Food for Thought: Idea for First Diner in US Cooked Up in Rhode Island

Walter Scott came up with the concept of a food wagon in the 1800s.

Friends eating fast food at the table in the diner
BGStock72
1 min read
Share
Friends eating fast food at the table in the diner
BGStock72
Food for Thought: Idea for First Diner in US Cooked Up in Rhode Island
Copy

Did you know that the good old-fashioned American diner originated in Rhode Island?

Walter Scott was a pressman in Rhode Island, working first for the Providence Evening Press and then for the Morning Star. His dream of being a young entrepreneur led him to quit his job, and in 1872 he began selling food out of a horse-pulled wagon.

That led to the diner as we know it today, perfected in the early 20th century by Jerry O’Mahony.

Get the full story in the reel below.

Handful of candidates emerge with declarations due May 29-30
Updated complaint asks federal judge to reinstate work visa, allow for immigration court proceedings for Dr. Rasha Alawieh
Supporters say the proposed course would empower students by centering underrepresented histories, despite political pushback from the Trump administration
Facing a $34 million budget deficit and a student body half the size it was in 2011, the Providence-based university says layoffs—mostly at its flagship campus—are needed to stabilize finances
At least 27 percent of staff who worked at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center when Trump took office are no longer with the agency. The Woods Hole lab is at the center of the regional fisheries operations
Joint study panel wants to increase the state’s five school bus districts to nine
The ACLU argues the Trump administration’s revival of the Alien Enemies Act to remove Venezuelans, including a Central Falls barber with a pending asylum claim, is unconstitutional and dangerously overbroad