We had them in "Woolworths". I would want my mom to pick something up there just so we could sit at the counter and eat something. They've long since been gone too.

Yes, there was one on practically every block in my old Brooklyn neighborhoods.
The difference between a "luncheonette" and a "candy store" was that the former had a grille, and the latter didn't. Coca-Cola practically had an armlock on the business of both. Typically, Coke put two big, round signs over the corners of their windows. We kids used to throw Spaldeens against the signs, which would make a huge, gonging crash like the beginning of a J. Arthur Rank movie. It'd drive the proprietors wild. The soda dispensing machines looked like Evenrude outboard motors. Coke also supplied the luncheonettes with decorative cards that were hung up over the grill, showing the various dishes they'd serve: hamburger, Virginia ham sandwich, etc., each with a Coke logo and a blank circle to fill in the price. The local Mob guy supplied the jukebox.

That reminds me of the pharmacy young George worked at in "It's a wonderful life". That might be considered an ice cream shop instead of a candy store though.

I remember going to the one in my neighborhood when I was young to get the 5 cent pencils. They came in all variety of rainbow and swirling colors.

The pharmacy-as-ice-cream-parlor seemed to be a small-town item. In NYC, if memory serves, only the Rexall chain had a counter for sodas and ice cream.

Most drug stores had counters where you could get great shakes, ice cream, hot dogs, burgers, a few kinds of sandwiches, and my favorite, Coke made with syrup and carbonated water. I would always ask for extra syrup!

My dad was a pharmacist (we used to call them druggists) in the Bronx, and he worked in a Rexall store until the late 1960s. He started there as a soda jerk while he went to college, so he made the best egg creams!

On the other corner of his block, there was Sal's Lucheonette, where he ate lunch almost every day.

Yes, I remember we also had these diners in a major department store downtown. Their shakes/malts always tasted good. One time my brother, at about 12/13 or so was having a soda or sundae or something of the sort at the counter. They were either fixing or putting in a new whipped cream dispenser/handle or whatever. They were testing it, and kept asking him if they could put more whipped cream on his soda. Ha ha...he says "heck ya." He loved it. To this day we still tease him about it.

TIS

Mob guys supplying jukeboxes? I find that very hard to believe!


"We were supplying jukeboxes to the local candy stores -- when you were a baby -- the trucks, owned by your father."

Over in the GENERAL DISCUSSION Thread TIS started a topic and posted a link to a website that has all different kinds of links to various oldies sites, 50's cars, music, etc. And one of the links is to the American Diner Museum. So I thougt that I would provide a link to that Diner Museum site in this topic.

AMERICAN DINER MUSEUM

LUNCH COUNTER PHOTO

Thaat's a classic.

Klyd, or anyone else for that matter, if you're up tonight at 10:00 PM check out the Food Network's Episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

Tonight he's going to some burger places that include burgers made from fresh-ground steak available in 16 varieties at a place in San Fran; stuffed burgers and vinegar-blanched hand-cut fries that are a signature dish of a place in Minnesota ; and 10-to-the-pound sliders, topped with almost anything, from a place in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is also known for their legendary fried onion rings.

Those lunch counters bring back great memories. While the one I used to go to wasn't that large, I can still see the red swivel chairs and the jukebox in the corner and the big coca cola sign. It makes me feel like wearing a skirt and bobby socks.

I saw the last 20 minutes of the show... those burgers in San Francisco looked awesome (as did the onion rings in Michigan).

They weren't playing "Don't stop believing" were they?

No, but now they're showing a bar-b-que show.... I REALLY better turn this off. I'm getting hungry.

Damn... that Chicago place looks good.

Anyone from the area ever try Smoques??

I too watched the diner show. Looked goodand I'll tune in again.

Didn't they look fantastic? My goodness!



Next Episode : January 25th 9:00PM

Open 24/7
Guy Fieri goes 'round the clock at some great joints with great food at any hour of the day: The San Diego diner where they're flying fresh seafood in from New England; the 68-year-old Chicago institution where 3 a.m. means veal parmesan and short rib dinners; and the Philadelphia diner that's still doing scrapple and creamed chipped beef.


Then at 9:30 -

Local Flavor
Guy Fieri hits the road to find some of the best local favorites in the country: Off the hook chili from a secret family recipe at an 85-year-old Seattle joint; Crab cioppino and artichoke soup at a more than 100-year-old California bar-turned-restaurant, with a produce garden of its own; and an Oklahoma joint on Rt. 66 that serves some of the most bizarre local favorites you've ever seen.

Blibble, are you familiar with this place by any chance?

Some Diners Drive-Ins and Dives You Tube Videos

SMOQUES IN CHICAGO BBQ


GOSHEN INDIANA SOUTH SIDE SODA SHOP


BREAKFASTS



MIKE'S CHILI PARLOR SEATTLE


SEASIDE EATS

I just had an "accident" watching that one again.

That looks SOOOOO good!!

Those do look awesome. I wonder if they ship them via Fed Ex.

Attention Geoff!!! Attention Geoff!!!

On January 28th Diners Drive-Ins and Dives be airing a show called The New Jersey Diner Tour where he'll be taking a New Jersey diner-intensive road trip.

In the show he checks out what's called a cyclops pancake with a fried egg in the middle at Mustache Bill's Diner on Long Beach Island; homemade hash at the Hightstown Diner; legendary burgers at White Manna in Hackensack; homemade moussaka at Jefferson Diner in Lake Hopatcong; scratch-made pie at Ritz Diner in Livingston; and nightcaps with an Orange Martini made with Tang at the Skylark Diner in Edison.


If you're interested :

AIR TIMES:
January 28, 2008 10:00 PM ET/PT
January 29, 2008 1:00 AM ET/PT

I cought the last 15 minutes of this show last night. It actualy kept my attention. I'll watch it again.

Pizza or SB -

Either of you ever been to or hear of this place? It was featured on an episode of this show and got rave reviews.


MO GRIDDER'S located on
Hunt's Point Ave. in the Bronx?

That is one piss-poor hellhole of a neighborhood. You wouldn't want to take your family there. You and me, on the other hand, is a different story.

The location is Hunt's point. I take it it's not beaver they're hunging.

You REALLY wanna be a New Yawker.... two points for knowing that its the "Point". (How'd you know that, and know the area's reputation??)

Actually there's a lot of "beaver" for sale up in Hunt's Point The Bronx. Don't you have HBO?