More Valentine History

In the 1920s the Ablah Hotel Supply Company not only had begun building small, portable lunchrooms, but it ran chains of restaurants in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Ablah Company may have turned out as many as two hundred buildings, including those they operated under the names Little Palace and White Crown. And at least one of those buildings had been built for Arthur Valentine's chain in Hutchinson.

The connection between Ablah and Arthur Valentine proved to be a fortuitous one. Valentine soon began working for Ablah as a salesman of portable lunch buildings while continuing to operate his Lunch System cafes. His employment with Ablah brought him into contact with Ablah's sheet metal workers, a fortunate connection for all involved. By the end of the 1930s the Ablahs wanted out of lunchroom construction, and Arthur Valentine stood ready to take over and continue the business under his own name.

Timing, though, was not on Valentine's side. As a new owner, he was only able to construct a few buildings before World War II made it impossible to acquire the materials necessary to produce the diners. As with many manufacturing businesses during the early 1940s, Arthur Valentine's would have to wait out the war.

Valentine Manufacturing Company formally incorporated in 1947, and with building materials now readily available, business took off. Arthur Valentine was finally his own boss. And it was gratifying knowing that part of the charm of the Valentine Diner was that owners of the new diners also had a chance to run their own businesses. A post-war sales brochure for the Valentine company in fact lauds the benefits of self-employment:

"The individual operator is assured of a permanent, self-sustaining revenue where he becomes his own boss and is not subservient to someone else. His immediate family may assist in the operation of each unit, as only two operators are required on each shift when it is running to capacity. During slow periods of business, one operator can do all the work and give good and efficient service, thereby holding the overhead to a minimum, with corresponding high profits."

Although the initial investment may have given pause to some new owners, Valentine enacted a system that made it easy for them to pay off the purchase price. Many diners were equipped with small wall safes located just inside the door. Operators would put a percentage of each day's profits in the wall safe, and a Valentine representative would make regular rounds, removing the payment from each diner on the route. Failure to make the payment brought the threat of, quite literally, removing the building.

A Valentine Diners ad from the 1951 Wichita City Directory.

How would you recognize a Valentine diner? They're best described as small boxes. Definitely not fancy and not even particularly attractive, the little square-sided structures were designed to be easily moved on flatbed trucks. Inside, stools were placed around a counter, which kept the customer out of the work area. There usually were no booths, and the size and design of the diner depended on the type of business the owner operated; operators who were willing to provide curb service needed their pick-up window situated away from the cook and/or dishwasher.

A 1948 ad in the Wichita Eagle implies that Valentine had already shipped buildings to 38 states, although this figure may also have included Ablah's business before the war. Each diner built by Valentine had affixed to one wall a small metal plate proclaiming it an official Valentine diner. The total number of diners in Wichita is not known, but 2,000 is a minimal estimate. And always thinking of new business opportunities, the astute entrepreneur also advertised a line of stainless steel restaurant fixtures. more

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