Classic Cody Diner Had Become A Chicken Coop, Now Restored To Its 1950s Glory

CODY — Park County Archivist Robyn Cutter has been following the cross-county connections of local historic buildings for years, but one stands out as particularly cool considering its amazing transformation.

When she first saw this tiny rectangle box of a building, it was a chicken coop. Now it’s been meticulously restored into the classic historic small-town diner it once was.

Now dubbed the Nifty Niner Diner, it’s not open to the public or has a short-order cook cranking out all-day breakfast anymore, but Cutter can still drop by anytime.

Cody resident Ken Quintiliani has made restoring the 1949 stainless steel boxcar original diner one of his many quirky passion projects. And he keeps adding to the plot with other equally neat and era-appropriate vintage artifacts.

During Cutter’s last visit, a 1959 Chevy Impala was parked in front of the restored diner when she arrived. Vintage gas pumps standing front of the stainless-steel structure with a massive Texaco sign looming nearby.

Quintiliani soon rounded the corner with another passion project, a fully restored white 1954 Corvette to add to the ambiance of the historic diner.

“Second year of production,” Quintiliani said. “They only made 3,200 of these.”

It’s almost like it’s right out of a scene form “The Andy Griffith Show,” except it’s in full color.

But the real surprise was waiting inside the restored diner.

“Wow, Ken, you’ve done a lot,” Cutter said, looking around at the restored inside of the tiny diner. “Last time, it was just the counter.”

Nine vintage stools line the curved counter, with a cigarette dispenser tactfully placed within reach at the corner. Signs, glasses and kitchen equipment adorn the walls, leading to a recently installed grill of the same vintage as the structure.

From floor to ceiling, it was like stepping back into Cody as it was in the 1950s.

Cody’s Nifty Niner

When Quintiliani bought the diner, he wanted to know its history. Cutter has been tracking it down since, from its Kansas creation to its current location.

“Ken and I were talking when he got this, and he wanted to start looking up its history,” she said. “So, I started following it.”

The stainless steel structure is a Valentine Diner, a prefabricated mail-order small diner produced in Wichita, Kansas. Hundreds of these small prefab diners once stood across the United States, particularly along the historic Route 66 during its heyday.

Arthur Valentine launched the Valentine Manufacturing Co. in 1947 when steel was readily available at the end of World War II. Within a year, Byron Hughes of Denver bought a Valentine Diner to open a drive-in lunchroom in Cody.

“This is a Nifty Nine because it has nine stools,” Quintiliani said. “This was the smallest one they made. Bigger ones had 12 stools or more, and they made blank buildings to do whatever you wanted.”

Hughes, who was married to the daughter of Park County Sheriff Frank Blackburn, placed his Nifty Nine at the corner of 12th Street and Beck Avenue, a block from the Cody Auditorium.

By 1948, Hughes System Hamburger Shop, and later Hughes Lunch Room, was open for counter and curb service.

In 1949, someone broke into the diner and made off with the cash register containing $200, a waffle iron, a 15-quart pressure cooler and $50 worth of stainless steel cookware. Hughes decided to make the most of it.

“Hey Thief,” read an ad in the Cody Enterprise. “If you will come back, we’ll give you the syrup to go with the waffle iron you stole Monday night.”

The thief was 18-year-old Harvey Wilder, a former employee. He served two years in jail for the burglary.

Diner Dash

According to Cutter’s research, Hughes sold his Nifty Nine diner in 1949. From there, it went on a convoluted journey throughout Cody and the Bighorn Basin.

Hughes System Hamburger Shop became Lusch’s Lunch in 1950. It was owned by Bill and Ester Lusch, who made the most of their surname for the business.

“That’s pretty comical,” Cutter said. “They serve short orders from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m.

One of the best-selling points of Valentine Diners was their portability. They were lightweight and could easily be moved to new locations with each new owner, and Cody’s Nifty Nine did its fair share of relocating.

Cutter’s research revealed that the Nifty Niner moved to multiple places under many names over the decades.

