The_American_Diner

The American Diner Andrew Hurley’s classic essay “From Hash House to Family Restaurant: The Transformation of the Diner and Post-World War II Consumer Culture” describes the rise of the American diner and its coinciding idea of American Society. Hurley attempts to show similarities between American culture at the time and the change of how people view public dining. With the end of World War II a new consumer based society emerged. This created a large middle class with emphasis on the nuclear family. Due to these changes in the household many people began to look at things differently. The American diner then and now is a perfect example of these changes. The diner we know today contains qualities that are very attractive to people of all walks of life. Fast friendly service, decent food, cheap prices, and its clean cut appearance can interest anyone with an empty stomach. However this diner as we know it did not come easily. As with many things it has evolved over time adhering to what the public wants and what can sell. In the essay Hurley describes the beginning of diners to come from an evolution of lunch trucks outside dense commercial and industrial work sites. Visited diner, time, people, began, family, diners, society, idea, due, industry, essay, counter, american, trucks, restaurant, out, lunch, know, hurley, golden, gate, change, came, about, able, workers, war, wanted, same, place, owners, nuclear, now, noticed, men, lot