The Reason Diners Were Booming During The Great Depression

The decline of the 24-hour diner is unfortunate but understandable. The presence of the diner in American life has as much to do with its social function as it does the food it serves (not to mention the copious amounts of diner coffee, which usually tastes different from your home brew). A diner is, ideally, a place where you can get a cheap meal and a cup of coffee at just about any time of day. That makes them an endangered species in our modern world, where cheap meals are the domain of fast food chains and it may not make economic sense to stay open twenty-four hours. Still, they served a vital purpose throughout the 20th century — including during the Great Depression, where their affordability made them a popular option during difficult economic circumstances.

The Great Depression, true to its name, was not an especially happy time for anybody. Many people went through their days not knowing when their next meal would come, and even those who were a little more secure suffered through some lean times. Diners were an ideal refuge from this pervasive hardship: not only did they offer hearty, inexpensive meals like meatloaf, hamburgers, and pancakes, but they were a warm, welcoming haven in a cold, hostile world where people could meet, dine, and commiserate. It wasn't all sunshine and coffee pots — several diner manufacturers shut down during the Depression — but diners helped Americans survive hard times, which meant the institution of the diner survived, too.

The Great Depression ended when the United States entered World War II, but that didn't mean the dark cloud over the nation's psyche lifted overnight. The attack on Pearl Harbor shocked and horrified the nation, and while entering the war boosted the economy, rationing measures and the fear of losing one's husband or son overseas meant the mood on the home front was unsettled, to say the least. But eventually, the war was won, and America sprinted headlong into an era of economic prosperity — one that had plenty of room for those trusty diners that helped the country through the Depression.

Postwar diners were shiny, happy places for shiny, happy people, overflowing with coffee and gleaming with Formica. They could now serve a clientele that had a great deal of money to spend, and diner chains, including Howard Johnson's and Bob's Big Boy (inventor of fast food's first double-decker burger), started to sprout up across the country. On top of that, the creation of the Interstate Highway System resulted in an explosion of roadside diners catering to drivers who needed a place to stop and eat. Eventually, fast food chains like McDonald's and Burger King started to fill the same niche, and classic diners began to recede — but hey, if they survived the Great Depression, they can survive anything, right?