Vintage Photos of Diners in the 1970s

Diners are magical places, spirit realms really; houses made with walls full of souls, stories, and legends. These magical luncheonettes, breakfast nooks, and late-night watering holes have been around forever for a reason: They bring us together.  

Feeling nostalgic for diners of the past? Jump into the time machine and take a look at these old photos of diners, all from the 1970s. 

F.W. Woolworth’s, one of the original five-and-dime stores, was just as well-known for its lunch counter as it was for its retail empire.  

The joy of a fresh cup of Joe poured from a human, smiling face feels like a thing of the past. Ordering off a screen will never feel like this. 

The woman in the photo is said to be Peggy Wright working at Trotter's Diner in Laguna Beach, California, in 1974, and she's sporting one of our favorite retro diner waitress uniforms.

What's a diner without a charming first date over milkshakes?

Much like Woolworth’s, Kresge’s, which would later become KMart, was designed to be a major shopping experience, and included a diner built right into it. 15 cents for a chicken salad sandwich is a steal. 

Keep the department-store-diner hybrids coming. This photo of Belk’s in Charlotte also has one of those handy cigarette vending machines in the corner. Maybe Starbucks inside of Target is the modern lunch counter in a five-and-dime? 

For the 70s, this New York diner had some pretty steep prices. $3.50 for a burger? That’s not too different from the stuff we’ve got going on today. New York, am I right? 

It’s wild to see a time when diner floors were spotless and people weren’t crammed into tiny booths. Those cups look eerily like some famous fast-food cups we have today. 

Nobody said running a restaurant was easy. This counter looks beaten down from a lifetime of fighting plates and elbows.

Cigarettes and coffee, as they say, is the breakfast of champions. Bonus nutrition points if somebody takes a photo of you this awesome. 

No actual building? No problem. Open your diner in a train car. 

Lums, a diner chain from Florida, made its way to Nassau in the 70s. Nice to see some diners on island time. 

Though the look and vibe of an American diner is completely different, the concept of a diner existed all over the world in the 70s. Imagine looking as cool with a mustache as this guy. I cannot. 

Here’s a diner in Tokyo in the 70s, even though it has very much the vibe of an American diner in the 50s. Nice milkshakes, boys. 

Remember when you could control the tunes? Those were the days. Great for pranking.