Howard Johnson's empire of restaurants and motor hotels began in 1925 with the purchase of a drug store and soda fountain, where he developed his 28 ice cream flavors. He took his ice cream recipe, added clam strips along with other New England favorites, and opened his first restaurant in a quaint Colonial building in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1929.
To expand his first location, he offered franchises- as long as he could design the building and supply the restaurant with his food products. Within 6 years, there were 130 locations bearing his name.
By 1948, Johnson had hired architect Russell Nims to design a completely modern restaurant, with large glass windows, vivid colors, and built near highway interchanges that would attract travelers. As a nod to the original Colonial style, Nims retained and updated the roof cupola and weathervane.
Nims was back at the drawing board to design a "Landmark for sleepy Americans" that would be adjacent to the restaurant locations. The first Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge opened in Savannah, Georgia in 1954, and the motel gatehouse's iconic angular roofline would be repeated in other cities across the nation.
The Johnson family sold the franchise, which included 1,040 restaurants and 540 motels, to British Co. in 1979. The new owners were not so interested in operating restaurants and began closing or selling them off. Franchise owners could still operate under the Howard Johnson's name but no new franchises would be offered. Today, Howard Johnson motels are owned by Wyndham, which also owns Travelodge. (See "You're Getting Sleepy", Jan. 2017)
The franchise empire that started with one restaurant 90 years ago is back to one location, in Lake George, New York and depends on the nostalgia of travelers that remember dining under the orange roof.
Note: This is just a small selection of a large variety of matchbooks produced to promote the Howard Johnson's franchise. All covers pictured date from the mid-1950's to mid 1960's.
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