Posted on 06/14/2022 6:13:18 AM PDT by devane617
Last week was more than just the end of Howard Johnson's. It marked one more place in our culture that lost touch with its customers because the owners had little in common with them.
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pennsylvania—In truth, the last Howard Johnson’s restaurant closed long before the one in Lake George, New York, did last week. The only thing that particular location had in common with the fried clams and 28 flavors of ice cream the restaurant was famous for was maintaining the iconic orange roof that signaled to families for generations you were pulling up to a place you could trust for known comfort food at reasonable prices.
What began as Howard Deering Johnson taking over his father’s struggling medicine store and soda fountain in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1925 grew because of his keen understanding of what people were looking for. The 27-year-old had vision and understood people. He improved the quality of the ice cream, added well-prepared food for customers to eat, and soon, he went from deeply in debt to flourishing.
Four years later, Johnson opened a second restaurant and was selling his popular ice cream at stands along the beach.
Unofficial-official Howard Johnson’s restaurant historian Walter Mann details on his HoJoLand.com website that Johnson was a bit of a visionary who saw the love Americans had for the open roads and their cars and understood that as the U.S. road system expanded, families would be packing up their vehicles.
(Excerpt) Read more at amgreatness.com ...
I’m not much for Dunkin on the merits, I think there are places with a lot better donuts, but I love how New Englanders call the place ‘Dunkies’.
Howard Deering Johnson and Reginald Sprague created the first modern restaurant franchise. He was married four times and admitted he had no interest in or time for anything but building his business. He started in Massachusetts but lived in a Manhattan NY penthouse. He retired in 1959, leaving the company to his son Bud. Howard passed away in 1972 and Bud sold the business in 1979. It was a corporation through and through.
These chains were selling an image. For example, Leonard Slye, known as Roy Rogers, was born in Cincinnati and quit school to help his family by working in a shoe factory before relocating to California to drive gravel trucks for highway construction. He later picked peaches before he got his break on radio. Americans across the country bought into the singing cowboy, the kids costumes, cowboy bicycles (as late as 1952), and the restaurant fare.
It might be time to watch Clint Eastwood's 'Bronco Billy' again as a reminder to shed the escapes that got people through tough times.
We’ve seen many once prominent companies either merged or have gone out of business.
Remember Flying A gas stations? Is Sinclair still around? Many once large companies are gone, such as Montgomery Ward, Burger Chef, Kinney Shoes, Robert Hall, EJ Korvette, dime stores such as Kresge and Woolworth’s, local department stores such as Hecht Company and Woodward and Lothrop in the Washington area, Walker Scott, The Broadway, Buffum’s and Bullocks in California, Marshall Field in Chicago, Radio Shack, and others.
Remember amusement parks such as Glen Echo and Marshall Hall in the Washington area, or Riverview in Chicago?
I’m sure we could start a whole nostalgia thread. Time marches on.
And the calculators! Man, the functionality and fit & finish on those things was like a Swiss watch compared to anything else on the market at the time.
I remember how Howard Johnson didn’t have Coke or Pepsi. Instead they had “HoJo cola” as their in house cola drink.
It’s get big or get out. McDonald’s and Burger King are still around. A lot of smaller chains are gone.
Well,Biden isn’t Scipio Aficanus.
Too bad Carly didn’t screw HP to the point where it couldn’t buy EDS, and run that company into the ground.
Burger King has a real bad reputation now. Ghetto food at best. I can’t have it anymore, always too thin and dry.
Drive thru everything in America. It symbolizes much of what is wrong with us.
Yes, very true. I remember decades ago, Burger Chef was a prominent chain. I thought they had some good burgers.
What can we say? That’s capitalism. Not every company will survive long term.
Is that by the Sagamore bridge?
Bookmark
“Is that by the Sagamore bridge?”
The Sagamore bridge crosses the Cape Cod canal to Cape Cod. Howard Johnson’s started in Quincy, which is much further up the coast, just to the south of Boston.
How about the whole damn enchilada?
Most of the Bill of Rights are under attack.
Law enforcement is undermined by our judicial system.
Federal Intelligence agencies are working against the citizens.
The MSM is working against America.
Government employee Unions are working against America.
With some rare exceptions, when the founder and visionary passes, often the business falls into the hands of accountants that worry about the next quarter whereas the founder/visionary thought about the next generation.
...and so it goes. Hate to see those great businesses go, but new ones do pop up.
Often, we don’t appreciate the gems we have, like Howard Johnson’s or Sears, until they are gone. I feel the same way about the Twin Towers, NYC. I didn’t care much for them at the time, but after they were gone I began to appreciate their beauty - changing color and hue depending on the viewer’s angel and the angle of the sun - and their majesty. Now, I really miss them.
I have many great childhood vacation memories of HOJO. Riding along listening to my Mom tell my Dad to look for a Howard Johnson’s. 😊
There used to be a Howard Johnsons right next to the bridge on the cape side. Was a family stop over. Always thought that was the original. Thanks for letting me know.
“There used to be a Howard Johnsons right next to the bridge on the cape side. Was a family stop over. Always thought that was the original. Thanks for letting me know.”
They were everywhere when I was a kid (I’m in my late 40’s). They were the go-to chain restaurant.
Back in the eighty’s a killer named Ted Kennedy pushed a program that would restrict white European immigration and bring in millions of non white of third worlders. The dumming down of America.
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