I have weird fascination with the era and the copasetic font that many places used at the time. With my story that takes place in modern times, how can a place like this be set up in the story? How do you make a dining scene like this a slam dunk scene? By that I mean it is hit out of the park with great imagery and all that.
I always liked the telephones they would bring to the table on a tray when a guest got a call... prob more 50s/60s, but you get the idea.
Wow! Those pictures give me goosebumps, it's just a frozen moment in time captured on a piece of paper. From the 1940s! Time of The Greatest Generation.
I didn't know how else to really describe what you wanted, so I went a pic hunting. Now we both know. It is always neat to see pics of the past, and wonder what it would be like to live back then. Probably a lot simpler without all this junk we over use today to distract ourselves. #WeNeedATimeMachine
We certainly do. I'd go back to the 40s (second world war), 50s (the golden years), and then 60s (most of the best music the world has ever seen came along here). I'm working up a dining scene at a 40s restaurant in my story. Not needed, but I like having it. 25ยข burgers and jukebox jazz music with a muted trumpet lead-man.
What's the restaurant mean to your mc? If he thinks it's a cool place let him slant the way the details should flow. Also what's the mood you want to set for the scene? If the characters are going there to talk over shady business than the details could reflect that. Like Deniro in Ronin checking the diner to ensure he can slip out a back exit if his meeting is a double cross.
Not sure yet. To me, it just brings a special feeling, very difficult to describe. For the mood, not completely sure yet either, but something on the positive side though.
Pretty much this. The diner could be a retro-style throwback to bygone times; there should be a jukebox playing early Rock & Roll, Blues, Jazz, Big Band, and the crooners. On the menu should be burgers, chicken trips, mozzarella sticks, and other food items of that ilk; but no vegetarian or vegan dishes. They should have soda on tap, and ice cream floats for days. There should be booths along the walls, red leather and big cushy seats. A bar runs along the center of the room, with stools for people to sit at. The floor is a black-and-white checkerboard tile. Maybe theres a friendly and dainty young woman behind the counter, laughing at inside jokes with the regulars. Something like that.