Name This Clock Round Five

Melrose Diner | Photo: Philip Jablon

We’re pleased to announce a round four winner: Bethany Donahue-Sorrell, selected randomly from the 9 readers who answered correctly. Bethany, please e-mail Hidden City creative director Lee Tusman to claim your one year Hidden City membership prize.

With a fork for an hour hand and butter knife for a minute hand, this week’s clock could only be attached to an eatery. This one is none other than South Philly’s most famous diner, The Melrose.

The Melrose Diner has been a staple of culinary Americana since the 1930s. The diner didn’t move to its current location, however, until 1956, when it was erected on a triangle formed by 15th, Snyder, and Passyunk, where a police station once stood. The original Melrose Diner was just across Passyunk Avenue.

Photo: Philip Jablon

Architecturally, the Melrose is exemplary of 1950s American diners. Its clock, however, is the building’s defining feature: a coffee cup face with silverware for hands. 1950s kitsh at its most endearing.

Round Five Clock

Photo: Philip Jablon

Please e-mail your answer to editor@hiddencityphila.org by Wednesday at 11AM. A winner will be selected randomly from all those who answer correctly.

About the author

Philip Jablon is a photo-journalist who splits his time between his native Philadelphia and his surrogate Thailand. In 2010 he earned an M.A. in Sustainable Development from Chiang Mai University. Since 2008 he has built a photographic archive of stand-alone movie theaters across Southeast Asia as part of his Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project. He is interested in the architecture, development, and social history of both Philadelphia and Southeast Asia.

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