The legend is that Charles and Hazel McMonagle saw an old shack in 1926. The shack reminded Hazel of the black woman named Dinah who had cared for her as a child and she cried out, “It’s Dinah’s Shack.” The McMonagles bought the shack and turned it into a roadside carry-out restaurant featuring southern style food. Around 1950 the restaurant was sold and the new owner added Continental cuisine and a smorgasbord.
By the 1960s the Mammy logo and slave imagery became controversial. The owner painted the stable boy statues white, and some of these statues remained after the restaurant closed in 1989.
Source:
Dinah's Shack: A Delicate History
Somewhere, I have a postcard from Dinah's too, but mine is not nearly as colorful and doesn't show all the food. It just told how many eggs, gallons of milk etc. they used.
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