JOHNSON, HOWARD 1885-1977

Founder of national restaurant chain

Humble Beginnings

Howard Johnson entered the food-service business in 1924 in Wollaston, Massachusetts, when he bought a debt-ridden soda fountain that also sold newspapers, cigars, and candy. He decided to focus on ice cream and invested $300 in the recipe of an elderly German immigrant whose ice cream had a reputation for high quality. The essence of the recipe was its near-doubling of the butterfat content commonly found in commercial ice cream and its use of natural rather than artificial flavors. By 1928 the gross income from the ice cream sold at the store and on nearby beaches amounted to $240,000.

Opening His First Restaurant

Encouraged by his success, Johnson decided to expand into restaurants. He opened his first restaurant in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1928 and did a booming business until the stock-market crash in 1929. His restaurant closed. However, Johnson's ice cream business continued to flourish throughout the Depression. He soon had more than a dozen stands in the Boston area that specialized in hot dogs and ice cream. He continued to expand the variety of ice cream flavors he offered, arriving eventually at twenty-eight, a figure that became a trademark for Howard Johnson establishments.

Expansion

In 1929 a family friend, Reginald Sprague, approached Johnson with the idea of opening an ice cream stand on a piece of property he owned on a main highway in southern Massachusetts. Johnson suggested they open a quality restaurant, which they did in 1930. Johnson soon became known as the uhost of the high-ways." He was one of the first to combine a lunch counter, a fast-food takeout, an ice cream stand, and a sit-down restaurant under one roof His white clapboard buildings trimmed in orange and sea blue became his trademark. Johnson's concern with building a family trade made him scrupulous about cleanliness and hospitality. Waitresses were hired for their courtesy, and all the restaurants were equipped with high chairs. Meals were made available in special children's portions and prices.

Hitting the Big Time

Howard Johnson establishments flourished throughout the 1930s. With the expansion of automobile travel he offered the touring public what they wanted at a reasonable price, By 1940 Johnson had about 135 restaurants in New England, Florida, and Virginia and had become a millionaire.

Weathering the War

America's involvement in World War II dealt a severe blow to Johnson's roadside restaurants. Home-front gas rationing forced 90 percent of his restaurants to close, He survived by acquiring contracts to supply food for workers in large industrial plants and for universities training student officers. He also contracted with the government for the manufacture of candy and marmalade for the armed forces. After the war his business bounced back. In the 1950s he expanded his chains nationally and started to add motor lodges. In 1956 the gross income of the Howard Johnson Company was $175,530,695. In 1959 he passed his business on to his son, Howard B. Johnson.

Source:

Chester H. Liebs, Main Street to Miracle Mile: American Roadside Architecture (Boston: Little, Brown, 1985),