Classic American diners have a distinctive look — long, narrow, gleaming with stainless steel, like a train car that pulled off the tracks and started serving coffee. What's the real reason so many diners are shaped that way? They were required by zoning laws to be narrow They were built in factories and had to be narrow enough to ship whole They were all converted railroad dining cars Narrow buildings stayed warmer in winter None In 1948, a former caterer named Harry Snyder opened a tiny hamburger stand in Baldwin Park, California, with an innovation nobody had seen before — one that let drivers order without ever leaving the car. What was it? A conveyor belt that carried food to the curb Carhops on roller skates A two-way speaker box for drive-thru ordering A vending machine that dispensed hot burgers None Walk into a diner in the 1930s and the menu board might advertise a "blue-plate special" — a full meat-and-two-sides meal at a bargain price. What actually made it a *blue-plate* special? It was served on cheap blue-patterned plates, often with divided sections "Blue" was diner slang for Monday, when the special ran The plates were tin, and turned blue from the oven heat It honored the blue ribbon at the state fair None The space-age look of 1950s roadside America — upswept roofs, starburst signs, boomerang angles, walls of glass — has an official name: Googie architecture. Where did that odd name come from? A Los Angeles coffee shop called Googies The designer's childhood nickname A comic-strip robot popular in 1952 Slang for "gawking" at flashy buildings None The Wurlitzer 1015 hit diners and soda fountains in 1946 and became the best-selling jukebox of all time — the curvy, glowing machine most people picture when they hear the word "jukebox." What was its most famous eye-catching feature? A miniature dancing figurine on top Bubbles rising through lighted tubes around its arched frame A window showing a tiny mechanical band It changed colors in time with the music None Stumper. In 1923, Los Angeles car dealer Earle C. Anthony came home from Paris with two glowing signs unlike anything America had ever seen — the country's first commercial neon. Crowds gathered, and drivers reportedly stopped in the street to stare at what newspapers called "liquid fire." What did those first neon signs advertise? Coca-Cola A downtown movie palace Packard automobiles A Hollywood hotel None Time's up
