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"Cold drinks on the Fourth of July" at the Red Robin Coffee Shop in Vale, Oregon. The year was 1941. Can we stay just a little longer? View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration.
Washington, D.C., circa 1919. "Lunch cars. One of the greatest foes of the H.C. of L. [High Cost of Living] in Washington has been the lunch wagons selling 20 cent box lunch, which is very popular with the Department clerks. A concerted effort has been made by the lunch room keepers to keep them off the street but so far without success." On the box: "Leoffler's Liberty Lunch 20¢" 4x5 inch glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size.
April 1941. "Lunch wagon for Negroes. Chicago, Illinois." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Edwin Rosskam for the Farm Security Administration.
March 15, 1917. Oklahoma City. Jack Ryan is 6-year-old newsie who lives at 126½ West Reno Street. View full size. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine.
November 1937. Neon sign for Hector’s Palace of Sweets Cafe in Crosby, North Dakota. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the FSA.
Thanksgiving maskers outside a restaurant circa 1911, when a turkey dinner with all the fixings was 40 cents. View full size. George Grantham Bain Collection.
1950. Pete's Bar at Washington Market in Lower Manhattan. Photo by Al Aumuller, New York World-Telegram & Sun. View full size.
April 1941. Storefront church and adjacent lunch wagon in the Chicago Black Belt. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Edwin Rosskam.
"Giant." Big man enjoying a cigar and glass of beer in a New York tavern circa 1908. View full size. George Grantham Bain Collection.
On the left, champion wrestler and vaudeville impresario Ernst Roeber (1861-1944) and his Manhattan saloon at 499 Sixth Avenue around Easter 1908. 8x10 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. Roeber (aka Ernest or Ernie) also operated a cafe in the Ridgewood section of Brooklyn.
April 1936. "Sunday dinner. Jackson, Ohio." 35mm nitrate negative by Theodor Jung, Resettlement Administration. View full size.
February 1939. Corpus Christi, Texas. "Soda jerker flipping ice cream into malted milk shakes." View full size. Photo by Russell Lee. And make mine a double.
October 1939. Tavern on main street of potato town during harvest season. Merrill, Oregon. View full size. Photograph by Dorothea Lange.
5 cent restaurant in New York's Bowery circa 1910. View full size. 8x10 glass negative, G.G. Bain Collection. What you get for your 5 cents at the People's Restaurant: Stew, Pork & Beans, Oatmeal & Milk. "All with bread & coffee."