New life for Rosie's Diner: Beloved former North Jersey spot heads to Missouri

A famed and beloved former North Jersey diner will soon find a new home on a quiet stretch of road in rural Missouri.

Rosie’s Diner, the iconic former Little Ferry landmark that gained national fame as the setting for a series of paper towel commercials in the 1970s and was later moved to Michigan, has been sold to a Missouri couple who plan to restore the diner to its past glory.

The gleaming, chrome-plated eatery opened at the Route 46 Little Ferry traffic circle in 1945. It was a favorite for decades among truckers taking a break from their route and locals stopping in for breakfast or a cup of coffee.

With its classic look, stainless steel interior, Formica countertops and importantly, enough room to fit a camera crew, it was featured in dozens of ads and films, most famously, Procter & Gamble’s long-running commercials for Bounty, “the quicker picker-upper.”

When Rosie’s was sold to an artist and diner aficionado and moved to Michigan, the diner found new life in the Midwest, but eventually closed a decade ago.

North Jersey news: 'The Giant,' a 50-foot moving statue is coming to American Dream. Here's a preview

But what was once one of the most famous diners in the U.S. had in recent years become a dilapidated roadside eyesore.

Vandals have broken the windows and stolen stools and the clock that once hung above the counter. One person even tied a chain to the “Diner” sign that topped the restaurant and ripped it to the ground.

Dawn and Chuck Perry, of Millersburg, Missouri, were looking to build a diner in their hometown, when someone suggested they buy a “real diner, with history,” instead.

“Next thing you know, we find out Rosie’s is for sale,” Chuck Perry said. “It’s the most iconic diner. It was meant to be.”

The couple plans to split the diner in two, load it on a pair of flatbed trucks and haul it almost 600 miles to the small community just south of Interstate 70 sometime this spring.

“I deal in a lot of antique and vintage vehicles, but this is the biggest piece of history I’ve ever played with,” said Chuck, who recently retired from a career upholstering and restoring vintage cars and other antiques. “I’ve got the background and ability to restore the diner. But if it wasn’t bought now and saved, it was almost to the point of not coming back.”

It will likely take several years to restore the dilapidated diner. The couple plan to fundraise through sales of “Save Rosie’s” shirts, mugs and other merchandise.

“It’s one of the coolest diners that was ever built. It has a lot of beautiful details you don’t always see,” said Jerry Berta, an artist who moved Rosie’s to Rockford, Michigan in 1990, where it reopened as the centerpiece of Dinerland USA, a roadside attraction with two other dining cars and a diner-themed miniature golf course for people to play while waiting for a table.

“I’m thrilled. This really is a piece of history,” he said. “I can’t wait to go down and have a burger in Missouri. I wish them the best of luck.”

The Perrys bought Rosie’s and the other two dining cars on the property from Aaron Koehn, the owner of a car dealership down the road. They plan to sell one of the restaurants to a buyer in Michigan, the other will be set up next to Rosie’s and used as an ice cream parlor, they said.

When they visited Rosie’s a few months ago, the couple put a tarp over the roof to keep rain out and trimmed back the tall bushes that had grown around the property to be able to access the diner.

Arnie Corrado, whose grandfather, Ralph "Tex" Corrado opened Rosie's as the Silver Dollar Diner in 1945, said the pictures of his family’s old diner decaying on the side of the road were upsetting.

“It broke my heart,” he said. “I know my dad would have been so upset.”

Arnie’s father, Ralph, took over the diner in 1961 and later called it Farmland Diner, after his milk supplier. Then in the '70s, it was renamed Rosie's, after Nancy Walker's waitress character in the Bounty ads.

Corrado still lives in Little Ferry, just blocks from the diner where he did his homework after school, and later worked alongside his father.

“I drive by there every day,” he said. “I miss the diner — the atmosphere, the customers. I miss arguing with my father. It’s a tough business, it really is, but I miss it. I grew up there.”

Once Rosie’s is restored, Dawn, who has worked in the restaurant business for 25 years, will run the place – serving up classic diner food, with some smoked ribs and chicken wings on the side.

“This is barbecue country,” Chuck said.

Two months ago, the couple took a trip with their four children to New York City. Next time they travel to the East Coast, they plan to visit Little Ferry, where Rosie’s story began, Dawn said.

“We want to get a feel for where she came from,” she said.

To follow their journey to restore Rosie’s, visit the Perrys' Facebook page for updates.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rosie's Diner in NJ will get new life thanks to Missouri couple