Harvard Library acquires copy of ‘Green Book’
Houghton Library’s 1949 edition of “The Green Book.” Photos by Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer
From The Harvard Gazette: Black travelers often struggled to find hotels, restaurants, and other needed services during the Jim Crow era of segregation. So that they might “travel without embarrassment,” New York City postal carrier Victor H. Green created a tour book in 1936 for African Americans on the road.
“The Negro Motorist Green Book,” its pages filled with addresses of businesses friendly to Black travelers, became an invaluable annual guide during its nearly 30 years of publication. The Green Book was not widely known outside of African American communities, and it faded from view after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination in public accommodations.
There has been a resurgence of interest in the guide in recent decades, owing in part to the growth in academic attention to the history of African Americans in the 20th century as well as the 2018 eponymous feature film and 2019 documentary. Original copies of the book have become hard to find.
“Neon Sign Park” unveiled in Granite City
From Fox2Now: ST. LOUIS — It’s a blast from the past at the corner of Delmar and 19th St. in Granite City, IL. A reimagined storefront neon sign from popular businesses from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s is brought back to life at the city’s new neon sign park.
“We are just bringing a little piece of that history back to life,” Brenda Whitaker, the Granite City tourism director, told Fox 2 Thursday.
The project was put together by the Great Rivers and Routes Tourism Bureau, Illinois Tourism and Granite City in seven months.
A century-old building with a rich Hollywood history was named a monument. Then it went up in flames
From KCAL: Once home to a luxury steakhouse frequented by stars like Mae West, a century-old building on the outskirts of downtown Los Angeles went up in flames during the early morning hours Saturday.
First opened in 1921, the Pacific Dining Car restaurant was housed inside a replica of a railway train car, lending a unique atmosphere to what would become a favorite of Old Hollywood. Over the next nearly 100 years, it was a fixture of fine dining in LA and a filming location for television shows and movies including 1974’s “Chinatown” starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway and the 2001 film “Training Day” with Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke.
The restaurant would become known as a swanky spot for local politicians and celebrities, with its pricey prime steaks and vast wine collection. The late Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold wrote in 1990 that the restaurant “prices its steaks out of the reach of anybody but six-figure businessmen.”
The famed diner that never closes abruptly shutters
The 24-hour Silver Crest Donut Shop stood on Bayshore Boulevard near Bernal Heights since at least the 1970s. Source: Astrid Kane/The Standard
From The San Francisco Standard: The Silver Crest Donut Shop, whose red neon sign has boasted “We never close” for as long as fans of 24-hour doughnuts can remember, is no more.
A Facebook post from early Tuesday morning shows that the diner on Bayshore Boulevard along the eastern edge of Bernal Heights has been boarded up. The phone line has been disconnected.
For much of its long run, the cash-only Silver Crest was one of the most peculiar restaurants in San Francisco, like something from a David Lynch film. The fluorescent light was tinted blue-green. Long-silent jukeboxes crowned most of the booths, and the pinball machines were usually broken. Nominally an all-night breakfast spot, the restaurant had a menu that included a fried ham sandwich for $11.95, Sanka for $2.95 and a hot snail (a sticky pastry, not escargot) for $2.95.
Historic North Jersey Diner Re-Opens This Weekend, After Renovations
The team at the renovated Mr. G’s Diner outside the restaurant during a ribbon-cutting Friday. (Photo courtesy of Foxtrot Media for Mr. G’s)
From Patch.com: PATERSON, NJ — The well-known Mr. G’s Diner is opening its doors again in Paterson, continuing a long tradition of serving up classic food and providing a place for community members and friends to gather.
After a ribbon-cutting on Friday morning, the vintage eatery at the corner of 10th Avenue and 18th Street will be celebrating its grand re-opening on Saturday and Sunday with dining hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Menu items will include diner favorites such as wings, sandwiches, breakfast dishes, and desserts — along with oxtails, loaded fries, and chicken and waffles.
Miniature Route 66: The story behind the Adirondack roadside attraction
The miniature Route 66 village in its new downtown Speculator location. Photo by Arietta Hallock
From the Adirondack Explorer: Mini Route 66, a small-scale replica in an unassuming park corner, has brought a touch of roadside attraction and Americana charm to the town of Lake Pleasant, NY, since 2016. Yet there is one thing more charming than its painted window shades, vintage furnishings and hand-carved Adirondack signage– the history of how it got there.
The story begins in the 1920s with a young John Van Buiten. It was during that decade that the New Jersey native started attending Camp of the Woods, a local Christian family camp, and fell in love with Lake Pleasant. After many years of annual visits, he bought a summer home there. It later became the backdrop of his retirement from a long career in carpentry. Yet even in his 80s, Van Buiten’s granddaughter Jamie said he wasn’t ready to set down his tools.