In the 1920s, when southern Italian immigrants brought their tradition of heavily sweetened coffee to Rhode Island, coffee milk was born. The beverage is so popular in Rhode Island that on March 30, 1993, the Rhode Island State Legislature designated coffee milk as the official state drink. Between 1898 and 1932, nearly 55,000 Italian immigrants arrived at the Port of Providence, in spite of limitations imposed by federal laws which discriminated against immigrants from outside northern Europe. Many Italian immigrants worked in the textile mills at low wages while introducing the state to their culinary traditions. As soda fountains and diners developed across the state, coffee milk moved from immigrant kitchens to diner menus. A soda fountain operator developed a coffee syrup by sweetening leftover coffee grounds with milk and sugar to create a molasses-like extract that, when mixed with milk, became coffee milk.
People also made coffee milk at home by mixing milk with the coffee syrup themselves. Coffee milk should not be confused with a cabinet, a drink made from milk, ice cream, and flavored syrup blended together. The blender used to make them was stored in a cabinet, giving the drink its name. If you ask for a milkshake in Rhode Island, you will receive milk shaken with flavoring, either powder or syrup, but no ice cream.
Two companies, Autocrat and Eclipse, quickly began producing the popular coffee syrup used to make coffee milk at home and in restaurants. Autocrat and Eclipse maintained a decades-long rivalry as each other’s primary source of competition. Founded in 1914, Eclipse began producing syrup in the 1920s and started selling it to consumers in 1938 when retailers, in addition to restaurants, began selling their syrup. Based in Warwick, Eclipse popularized their product with the slogan “You smack your lips if it’s Eclipse.” In the 1940s, Autocrat, based in Lincoln since 1895, countered with their own marketing campaign: “A swallow will tell you.” Although they acquired Eclipse in 1991, Autocrat continues to manufacture and market both brands. Newer local brands like Dave’s Coffee and Morning Glory offer syrups with no artificial colors, sweeteners, or high fructose corn syrup and show that contemporary Rhode Islanders still crave the long popular state drink, coffee milk.
]]>Step through the doors of the Modern Diner, slide into a window booth or snag a stool at the counter, and order two eggs, toast, and a side of hash browns. Order up!
In 1940, the Modern Diner opened on Dexter Street in downtown Pawtucket. Patrons could choose a booth along the diner’s windows or perch on one of the stainless steel stools that lined the narrow countertop separating the diners from the small galley kitchen. The Modern Diner quickly became a bustling breakfast hub serving up large plates of eggs, bacon, pancakes, and daily specials including the Rhode Island favorite, the “Cabinet,” a coffee flavored drink akin to frappes or milkshakes.
Small prefabricated eateries began to appear in American cities in the early twentieth century, replacing traditional food wagons as a source of casual cuisine. By the 1920s, the term “diner” had entered popular lexicon. Diners reflected popular styles, and by the 1930s, many diners featured aerodynamic shapes, curving silhouettes, and bright chrome accents – all hallmarks of the “Streamline Moderne” style of the Art Deco movement. Inspired by the sleek trains that crisscrossed the country, particularly the elegant new “Zephyr” trains of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad, designer Roland Stickney created the “Sterling Streamliner Diner.”
From 1939 until 1942, Sterling Streamliner diners were fabricated by the J.B. Judkins Coach Company, of Merrimac, Massachusetts, a company primarily known for its custom car bodies. Sales of diners offered an alternative market for companies affected by the decline of automobile sales during the Great Depression. Selling at around $15,000, Judkins’ Sterling Streamliners were the ultimate diner, with porcelain-clad exteriors and interiors accented with mahogany trim. They were built in four-foot modules that could be easily shipped and assembled at their final destination. Advertisements even marketed this feature with the claim that additional sections could be added as patronage increased. Unfortunately, only seventeen Sterling Streamliners diners were produced before the United States’ entry into World War II curtailed most civilian industries.
Today, the Modern Diner is one of only two Sterling Streamliners still in operation. It gained widespread recognition in 1978, becoming the first diner added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Modern Diner also gained notoriety after attracting the attention of Disney. In the early 1990s, Walt Disney Company sold thousands of shirts featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse standing before the Modern Diner and its iconic neon sign. While attempting to tap into the origins of Americana, the company overlooked copyright laws and soon after, the owners of the Modern Diner filed suit against Walt Disney Company and won.
At first glance, the Modern Diner retains its historic 1940s appearance. After it was moved to East Avenue in the 1980s, however, an additional structure – containing modern amenities like an expanded kitchen and restrooms – was attached to the rear of the diner. Although the diner’s menu has expanded over the years to meet the tastes of new clientele, the traditional diner fare of breakfast is still their specialty.
Ready for breakfast?
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