[Two years ago
this week, I moved to my new home in Waltham,
Massachusetts. Since then I’ve learned a lot more about the histories and
stories of this great town, and wanted to share a few of them this week,
leading up to a Guest Post from one of my favorite Walthamites!]
On the layers to
the ordinary history that surrounds us.
In 1999, Wilson’s Diner, a small restaurant
located on Main Street (Route 20) in Waltham, was added to the National
Register of Historic Places. That date marked the 50th
anniversary of the diner’s installation—not its construction, exactly, since
the diner was built by the Worcester Lunch Car Company
(only the 819th such diner built by WLCC) and delivered to its
location in 1949. As such, its continued existence helps connect us to a unique
moment in the history of American architecture and food service, as well as to
the ways in which American communities were created and evolved in the post-war
period, and I believe it richly deserves that National Register designation.
I can’t speak to
the diner’s original 1949 ownership, but having had a few meals there in the
last couple years, I can certainly testify to how much its current owner’s
identity connects to another complex, longstanding American history: the 20th
century explosion
and evolution of Greek diners. As with Vietnamese
nail salons and Korean
convenience stores, among the many other such ethnic sites and settings, the
link between Greek immigrants and families and diners has its stereotypical
or exaggerated side to be sure, but has also become a central and crucial part
of this American community’s histories and identities, one that has
significantly evolved but that remains a part of our 21st
century society. And one which, in my experience, literally greets all contemporary
customers at Wilson’s Diner.
Guest Post this
weekend,
Ben
PS. What do you
think? Any histories and stories from your hometowns you’d share?
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