"A Movie and a Coke: The Kozy Korner"


 A Movie and a Coke

The Kozy Korner

The Kozy Korner was a restaurant that was opened in by John Vouras at the corner of Delaware Ave. and Washington Streets, Wilmington in 1922.  Later it was run by his son Nick until 1985 when the building was demolished for a hotel construction.  In 1991 Nick re-established the Kozy on Union St.  After my retirement in 1995 I frequently joined Mary with here mom there for breakfast.  At some point I gave Nick a print of my 2002 18 x 24 watercolor painting commemorated both the opening of Rockford Tower a hundred years earlier and the 2002 re-opening of the observation deck which had been closed for years.  Later Nick asked me to paint three watercolors of the same size of local subjects of my choice.  The original Kozy Korner was an obvious subject for my first painting, A Movie and a Coke."  I chose to do a 1950s high angle view down Delaware Ave with the Kozy on the right and other landmarks of that time visible along the street.  Delaware Ave. is overlaid with a contemporaneous map.


I researched the painting at the library of the Delaware Historical Society where I found a photograph with the appropriate perspective.


I chose the 1950s because that was when both Nick and I were teenagers.  I discovered that I might have made a cameo appearance in my 1956 reference photo, or at least by the car I was driving then, a 1948 Studebaker Land Cruiser, visible on the left.

I kept the Studebaker in the painting but moved it to the Atlantic service Station driveway.  My brother's first communion was documented with a photograph with my Studebaker in the background.


The classical Greek-style gas station in the photo is another interesting story, for future post.  It's been gone from this intersection since 1964, but it's still around, now a near neighbor to President Biden's home.  More on that later.  Nick Vouras has since passed, but the Kozy Korner at its Union St. location is still with us, operated by his son John.  John's own son, Nick, is also continuing in the family tradition as a restaurateur.   We'll look at the other two paintings I did for Dick's commission later as well.


 

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