By Sharon Oliver
Contributing Writer
QUINCY – Though the old look may be disappearing from city landscapes across the nation and various countries, Howard Johnson’s landmark orange rooftop was as symbolic as McDonald’s golden arches, a type of North Star for hungry and weary travelers. Founded by Howard Deering Johnson in 1925, the hotel chain began as a restaurant in Quincy, and during the 1950s, the company expanded its operations by opening hotels known as Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodges.
28 flavors of ice cream
A grade school dropout, Johnson was born in 1896 and grew up in Wollaston, Massachusetts, a neighborhood in the city of Quincy that included its eponymous beach. In 1925, Johnson borrowed $2,000 to purchase and operate a small corner pharmacy where he eventually created and sold 28 flavors of ice cream. The “28” (flavors of ice cream) became his trademark. There were also contests held. If a person could provide proof via a check-off coupon that they had sampled all 28 flavors, the next ice cream cone was free. Johnson would later add clams and hot dogs to the menu.
Photo/Wikimedia Commons/John Stephenson
Knowing that obtaining a loan from the bank was highly unlikely, Johnson struck a deal with a bank in Quincy and made a proposal that if they accommodated him with a fair price for the ground floor space, he would bring in foot traffic by establishing a restaurant. The plan worked in a big way involving Eugene O’Neill’s play “Strange Interlude.”
Even though the play opened to critical acclaim in New York in 1928 and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Boston’s Mayor Malcolm Nichols banned the play due to its subject matter. This forced the Theatre Guild to move the production to the Wollaston Theatre in Quincy, right near Howard Johnson’s restaurant, where patrons, including Bostonians who flocked to see the play, went for dinner breaks. Word of mouth soon spread, helping Johnson to survive the stock market crash of 1929, and creating an American icon.
Host of the Highways
Johnson persuaded an acquaintance in 1932 to open a second Howard Johnson’s restaurant in the Cape Cod town of Orleans and since it was franchised and not company-owned, it was one of America’s first franchising agreements. By 1979, the “Host of the Highways,” as it was known, had become the largest hospitality company in America, with more than 1,000 restaurants and 500 motor lodges. There were 605 restaurants, 265 company-owned and 340 franchised.
Photo/Wikimedia Commons/Christopher Ziemnowicz
Also affectionately referred to as HoJo’s, there were 88 franchised Howard Johnson’s motor lodges in 32 states and the Bahamas. In 1964, Johnson introduced a reservation system that linked all the lodges wherein travelers could book a room as they went from lodge to lodge, or if one lodge was completely full, the reservation operator could help locate the next closest lodge available for occupancy. Once America’s largest restaurant chain, HoJo’s became a part of pop culture when the television series “Mad Men” recreated the restaurant for an episode scene.
Decline and sale
For many decades, Howard Deering Johnson overcame competition and survived setbacks. Alas, existing locations started to age, the menu grew stale, and franchisees were either unable or unwilling to remodel. A significant number of restaurants continued to drop as the relatives of original franchisers who inherited older HoJo’s either sold or redeveloped their sites. Johnson died in 1972, having retired in 1959 and leaving the company to his son Howard Brennan “Bud” Johnson.
Photo/Wikimedia Commons
In September of 1985, crippled by several stumbles and changing times, Howard Johnson’s was sold to the Marriott Corporation and Prime Motor Inns. In another transaction, Marriott outright purchased Howard Johnson’s Company (sans Ground Round) from Imperial for $314 million dollars, losing the “HoJo’s” name. Howard Johnson’s hotels and motels are now part of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. The last restaurant, located in Lake George, NY, closed in 2022.
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