year
Includes signage recognition, a website listing, and a feature in Museum Musings.