A History of Howard Johnson's: How a Massachusetts Soda Fountain Became an American Icon

by Anthony Mitchell Sammarco

Learn more about the "Father of the Franchise Industry" in this illuminating history about the Howard Johnson restaurant franchise and the man behind it all.
Howard Johnson created an orange-roofed empire of ice cream stands and restaurants that stretched from Maine to Florida, and all the way to the West Coast. With a reputation for good food at affordable prices, hungry customers would regularly return for more. The attractive white Colonial Revival restaurants, with eye-catching porcelain tile roofs, illuminated cupolas and sea blue shutters, were described in "Reader's Digest" in 1949 as the epitome of "eating places that look like New England town meeting houses dressed up for Sunday." Highlighted in television shows such as Mad Men and films Netflix's 2019 The Irishman , it's obvious that Howard Johnson's occupies an indelible and pleasant place popular culture. Boston historian and author Anthony M. Sammarco recounts how Howard Johnson introduced twenty-eight flavors of ice cream, the "Tendersweet" clam strips, grilled frankforts and a menu of delicious and traditional foods that families eagerly enjoyed when they traveled.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Food

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 6, 2013

About the author

Anthony Mitchell Sammarco is a noted historian and author of over sixty books on the history and development of Boston, and he lectures widely on the history and development of his native city. He commenced writing in 1995, and his books Lost Boston, The History of Howard Johnson’s: How A Massachusetts Soda Fountain Became a Roadside Icon, and The Baker Chocolate Company: A Sweet History
are among his many books that have made local bestseller lists.

Reviews

[Merrill Guice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cut N Paste

The author gathered his different sources and then stuck them together to make up a pastiche of a book. This is why you get to read about the founder dying almost 3 times in the first chapter. Yeah Johnson dead before he even started. There is very, very little actual analysis and much is drawn directly from old company handouts complete with the advertiserize and haliography.

Where this book really descends into helpless farce is when he lists out all the special Howard Johnson’s recipes but not really ‘cause he doesn’t have them, but here’s how his mother did them.

On Amazon, the book fell to $2 before I bought it. You should wait until they offer to pay you.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although historically accurate, it was written primarily from researching newspaper and magazine articles. I was kind of hoping for insider stories from some of the people that were there. Some good photos and articles for those that enjoyed the chain, but not the real inside story or look at the man himself.

[Brettandleosmom · Rating 2 out of 5]

While interesting, I found that much of the detail was repeated - repeatedly throughout the book.

[Dan Lutts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up in Quincy, Massachusetts, my family and I would stop off for ice creams at the Howard Johnson's in Kittery Maine on our way to visit my great uncle in Kittery. So when I discovered this book about Howard Johnson's, of course I wanted to read it.

The book told me a lot of things I didn't know:
First: The first Howard Johnson's was in Quincy, Massachusetts. The town I was born in and spent my early days in. [I had no idea there was ever a Howard Johnson's in Quincy!]
Second: Howard Johnson's created an orange-roof ice cream empire that had twenty-eight flavors of ice cream. [Howard Johnson added other foods to his ice cream empire too.]
Third: Howard Johnson also created the Red Coach Grill restaurants and the Ground Round restaurants, which my family and I used to frequent too.
Fourth: Howard Johnson was the "Father of the Franchise Industry."
Fifth: Howard Johnson created the "Tendersweet clam strips, grilled frankforts, and "traditional" foods that his customers loved.
Sixth: Howard Johnson would invite children twelve or under to be guests at his restaurants on their birthdays. They could select their birthday dinners from his children's menu and the "pieman" would bake a special cake for the birthday child.

The book also contains some of Howard Johnson's recipes that you can make at home.

All in all, this was a wonderful book that brought back a lot of memories for me.

Unfortunately, all that's left of Howard Johnson's empire is a couple of motels.

[Doreen Petersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Was so sad to see this chain go out of business in my area. Was a frequent and loyal customer.

[Reading · Rating 1 out of 5]

the intention for thoroughness is there

The result is a lot of randomness with information repeated often in the same chapter. This made the book very difficult to read, and had me thinking I had lost my place. I would have loved to see illustrations of the five styles of Howard Johnson’s restaurants.

