We are very retro around here 🙂 Most old stuff just gets maintained. Not much growth, so you see a lot of stuff that’s has disappeared in more prosperous areas.
Most of it isn’t going anywhere. Growth in this area is slow. Lots of unemployment, lots of poverty. That’s good news for a lot of old places. There’s no reason to knock them down. The property isn’t valuable enough to bother. Some things have been sold because owners got old and no one wanted to work the business any longer, but comparatively speaking, most of our historical places are hanging on, at least for now. Some of the mills have burned down but more have been restored and turned into condos and/or elderly housing. Or affordable housing.
I guess that is the way things are going now a days.
We are suffering from unemployment as well. Our government has a foreign workers program that lets the multinationals bring migrant workers. The unemployed can’t even flip hamburgers anymore.
Leslie
I know things run in cycles. The recessions, depressions, bank failing … they’ve all happened before. But it’s hard to take the long view when you can’t pay your bills.
Cool 🙂 The hot dogs are really nothing special, but you can’t beat the price — still just $1.25 — and definitely not the atmosphere. LOVE the neon sign. Nice to know your name is still there because nothing ever changes in Worcester 🙂
We still have some, probably because we are where the diner was born (Worcester Dining Cars are the originals, shipped all over the country). We have one in downtown Uxbridge that’s so tiny (it’s an original Worcester Dining car and they were very small). It holds maybe 18 people including staff when it’s full up. But appearances notwithstanding, the food is really excellent. It’s just open for breakfast and lunch, though. You have to go visit Miss Mendon if you want supper 🙂
I’ll have onion rings with my cheeseburger, please. Oh… and a strawberry shake for dessert. My first job was working in a place just.like.this, albeit smaller. Nostalgia… and free access to soft serve ice cream. 😀
Places like this are MORE American than apple pie … and sometimes, the food is excellent too. In this case pretty good, but the ambiance is spectacular!
One little interesting sideline I’ve developed recently is photographing the interiors of buildings. I’ve taken HDR shots of touristy visitor centers, national landmark interiors and the nostalgic interiors of very old restaurants. I find the genuine artifacts that exist in these scenes fascinating and true relics of our past. I even had a chance to visit the legendary Sno-Cap Cafe on Route 66. I love your post and the collectable photos in it.
SERENDIPITY: SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this for years.
Leslie
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We are very retro around here 🙂 Most old stuff just gets maintained. Not much growth, so you see a lot of stuff that’s has disappeared in more prosperous areas.
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It’s sad to see some of it go.
Leslie
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Most of it isn’t going anywhere. Growth in this area is slow. Lots of unemployment, lots of poverty. That’s good news for a lot of old places. There’s no reason to knock them down. The property isn’t valuable enough to bother. Some things have been sold because owners got old and no one wanted to work the business any longer, but comparatively speaking, most of our historical places are hanging on, at least for now. Some of the mills have burned down but more have been restored and turned into condos and/or elderly housing. Or affordable housing.
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I guess that is the way things are going now a days.
We are suffering from unemployment as well. Our government has a foreign workers program that lets the multinationals bring migrant workers. The unemployed can’t even flip hamburgers anymore.
Leslie
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I know things run in cycles. The recessions, depressions, bank failing … they’ve all happened before. But it’s hard to take the long view when you can’t pay your bills.
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You would think we would learn from all this. But no we are destined to repeat our mistakes.
Leslie
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The moment I glanced at the first photo I thought, “That’s Coney Island Hot dogs in Worcester!” My name is on one of those tables…somewhere. 🙂
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Cool 🙂 The hot dogs are really nothing special, but you can’t beat the price — still just $1.25 — and definitely not the atmosphere. LOVE the neon sign. Nice to know your name is still there because nothing ever changes in Worcester 🙂
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I still love old fashioned diners, especially if I can get a malt rather than just a milk shake.
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We still have some, probably because we are where the diner was born (Worcester Dining Cars are the originals, shipped all over the country). We have one in downtown Uxbridge that’s so tiny (it’s an original Worcester Dining car and they were very small). It holds maybe 18 people including staff when it’s full up. But appearances notwithstanding, the food is really excellent. It’s just open for breakfast and lunch, though. You have to go visit Miss Mendon if you want supper 🙂
LikeLike
I’ll have onion rings with my cheeseburger, please. Oh… and a strawberry shake for dessert. My first job was working in a place just.like.this, albeit smaller. Nostalgia… and free access to soft serve ice cream. 😀
LikeLike
Places like this are MORE American than apple pie … and sometimes, the food is excellent too. In this case pretty good, but the ambiance is spectacular!
LikeLike
One little interesting sideline I’ve developed recently is photographing the interiors of buildings. I’ve taken HDR shots of touristy visitor centers, national landmark interiors and the nostalgic interiors of very old restaurants. I find the genuine artifacts that exist in these scenes fascinating and true relics of our past. I even had a chance to visit the legendary Sno-Cap Cafe on Route 66. I love your post and the collectable photos in it.
LikeLike
This place is a landmark! They haven’t changed anything since the 1930s. The hotdogs are okay and cheap, but you can’t buy atmosphere like that!
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