Lunch Wagons #2

The earliest lunch wagons were converted freight wagons, which merely dispensed food items to customers standing outside. The idea quickly caught on, however, and in 1891, one Charles H. Palmer received the first patent ever given for a lunch wagon design. Palmer’s wagon had an enclosed body, with a complete kitchen, a counter, and standing room for 20 or so customers (a feature that was much appreciated during cold and/or inclement weather.) There was also a window for passing out food to customers standing outside. In addition to operating his own fleet of lunch wagons, Palmer set up a factory in Worcester, Massachusetts and began manufacturing lunch wagons for other pioneer fast food entrepreneurs. (Does anyone know if commercially-produced lunch wagons such as the ones shown here were ever used by traveling circuses and carnivals?)