Howard Johnsons

Eventually, after noticing his soda fountain[?] was the busiest part of his drugstore, he decied to come up with a new ice cream.

He eventually came up with 28 flavors and opened a beach-front icecream stand.

Quote: "I thought I had every flavor in the world. The 28 flavors became my trademark."

Over the next few summers he added more beachfront stands, and decided to add hotdogs[?].

His success was beginning to be noticed by others, and thus he was able to convince some bankers to lend him enough money to open a restaurant in Quincy, Massachusetts. This first Howard Johnson's restaurant featured fried clams[?], baked beans, chicken pies[?], frankfurters[?], and, of course, Howard Johnson ice cream. He wanted to expand - but the stock market crashed in 1929.

In 1935, he persuaded an acquaintance to open another "Howard Johnson's" restaurant in Orleans on Cape Cod under a one of the nations first franchises.

Soon there were 17 Howard Johnson's restaurants and by the end of 1936 there were 39 more franchised restaurants.

By 1939 there were 107 Howard Johnson restaurants along East Coast highways generating revenues of $10.5 million.

In less than 14 years, Howard Johnson directed a franchise network of over 10,000 employees, with 170 restaurants, many serving a million and a half people a year.

When the Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey turnpikes were built, and Howard Johnson bid and won exclusive rights to serve the hungry [turnpike]] multitudes. There were 200 Howard Johnson restaurants by the beginning of World War II.

Due to war rationing, by the summer of 1944 only 12 remained in business. Mr Johnson managed to stay barely afloat by serving commissary food to war workers and army recruits.

By 1947, construction was under way or about to begin on 200 new Howard Johnson restaurants that would stretch across the Southeast[?] and Midwest. These were slightly smaller buildings than the prewar originals, but Howard Johnson still provided over 700 items, including fried clams, saltwater taffy and 28 flavors of ice cream. By 1951 Howard Johnson sales totaled $115 million.

By 1954 there were 400 Howard Johnson restaurants in 32 states. About 10% were company-owned turnpike restaurants that were extremely profitable.

Also in the 1950's, Howard Johnson opened their first motel.

By 1961, the year the Howard Johnson Co. went public, there were 88 franchised Howard Johnson's Motor Lodges in 33 states and the Bahamas. That year there were also 605 restaurants, 265 of them company operated and 340 franchisee[?]-operated.

In 1959, the company founder, who still made his headquarters in Wollaston, Massachusetts, turned the reins over to his son, twenty-six year old Howard Brennon Johnson[?], who succeeded him as president.

Howard Dearing Johnson[?] died in 1972, at the age of 76.

Although Howard Johnson kept expanding, reaching over 1,000 restaurants and over 500 motor lodges in 42 states and Canada by 1975, the seventies marked the beginning of the end of the original Howard Johnson concept. Over 85% of the company's revenues depended on automobile travel. And when the oil embargo of 1974 created nationwide gas shortages and inflated gas prices, more and more Americans kept their cars in the garage.

In September of 1979, Howard Johnson accepted an acquisition bid from Imperial Group PLC[?] of Great Britain. Imperial obtained 1,040 restaurants (75% company owned) and 520 motor lodges (75% franchised).

In 1990, the Howard Johnson name and lodging system were sold to HJ Acquisition Corp.[?], later to become known as Howard Johnson International, Inc.[?] This new company was a subsidiary of Hospitality Franchise Systems[?] Inc., or "HFS".