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."
You’d think at least one could have survived whatever changes in America happened.
I’ve never heard of it..
they had the best maple nut ice cream....what a treat....
I had my first banana split at a Howard Johnson’s.
When I was a little kid and Dad got stationed from the west coast to the east coast, my parents and three (at the time) siblings and I took a long road trip, stopping to see sights and several relatives along the way.
Many a lunchtime stop was at Howard Johnson’s. It was our favorite.
Ordered from the kid’s menu when out with the family. With 4 kids, it was the most economical (99 cents). I can remember ordering the “little Boy Blue” meal. Hamburger patty, mashed potatoes, green peas, served with a fantastic yeast roll and real butter. No choice but to order milk to drink per the parental units. Would also include a scoop of ice cream. Chocolate almond was and continues to be my favorite.
Later as an adult, would love to get the clams. Sorry to see them go, it was always a treat to dine there.
It was a part of my childhood.
There is still a Stuckeys at exit 75 on I-40 in NC.
Used to be a great breakfast place!
Watch Blazing Saddles one time.
"Used to be a great breakfast place!"
"Watch Blazing Saddles one time."
Another bit of Americana slides into history.
Howard Johnson’s were everywhere. Unfortunately as travel patterns changed the restaurants didn’t change with it. When people started doing most of their driving on the interstates instead of the US highways HJ should have opened more locations on the interstates and kept only the better ones on the US routes open.
As traffic to the restaurants declined the owners didn’t keep up with the maintenance. As the properties started to look ragged their traffic dropped even more until they finally closed.
HoJos can now join Sears, Radio Shack and others on the long list of dead American companies.
Howard Johnsons may have been a mostly regional restaurant.
Many parts of the country were never populated with them, or with only a few.
Another poster just mentioned Stuckey’s.
I always thought that was an odd name for any business, but they did well. I recall passing a few Stuckeys in central Ohio during the 70’s. Places like Tiffin, Bowling Green and Findley Ohio, down this particular highway.
I can relate to that.. I remember when Whataburger was only in Texas...
John Hillerman (the original Higgins on the original “Magnum P.I.”) played Howard Johnson in “Blazing Saddles.”
The town of Rock Ridge in the movie had a Howard Johnson ice cream parlor, where the sign outside said, “1 Flavor.” LOL!
I remember staying at a Howard Johnson motel in Goleta, California with my family back in 1972.
BTTT
Howard Johnson’s saga is the reverse of Marriott. Hpward Johnson had two sons who he denigrated, humiliated and treated pretty much like crap all their lives. I am sure you know at least one father who through paranoia and stupidity believed treating his sons like garbage was ‘character building’ and ‘toughening’. Johnson seemed to distrust everyone to a degree that would equal Josep Stalin, bur distrusted his sons to the point of near hatred. Predictably, when he died, his successors were clueless and constitutionally unable to take any initiative. This notice is an appropriate obituary. It is an altogether to common story in business, especially for some reason among food service businesses. The Barg Beverage family is another classic of this genre.
RIP Howard Johnson’s
HoJo blew their quality and pricing back in the 80s and their management didn’t give a crap. The rest of the industry passed them by and never looked back.
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