Jerry O'Mahony History - Dining Car

Jerry O'Mahony, Inc

At the start of the dining car manufacturing industry, there were three company which "transformed the industry - and spawned from their ranks most of the subsequent companies.  These three companies were Jerry O'Mahony Company, Patrick J. Tierney & Sons and the Worchester Lunch Car and Carraige Manufacturing Company.  At the top of the stainless steel door, the Jerry O'Mahony manufacturing plaque proclaims, "In Our line, we lead the world."

In 1913, Jerry O'Mahony had a vision of a lunch car with every modern convenience, and with that partnered with John F. Hanf to manufacture lunch cars. Their first lunch car was built in a small garage in Bayonne and sold for $1,000 before it was completed. Jerry O'Mahony vowed to "construct the most beautiful and the most rugged lunch cars available," which he proved to one skeptical customer by ordering his factory workers onto the roof of a finished lunch car to prove that it could withstand the weight of harsh New England winter storm.

Jerry O'Mahony's early lunch cars were all barrel-roofed models, which was the industry standard throughout the teens and early twenties. Generally, these diners measured approximately ten feet wide by twenty-six feet long. The exterior walls were built of three-quarter-inch beaded pine paneling, which was custom painted with the business name and floral borders. The windows of these early models were typically etched with fancy floral designs or industry-defining slogans such as, "PURE FOOD CLEANLINESS. QUICK SERIVE AND POPULAR PRICES." Through the teens and early twenties, O'Mahony's included some equipment and supplies, but did not include a cash register, menu boards, dishes, silver, or pots and pans. By the mid 1920s all supplies were included. Behind the counter, Jerry O'Mahony, Inc. offered gas stoves, griddles, coffee urns, refrigerated glass display cases, and exhaust hoods. In 1928, the company manufactured 184 dining cars.

Due to the ever-growing popularity of diners throughout the 1930s and 1940s, there was a demand for larger diners with increased seating capacity. The introduction of steel into the framework made it possible for O'Mahony to manufacture these larger diners, some measuring sixteen feet wide by eighty feet long. During this same time, the popularization of industrial design had a major impact on diner design and transformed it from a small wooden wagon to the streamlined design of the of 1930-1940s.

The following excerpt is taken from a Jerry O'Mahony, Inc., advertisement circa 1940:

Jerry O'Mahony, Inc., builds dining cars to meet every individual requirement. Most popular among the many types of modern Jerry O'Mahony dining cars are the MONARCH and VICTORY. Modern in every particular, these dining cars are creating a sensation throughout the country. Both types have porcelain-enameled exteriors, trimmed with stainless steel. Bakelite or stainless steel doors and extruded Aluminum window sashes with Alumilite screens provide a sparkling exterior that requires no painting or redecorating.

The streamlined beauty of the exterior of any Jerry O'Mahony dining car is greatly enhanced by rounded corners; a feature developed by our engineering department with a view toward added attractiveness and durability. Both types of dining cars have ceramic tile floors and Bakelite ceilings. Side walls are of mosaic tile trimmed with lustrous Mexican mahogany. Every detail of these dining cars clearly demonstrates the careful planning and craftsmanship for which Jerry O'Mahony, Inc., is famous.

Jerry O'Mahony, Inc. manufactured approximately 2,000 diners. Jerry O'Mahony sold the company on October 4, 1950 and retired to Florida. The company stayed in business for another six years before sending out its last diner to South River, New Jersey, in 1956.