The Kearny Museum, 318 Kearny Ave., hosts author Michael Gabriele for a program on the history of New Jersey diners Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, at 11 a.m.
Gabriele has written two books on NJ diner history: “The History of Diners in New Jersey” and “Stories from New Jersey Diners.” The books document stories gathered throughout the “Diner Capital” of the world.
Diners and lunch wagons have been part of New Jersey life for 125 years, serving as beloved meeting places for their respective communities. (Horse-drawn lunch wagons were the ancestral precursors to modern diners and today’s food trucks.)
Kearny holds a special place in New Jersey diner history. Vivian Kelly and Clarence Bivens, among the pioneering founding fathers of the business, purchased and opened a lunch wagon in May 1913 near the intersection of Midland Avenue and Elm Street, near the newly reopened “Greeks.”
Kelly and Bivens later opened two diners in Kearny. The two chums, originally from upstate New York, were lifelong friends and business partners. Their honorable work ethic and business savvy paved the way for others to follow in the grand New Jersey diner tradition.
The books also pay 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. Thousands of diners were produced in the Garden State during the 20th century — the streamlined, stainless steel gems that are admired around the world and recognized as iconic examples of American industrial design.
Gabriele has written five books on New Jersey history.
A lifelong Jersey resident, Gabriele is a 1975 graduate of Montclair State University and has worked as a journalist, freelance writer and author for more than 40 years.
Visit Gabriele’s website www.mcgabrielenjbooks.com.
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.