I remember a street with a large Island that separated traffic traveling in opposite directions. What struck me was this little diner that stood there on that island. This particular model was called the "Little Chef" and it was manufactured by the Valentine Diner Company out of Wichita, Kansas.

The diner featured ten stools and a to-go window. In 1938 Authur Valentine made his dream of building affordable portable steel sandwich shops a reality. They sold for about 9 thousand dollars. It was this exact model where I had my first job when I was thirteen. The place was called the "Burger Bar". It was a small chain of nine diners in the San Fernando Valley, California.

My brother "Mel" was the head cook and he would park his hot red 1955 Chevy out in front to attract all the local hot rodders. The Idea seemed to work because all hours of the day or night all the local car guys would show up to show off what they were building. It was while I was working there that I Bought my first hot rod, a 1937 Ford. The work was very hard but you could always depend on some hot rod to show up and rap the pipes and we would go out to investigate. (Kent Bash -- oil on canvas 1997)