KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Blue Moon Dinner in Kalamazoo celebrated its 20th anniversary on Wednesday evening.
The diner is a “Silk City Diner,” a division of the Paterson Wagon Company, which operated about 1,500 diner restaurants from 1926 to 1966.
These diners were once railroad cars with an average of 30 to 40 seats, according to Gilmore Car Museum historian Jay Follis.
The Blue Moon Diner was once one of these establishments, located outside of a factory in Connecticut in the early 1940s, but closed when the factory closed.
Decades later, the Turner family purchased the restaurant and reopened it in 2004 as the Gilmore Car Museum, an addition that Follis said contributed to their automotive theme.
“We looked at it and said, ‘We need to do something that ties it to the automobile,’ and it does indeed have a connection to the automobile,” Follis said. “It’s become this phenomenal thing and a great legacy for the Turner family to honor their parents.”
A celebration was held at the Gilmore Car Museum with the children and grandchildren of the original owner, as well as some of the original employees from when the restaurant first opened.
Follis added that the restaurant’s charm also comes from its long history.
“The drive-thru opened in 1974, which is 1941,” Follis said. “Someone was probably sitting in that place on December 7, 1941, when they heard about Pearl Harbor or President Kennedy.”
Those in attendance had the opportunity to enjoy coney dogs, BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, milkshakes and frozen custard.
