Welcome to the Kotke Ride Home for Friday, September 17th, 2021. I'm Jackson Bird today.

The history and future of food trucks and a look at the old tradition of night lunch.

The visually striking lanternfly that eastern U.S. states

are begging people to kill. And why you may not be getting that book you ordered anytime soon.

Here are some cool things from the news today.

So this was a quick link that Jason posted to Kotki.org today that I found fascinating

and kind of wanted to expand on. It's the history of lunch wagons, the predecessor to both diners

and the modern food truck. With trucks not really being a common thing until after World War I, in the late

1800s they didn't have food trucks. Instead, they had lunch wagons. They were horse-drawn

freight wagons with exceptionally decadent exteriors and interiors where a few people could

sit down to eat or you could be served through a window.

And when I say decadent, I mean it. These are the Faberge eggs of food trucks.

Seriously, the lead photo on this article looks straight out of a Wes Anderson film. Check it out for

yourself at the Atlas Obscura link in the show notes. Quoting from Atlas Obscura,

etched glass windows and colorful exteriors beckoned eaters inside,

and the interiors were painted up with flirtilees and amazing murals

that echoed the work of old Dutch masters.

The Cincinnati Enquirer described the popular wagon style

as having elegant carvings,

skilled paintwork, and amenities such as sinks for washing dishes. The average size of the

wagons was 8 by 14 feet. They were described as perfect little palaces, says Richard J.S.

Goodman, author of American Diner Then and Now, end quote.

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