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Today it is easy to take
a place like this for granted, but back in the late 1950s and
early 1960s it represented the modern progressive future of hospitality
along the road. We have already forgotten that roadside motels
and restaurants were an iffy adventure filled with the risk of
bad service or worse. Howard Johnson's literally paved the way
of an ideal in uniform levels of quality and service that are
expected by travelers of the present. Ironically lessons learned
and problems and issues solved by Howard Johnson's have been
largely forgotten by the the franchise mills of today (ie. Cendant),
and road warriors cannot necessarily depend on reliable accommodations
and service by sticking with one brand or another. |
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Mailed to Portland, Oregon,
a state that never had a Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge or Restaurant,
the sender illuminated the HoJo's high points to her Grandmother.
She wrote:
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Dec. 31, 1961
Dear Grandma,
This is the life. We are
now at the place pictured. It's simply lovely, the landscaping
completes the scene with those tall firs. This Sun. afternoon,
New Year's Eve, we're sitting in the room after just having finished
some of that delicious HJ ice cream. Each room has a balcony
with a huge window with a view of the swimming pool. This
place makes a person wish he could stay forever.
Love
Judy
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