Telegraph and MacArthur, 1979
CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 by John Archer 3
The first Doggie Diner was opened by owner Al Ross at 19th Street and San Pablo Avenue in 1948. The original restaurant was a tremendous success and Ross opened other Doggie Diners throughout the East Bay and San Francisco.
The restaurant chain grew until Ross owned 30 diners (including Downtown Oakland), each with the iconic giant, rotating dachshund heads designed by Harold Bachman.
The pressure of competing with McDonald's caused Al Ross to sell all the Doggie Diners in 1979 and retire to Palm Springs. The last of the diners closed in 1986.
Doggie Diner awning on the Cathedral Building - circa mid-90s?
(Source: Facebook)
Downtown Oakland Doggie Diner
(source: National Register of Historic Places)
created by Merrill Sign Company of
1801 Jefferson St. 1
1963 photo of Doggie Diner in the Cathedral Building 2
A D.D. head shares a display case with Nipper (The RCA dog) in the Oakland Museum of California's History Gallery.
Doggie Diner napkin
Harold Bachman, creator of the Doggie Diner head
Doggie Diner bag
Links and References
- Doggie Diner Founder Dies NBC Bay Area
- Al Ross - Doggie Diner founder - dies San Francisco Chronicle/SFGate
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Harold Bachman -- designer of beloved Doggie Diner icon SFGate
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Puppy love reigns as Doggie Diner head returns / Cheers as icon goes back in place San Francisco Chronicle/SFGate
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Doggie Diner on Wikipedia
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Photo of Doggie Diner truck prepared by Merrill Sign Company
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Doggie Diner Oakland, Calif. - signage by Federal Sign - 1963, courtesy of Heather David / Flickr
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Doggie Diner - CSCL001701 DCL Elevator, University of Minnesota
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doggiediner.info website
