Museum of Historic Vehicles to hold another popular Diner Day Nov. 5
The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles is serving up another Diner Day event on Saturday, Nov. 5 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Diner Day is one of the Museum’s most popular events. With the price of regular admission, guests will be able to sit inside the beautifully preserved Fegely’s Reading Diner and enjoy coffee and pie, which are available for purchase at 1938 prices -- that means a nickel for a cup of coffee and a quarter for a slice of pie. The Boyertown Museum would like to thank Jukebox Café, Saville’s Diner, Simply Sherry, and Spunktown Tavern for graciously supplying pies for this event.
Fegely’s Reading Diner is a well-known and fondly remembered icon in Berks County. Built in 1938 by the Jerry O’Mahony Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey, the Reading Diner was a freestanding eating establishment along Route 422 in Exeter Township until 1950, when owner Howard Fegely moved it across the road and built his Fegely’s Family Restaurant around it. Essentially cocooned for the next 53 years, the Reading Diner weathered the years beautifully, despite being literally in the middle of a busy restaurant. Upon Fegely’s Family Restaurant closing in 2003, the Reading Diner was rescued by the Archbury Foundation. In 2008, the Archbury Foundation donated it to the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles, where it serves as arguably the most popular exhibit in the gallery.
This will be the seventh Diner Day hosted by the Boyertown Museum, and it keeps growing in popularity. On Diner Day, visitors will also have the opportunity to spend time in the Museum gallery. Docents will be on hand to answer questions about the collection and give visitors further insight into the artifacts, including the newest additions to the Museum collection—a 1908 Pullman Light Touring Car built in York, Pennsylvania and a beautiful horsedrawn sleigh.
Also on display will be a 1942 Ford GPW Jeep on special loan to the Museum for an upcoming exhibit on World War II vehicles. Enjoy sounds of the 1930s and 1940s, courtesy of DJ Chuck Loggia, who will be set up in the gallery to keep patrons entertained while they are in line for their pie and coffee. Visitors will also have a chance to see the recently opened Jeremiah Sweinhart Carriage Factory. This 1872 building, which was the start of vehicle production in Boyertown, was opened to the public in September 2015. The carriage factory features horse-drawn vehicles that were built on site, as well as a fully functional machine shop with late 19th century era belt driven machinery. Also on hand will be a blacksmith giving demonstrations at a reconstructed blacksmith forge.
The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles is open seven days a week from 9:30 a.m.to 4 p.m. The Museum, located at 85 South Walnut Street in Boyertown, PA in a former factory building of the Boyertown Auto Body Works, preserves the transportation history of Pennsylvania and displays over ninety locally manufactured cars, trucks, carriages, motorcycles, sleighs, and other types of vehicles. Also on display are two examples of roadside architecture: a 1921 cottage style Sunoco gas station and the 1938 Jerry O’Mahony diner. Admission rates are $8 for adults, $7 for seniors and AAA. Ages 15 & under are free. For more information call 610-367-2090 or visit www.boyertownmuseum.org.