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Gabriele’s books, published by The History Press, tell the story of New Jersey’s diner business and the evolution of the great American diner phenomenon.
Friendly, familiar beacons on the Garden State’s highways, byways and downtown business districts, diners play an important role in New Jersey’s culture and community life, and serve as the ultimate egalitarian dining experience. Gabriele’s book gathers important pieces of the historical puzzle (people, events, places, dates, facts and figures) and assembles them into a cohesive narrative that traces New Jersey’s diner history.
Along with tales of noteworthy diners of the past and present, the book pays tribute to New Jersey as the diner manufacturing capital of the world during the 20th century. This was the period when diners were designed and built in factories as engineered products—much like cars and planes.
The Garden State was the “factory" that built thousands of diners during the 20th century—the streamlined, stainless steel gems that are admired around the world and recognized as iconic examples of American industrial design. Most of the major U.S. diner builders were based in New Jersey. The state’s diner manufacturing sector is extinct; a forgotten chapter of New Jersey’s history. Today virtually all current diners in the Garden State and beyond are site-built structures.
More than just roadside attractions that serve coffee, pie, hamburgers and French fries, diners are a vibrant part of the state’s culture, history, commerce and mythology. Many classic, factory-built, stainless steel diners have survived and continue to operate throughout New Jersey as landmarks and architecturally significant structures in the state’s “built landscape.”
A lifelong New Jersey resident, Gabriele has been a journalist for more than 40 years, and is a 1975 graduate of Montclair State University. He's written five books on New Jersey history, all published by The History Press.
AGE GROUP: | Older Adults | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Local History | In-Person | History | Author Talks |
