Buc-ee's is the new, supersized Stuckey's (though no relation I believe).
Posted on 06/11/2022 10:42:10 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
It all started when Howard Deering Johnson, who grew up in the town of Quincy, Mass., purchased a drugstore and began peddling homemade ice cream. His dessert became so popular, he then opened an ice cream stand on Wollaston Beach, where, legend has it, he sold as many as 14,000 cones in a single day. In 1929, the first Howard Johnson's restaurant opened in Quincy Square.
Fast forward to 2022, and what was the largest restaurant chain in the United States throughout the 1960s and 1970s—with more than 1,000 locations—is now closing the doors to its last remaining location. According to Eater, the 70-year-old establishment in New York State's tourist-packed village of Lake George did not open its doors during Memorial Day weekend and seems to have been shuttered since March.
The beloved restaurant chain began to take a downturn in the late 1970s. The company was first sold to Imperial Group, one of Britain's largest companies at the time, for $630 million in 1979. Six years later, Imperial sold Howard Johnson's to "rival restaurant empire" Marriott for $314 million. After that, Howard Johnson's locations began to disappear, and by the turn of the century, there were fewer than a dozen Howard Johnson's restaurants left standing.
The lease for the Lake George location is now listed for a mere $10 and is described as a "rare business opportunity to lease a prime piece of real estate in the heart of Lake George."
Care to reminisce? Look for a group called HoJoLand on Facebook. Its description: "A group for fans of HoJoLand.com, a website dedicated to an American icon, Howard Johnson's Restaurants and Ice Cream Shops. Long live the Orange Roof!"
The most recent post in that group reads: "Lake George is officially dead. Plastic tables and chairs removed. All memorabilia removed. Cobwebs on the door."
Then come the nostalgia-fueled comments, like "Had several great meals there on my honeymoon in 1963" and "Summer 1983. Nothing but happy memories for me and Howard Johnson's."
Very well put!
Buc-ee's is the new, supersized Stuckey's (though no relation I believe).
Their breakfast menu had names for the meals. The three HoJo pancakes, plus 3 sausages, plus OJ and coffee was called "Good Morning."
It was a family restaurant chain, like Sizzler or Red Lobster or Black Angus. Nothing fancy, but uniform product (as in all chains), and decent quality at a decent price.
"Sambo" was portrayed as an East Indian ("Dot Indian") boy, wasn't he? If I recall, the restaurant's mascot was relatively fair-skinned, and wore a turban, slippers with curly toes, etc. He was NOT portrayed as being lazy, stupid, or as having any other negative qualities.
His "main adversary" was a tiger - not native to Africa.
So who, exactly, complained? And did they manage to present a coherent argument for why it was "bigoted?"
Nah, didn't think so!
Regards,
Loved the fried clams. Yummy!
What’s truth got to do with it?
I think Stuckey was the family name of the founder.
I went to my local HoJo’s a few times. ( It’s probably been 35 years since) But, I just didn’t recall the chain as a stand alone restaurant.
I saw a few. I guess the last one, that just closed, is also a standalone.
I got food poisoning from their fried clams.
And for their “chunky” mint ice cream with all the green chunks of mint candy in it.
MAD magazine had a lot of fun at Howard Johnson’s expense with some hilarious satire. MAD called them Johnson Howard’s to avoid legal problems but got sued anyway - which prompted more hilarious satire.
We love Buc-ee’s. We started going last Summer when they opened in Calhoun, GA, which we go by a fair amount.
“they had the best maple nut ice cream....what a treat....”
I ate that a few times but the real treat I looked forward to were their deep fried clam strips. They came in a toasted (maybe buttered) Frankfort bun. I dipped them in ketchup not tartare sauce. I my youff those were the only times I got to eat clams.
No one was safe with them. Another one I remember was: What If Miyoshi Umeki (Award winning Asian actress in a movie titled Sayonara) had a brother named How Mush Money (Umeki)?
HoJo clams in a Frankfort bun. Their frankfurters came in the same toasted buttered bun
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