It was Jerry’s Luncheon when it moved next to the Silver Dollar Bar and The Reclamation Drive-In — “where the taste is proof!” — when it moved to the block where Pinnacle Bank now stands.

“They called it the Reclamation Drive-In because it was across the street from the Bureau of Reclamation buildings,” she said.

“Don’t Cuss, See Us … For the Best Food in Town,” read the Reclamation Cafe’s advertisement.

From there, the Nifty Niner moved to Meeteetse in the late 1950s. It became the Standard Café, next to the Standard Service Station.

This is where Cutter is still missing part of the diner’s history.

“This is the one puzzle piece we haven't confirmed,” she said. “We think it went to Greybull and became DeLane’s Cafe, but we can only guess.”

Cutter hasn’t found any archival evidence of the Nifty Niner going to Greybull. The only clue was a stack of DeLane’s Cafe menus Quintiliani found inside the diner when he bought it.

“There was a whole mess of these menus inside,” Cutter said. “We haven’t confirmed it yet, but why else would all these menus from a Greuybull cafe be sitting here?”

Cooped Up

Wherever Cody’s Nifty Niner went next, it eventually landed in Otto, the unincorporated community southwest of Greybull. That’s where Quintiliani found the dilapidated diner being used as a chicken coop.

Having an eye for the stainless steel stylings of the 1940s and 1950s, Quintiliani made an offer to buy it.

“They said they’d sell it for as much as they’d get for a shed,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “So, I paid $900 for it.”

The Nifty Niner was moved once again, taken to Quintiliani’s ranch near Cody. It was in rough shape, to put it mildly.

“There were no doors,” he said. “The counters were gone, the stools were gone. The mice were rolling out like it was the Titanic.”

Fortunately, the stainless steel structure was still solid. And a surprising amount of the interior was either salvageable or completely intact.

“The walls are the same and the windows are the same,” he said. “The backsplashes were both here. Actually, this white paint is the same, too. Just been scrubbed out.”

A time machine would be needed to bring back the luster of Cody’s Nifty Niner. Quintiliani decided to do what he could when he could.

Roadsign Service

More than two years later, Quintiliani hasn’t found a time machine to resurrect Cody’s Nifty Niner, but he’s pretty darn close.

The interior of the structure has been thoroughly cleaned up and resurfaced, floor to ceiling. An original counter has been installed with nine authentic Valentine Diner stools underneath it.

“They’re all original,” Quintiliani said. “I just dyed the tops.”

A coin-operated phone and a candy machine are mounted on the walls, and the interior is covered with vintage signage Quintiliani has collected over the years. He’s taken the liberty of installing sinks with running water (something the diner never had before), LED lights for the original fixtures, a small refrigerator and a working propane grill from the same period.

Some artistic liberties have been taken with the exterior. Inspired by the various looks from its past, Quintiliani added awnings and 1950s decolletage along with a few of his own additions, like the ice cream cone above the door.

One of Quintiliani’s exterior add-ons is a rare historical relic. Attached to the vintage outdoor Coca-Cola machine is a small “required-by-law” water fountain.

“Some states had a law that if you were selling Coca-Cola, you had to have a water fountain,” he said. “That’s a Coca-Cola water fountain made by Coca-Cola. The Coke machine came up from Shell about six weeks ago. I don’t know if it works, but it was only $300.”

Just Nifty

What’s next for Cody’s Nifty Niner? Quintiliani had a quick response.

“I do cars,” he said.

There are no plans to reopen the restored Nifty Niner for curb or counter service. It’s another passion project that captured Quintiliani’s interest, and it will stand in pristine condition as another successful historical restoration from Cody’s past on his ranch.

Cutter’s thrilled that the historic diner still exists and has landed not far from its original home. The city of Cody has and will continue to change, but it’s always exciting when she finds pieces of its history still standing and well cared for.

“This diner was pretty rough,” she said. “But Ken put it back together with the things he collects and brought it back to Cody.”

Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.