[Restaurant Junkie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not written for the merely curious—it is primarily a book for restaurant historians. At times, it's repetitive, and it's not organized for the casual reader. It contains exhaustive details about the rise of Howard Johnson's, and while at times dry as a turkey sandwich, it's packed with facts—and even has a few recipes.

Chapter 8's random autobiographical bits may be the book's best part; in particular, it was fascinating to learn how Jacque Pepin became part of this 20th-century culinary empire.

The HoJo's restaurant chain has been a significant character in my family's mythos; and for that reason, in particular, I enjoyed it.

[Rohit Manghnani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Expected a lot more on why it failed

The rest chain of restaurants which was bigger than Burger King, KFC and McDonald's out together went under. This book's talks of what they did write for 90% of the content but nothing on where they messed it. That's what I was hoping to get to read here. Also recipes to fill pages - waste of time and space.

[Morgan O'Neal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads like college term paper written at deadline

This book had a lot of facts, but it reminded of papers a college student would write. It had lots of filler in order in order to get to certain published amount of pages. Why else would there be recipes that were acknowledged as not being the real recipes of Howard Johnson for a full chapter of the book?

[Maura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is more of an essay that a book, clocking in at 141 pages. The actual story of the chain's beginnings is fairly straightforward and is covered in the first several chapters. Much of the information gets repeated in later chapters, as if to pad out the story to book length. Interesting fact: Jacques Pepin, early in his career, helped develop recipes for Howard Johnson restaurants. Reading about the food made me nostalgic; we often ate at Howard Johnson restaurants throughout New England when I was a kid as we traveled to or from the beach.

[Ian]

Few restaurant chains are memorable enough to have their legacy outlast their operations. Howard Johnson’s is the rare exception, in part because their unique buildings remained identifiable icons long after a location closed. Anthony Mitchell Sammarco looks into this rich history in A History of Howard Johnson’s: How a Massachusetts Soda Fountain Became an American Icon.

Read the rest at All The Things I Eat

https://allthethingsieat.com/the-rise...

[Lauren Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

thorough but not strong storytelling

Good basic dates and facts retelling but not much in the way of the people, upas and downs and connections. Also repetitive in some parts. History is a story of the people involved this was a recounting for a timeline with the passion of the founder mostly removed and no explanation of why things happened or their real impact on the humans involved.

[Mark Lieberman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was actually an interesting book, as I learned a lot about the Howard Johnson legacy. Not only did this book dive into a wonderful history of the company, but also about perfection as everything that was done had to be performed a certain way. I, for one, had no clue it got started as an ice cream stand and restaurant; I just remembered the hotels. Overall, it was a very quick read for and I enjoyed it.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting just for the history of HoJo's. I had no idea it started in Massachusetts. But to turn what should basically have been published as a pamphlet into a book, the author repeated the same stories about Howard and various franchisees way too many times. I enjoyed the photos though and learning the basics.

[Nick Vantangoli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent

A grand tale of a truly American success story. The Mac and cheese recipe is include too. It is a must read.

[Jenn Webster · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book chronicles the backstory of how Howard Johnson"s came to be; That name still lives on somewhere in I think some of those restaurants that are still open...-JW

[Jesse Deleon · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars for the memories!

I enjoyed reading this book and the memories growing up. Never knew what I learned today. A surprised new fan!

[Stephanie Knoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Repeats the information multiple times. Otherwise I enjoyed what I learned.

[Steven Beningo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book with some very good facts. However, it was a bit repetitive and is boring in some parts (like a list of recipes).

[Lauren Carter · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book kept repeating itself over and over again. There wasn't anything in depth and felt like a middle school paper that had been taking info from wikipedia...

[Simone · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this alright, but I guess I was hoping for a little more of a cultural studies approach and this is more straight history. The introduction pretty much summarizes all the chapters that follow, just with slightly more detail and pictures. I have a lot of nostalgia for 50s and 60s era food shops, (see also: my desire to go to the last remaining Burger Chef restaurant, which happens to be in Danville, IL). And this fed into that fascination in a major way, I was reading about butter grilled hotdogs, fried clams and high butterfat ice cream and practically drooling. Basically, I could really go for a Howard Johnson's after reading this, but there are only two left. One in Lake Placid, NY and one in Maine.