THE CHEF FROM HELL

While bouncing around the web yesterday, I came across this news story on the poststar.com site:  "June 24, 2007 Lake George-- The road trip isn't what it used to be.  Once, weary travelers could count on the site of a Howard Johnson's orange roof at the side of the highway, promising a comforting, familiar meal.  These days you have to look a little harder.  From its peak of about a 1,000 restaurants in the 1970's, the HoJo's empire has dwindled to barely a handful.  When the Waterbury, Conn. Howard Johnson's changed its name in April, it left only three remaining -- in Bangor, Maine; Lake Placid; and, of course, here." As I read this news item, my childhood memories of eating at that "funny looking place with the orange roof" stirred to life.

My Dad was big on family road trips.  His idea of a good time was to pile his wife and four sons into a big Oldsmobile and head out down America's highways in search of fun and frolic.  While in pursuit of such roadside attractions as "The World's Biggest Ball of Yarn" or "The Petrified Horse", the family would get hungry and the family's number one choice for food on the road was always Howard Johnson's.

Among the fare offered, my personal favorites ran to their hot dogs (cooked on a griddle along with a bun that had the sides of it sliced off and toasted), the fried clams and their ice cream (chocolate chip or coffee flavors in a sugar cone).  After going to college and moving away from home, I never had the occasion to eat at a Howard Johnson's for many years.  The last time I found myself in a HoJo's was back in the 80's while on the road with a rock & roll band I was perfroming with.  Even then, the food brought back images in my mind of being out on the highway with my family.

In 1925, a man named Howard Deering Johnson opened a small corner drugstore in Wollaston, Massachusetts.  Noticing that his soda fountain was the busiest part of his business, Johnson decided to create a new ice cream recipe that was based on his mother's recipe which called for a substantial amount of butterfat.  Johnson's efforts produced a unique flavorful ice cream and he eventually went on to create 28 flavors.

Seeing increased business as a result of his ice cream flavors, Johnson formed a company to market his product.  During the summers of the late 1920's, Johnson opened and operated concession stands in coastal towns in Massachusetts which served his trademark ice cream along with soda pop and hot dogs.  These concession stands were highly successful and in 1928, the first Howard Johnson's restaurant opened in Quincy, Massachusetts.  The menu consisted of frankfurters (hot dogs), baked beans, chicken pot pies, fried clams, soft drinks and ice cream.

After weathering the 1929 stock market crash, Johnson managed to open a second location in Orleans, Massachusetts.  This location was a franchise and in fact, it stands as one of the first restaurant franchise agreements to be made in America.  As this second location did good business, more franchises were granted and by 1936 there were 39 franchised Howard Johnson's restaurants.  Three years later, there were 107 restaurants.  In a relatively short span of time, Johnson had established a network of franchised restaurants that generated millions of dollars.

A important part of the chain's success was the hands-on approach that Johnson used in running this empire.  He insisted on a high level of quality control; the restaurants had to be kept immaculately clean and the food was to be prepared to order.

Another key element was Johnson's vision of insuring his restaurants had choice locations.  Johnson won exclusive rights to have his restaurants operate on the Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey Turnpikes when they were constructed.

The onset of World War II in the 40's hit the company hard due to food and gas rationing.  By 1944, only 12 Howard Johnson's restaurants were still operating.  While most companies would have called it a day, Howard Johnson battled on.  By 1954, there were 400 Howard Johnson's restaurants operating in 32 states.  That same year, the first Howard Johnson Motor Lodge opened in Savanah, Georgia. 

In 1959, Howard Johnson retired and put his son in charge of the company.  In 1961, the Howard Johnson company went public on the stock exchange. Both of these events proved to be disastrous. Subject to the scrutiny of stockholders, Howard Brennan Johnson (the son) struggled to control costs and overhead.  As a result, the quality level that the chain's founder had established began to wither.  Eventually, many of the company's holdings were purchased by such conglomerates as Marriott.

Over the years, as the familiar colonial styled structures with their distinctive orange roofs disappeared from the American landscape, only the memories have remained to remind us of family road trips and a good meal out on the highway.