Mickey's Diner is an art deco-styled, dining car restaurant located in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota. It is located at 36 West 7th Street.

Mickey's diner

History change

The diner was built in 1937 by the Jerry O'Mahony Diner Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey.[1] Then it was shipped to Saint Paul by rail and installed in 1939.[2] The diner is 50 feet long by 10 feet wide. The 24-hour diner has operated non-stop since it first opened.[1] In 1983, the diner was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[3]

Pop culture change

The original Mickey's Diner appears in several Hollywood movies. These include The Mighty Ducks, Jingle All the Way, and A Prairie Home Companion.[4] The diner is also featured on the front and back cover of the 1985 self-titled, debut album of R&B singer, Alexander O'Neal. The diner appears in O'Neal's 1985 music video for the song, "Innocent", and in the 1991 Pet Shop Boys music video for the song, "Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You)".[5]

Pictures of the diner were in local and national newspapers for a different reason during the 2008 Republican National Convention in Saint Paul. Police confronted about two hundred protesters in front of Mickey's Diner. They made them leave by using tear gas, pepper spray, and flash grenades.[6]

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 Eric Dregni, Minnesota Marvels: Roadside Attractions in the Land of Lakes (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2001), p. 226
  2. Richard Gutman, American Diner Then and Now (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000), p. 210
  3. Michael Karl Witzel, The American Diner (St. Paul, MN: MBI, 2006), p. 142
  4. Holly Day, Sherman Wick, Walking Twin Cities: 34 Tours Exploring Historic Neighborhoods, Lakeside (Birmingham, AL: Wilderness Press, 2013), pp. 202–203
  5. "Minnesota - November 1, 2013". NHL.com. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  6. Fitzgerald, John (2016-01-07). "Mickey's Diner". MNopedia. Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved 2016-05-29.

Other websites change