Introduction
July’s Ancient Hixtory discussed the Hub Diner on East Marie Street, which appears to have been the first “dining car” eatery in Hicksville. That was nearly a century ago. In contrast, the latest incarnation of Hicksville’s Empire Diner is shown above. While this article is not going to cover the entire 90-odd years since the Hub began, it should get us, at least superficially, through the 1930s and 1940s, and then use the Empire as a lens for looking at the fast-changing world of 1950s Hicksville.
Now, back to the Hub Diner for a moment. Pete Foster, HHS Class of 1957, has shared with me some first-hand memories of a few local diners, for which I’m very grateful. He told me that John Dounelis, son of the owners of the Hub, was a member of his graduating class. Pete also mentioned that he and his late wife, Alice Davidson (HHS Class of 1959), first met in the youth program at Trinity Lutheran Church on Nicholai St. Later on, after attending services at the Church on Sundays, they would go out to eat nearby, not at the Hub, but at the Empire Diner.
Alice Davidson, 1959
Pete Foster, 1957
John Dounelis, 1957For downtown 1950s Hicksville to have boasted two diners less than a quarter mile apart may seem odd to you, but consider this: there actually were THREE diners in the neighborhood. At that time, the Broadway Diner stood about 100 yards north of the Empire. Let’s look at how the local “dinerscape” had evolved after the Hub got going.
