Monday, February 6, 2012

new Ward & Dickinson in Connecticut?

Ward & Dickinson sent a few diners to Connecticut. Records have six diners spending some time in Connecticut in the past plus a seventh still around in Willamantic. Three of them moved on to different states, with one spending eight years in Connecticut before being foreclosed on and sold to sold to Silver Creek, NY resident Howard Hovey for $300. Hovey moved the diner to Columbia, Pennsylvania.
Diner #3(third diner built by the company) went to Niantic after spending time in Jamestown, NY and Mt. Jewett, PA. This would have been a wooden diner, so it probably did not last too long.
Arthur H. Young put a Ward in Waterbury, and advertised with a rare drawing of a Ward & Dickinson on their matchbooks. The diner was in Waterbury from maybe 1930 to about 1950. He also used the matchbook as seen here, which is a nicer drawing of a Ward & Dickinson.

The last Ward on my list comes from a photograph taken by a traveling salesman around 1932/1933. It shows a "new" Ward in Stratford. upon researching this diner, it turns out Homer R. Ladd put the diner there around 1932/3 before moving to Schenectady, NY two years later to run a diner and gas station. By the 1960s, the location became a restaurant, so the diner was either replaced or remodeled so greatly.

So why this look at Connecticut?
Well, it is because of this matchbook seen on EBAY. This is more than a simple drawing of a Ward & Dickinson diner, but this one shows some landscaping that Ward & Dickinson used after about 1929 on their company issued matchbooks. I am hoping that this is another company issued matchbook. So look for more information in the future as I research this diner. Hopefully I will have one more Ward & Dickinson diner to add to my list of about 200 plus diners. I know the company built at least 310 diners, and probably not many more, so each new one is big.

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