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| Pottstown Mercury
News: 12-3-1947 |
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Pottstown,
Pennsylvania
-- 1500
High St |
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Pottstown
was a pre-War store operated by Miss. Marian Conrad. Upon obtaining
her position as secretary of the executive board (of licensees)
in 1947, she was afforded a meeting with Howard D Johnson and an
eight day tour of 32 Restaurants and food production facilities.
Moreover she was given an escorted tour of Boston and visited Logan
airport to inspect Howard Johnson's airline food service operation.
By the 1950s she had married and her last name was changed to Wentzel.
An
April 1948 article in the Pottstown Mercury indicated that the Pottstown
Restaurant along with Allentown
were owned by the General Highway Facilities Company based in Philadelphia.
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Below:
Note that the Restaurant's roof was clad in asphalt shingles and
not porcelain enamel--an indication of the building's very early
construction. |
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| quakertown |
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Quakertown,
Pennsylvania --
25 North West Blvd. |
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Although
there are no images available to post, Quakertown is worth mentioning
on two points. First, opened in 1979 it was the last Howard Johnson's
Restaurant to open in Pennsylvania. Secondly it was unusual because
it was converted from a local eatery called Mr. D's, rather than
having been a new build. Interestingly the Restaurant was met with
some enthusiasm and locals were somewhat disappointed that a Motor
Lodge was not included. |
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| reading |
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Reading,
Pennsylvania --
Pennsylvania Ave. (Rt 422) |
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A
stand-alone Restaurant built in the neo-colonial style, Reading
was among the first group of Howard Johnson's to have been opened
in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately for the early location, World War
II put it out of business and it apparently never reopened. This
information is based on Howard Johnson's directory/map guides
dating from 1940. These publications do not indicate that a Howard
Johnson's ever reopened or existed in Reading after the original
location (later in 1959 there was a Restaurant adjacent to the
Denver-Reading
Motor Lodge located at the Pennsylvania Turnpike, but not in the
town of Reading). HoJo's fans have discovered an eatery in Reading
that resembles a Nims-type building, but directory listing do
not indicate that it was in fact a Howard Johnson's.
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| statecollege |
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State
College, Pennsylvania --
1272
N. Atherton Street |
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Opened
in about 1963 adjacent to the Nittany Manor Motel, the State College
Restaurant was convenient to Penn State University, and lasted into
the 1980s as a Howard Johnson's. Meanwhile the old Nittany Manor
was purchased by Andrew A. Zangrilli where he opened an eatery called
The Deli Restaurant. Later the Nittany Manor was demolished and
a Motel 6 came to occupy most of its former site. Even as reports
indicated that the former State College Restaurant had met the same
sad fate as the Nittany, it actually had lived to see another day!
In the early 1990s Zangrilli, who had owned the adjacent Nittany,
created a new eatery called Mario & Luigi's Italian Restaurant
which came to occupy the former Howard Johnson's. Mario & Luigi's
is part of Mr. Zangrilli's interesting mini-empire of specialty
restaurant concepts -- all under the banner of Dante's
Restaurants, Inc |
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| Photographs
February 2006: Courtesy of Maura Shea |
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