The Diner in the South

The diner was the preeminent restaurant type in the northeastern United States for approximately 20 years following World War II. Diners enjoyed such a high success rate that "diner men" contemplated expanding their market across the country. However, the diner never came close to achieving success outside the industrial belt of the North. This study presents reasons for the traditionally low popularity of the diner in the South. The ownership records of three dining-car companies provided information on owner names and diner locations. Fieldwork, supported by the use of city directories, involved a participant/observer approach in diners in the Northeast and Southeast. A short story by Agrarian author Robert Penn Warren is used to summarize the attitudes of southern migrant workers and conservative intellectuals. In the case of the South, data indicate that the diner was a symbol of the New South, standing for cities, industry, ethnicity, and the North—all threats to the traditional southern way of life.