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| HoJo's
in the 60's: High Style! |
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| New
Castle, DE--
Ektachrome July 1964: Kummerlowe Archive |
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Above:
The New Castle Restaurant and Motor Lodge complex was
among the first group of standardized Howard Johnson's
properties, and was officially designated as the 28th
Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge when it opened in 1958.
An important and exceptionally visible link in the chain,
New Castle with its "squat" prototype A-frame
Gate Lodge and unusual open gabled Nims-type Restaurant
was built just south (west) of the Delaware
Memorial Bridge
(note the bridge's single span configuration in the
photo above seen between the Gate Lodge and guest building--the
second span was not completed until the latter 1960s).
Most
of the New Castle complex was demolished: however its
Gate Lodge and Restaurant were reused as parts of Mike's
Famous Harley Davidson
and might yet stand.
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Below:
Opened in 1964, the Newark complex was built in Howard
Johnson's fully realized standardized style, yet it
featured an unusual guest building arrangement due to
the site's terrain. Often Howard Johnson's served as
vacation get-a-ways for middle Americans during the
booming post war era. Seen below, Mr. Donahue took full
advantage of the Orange Roof's many ultramodern amenities.
He, his wife, and their brood ventured on many road
trips to enjoy HoJo's over the years! (Remember diving
boards at motel pools? And how bout that black model
500 standard Bell System dial phone out by the pool
for the convenience of Howard Johnson's guests! And
see the copycat Yellow roof of Horne's
which was just across the street from the Newark HJ!)
Note
that the Newark Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge was by
late 2008 one of the last original Howard Johnson's
Motor Lodges still listed as such. |
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| Cayce
to be rePlaced |
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| Columbia-West,
SC --
Photo Nov. 2008: Columbia
Closings Blog |
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Also
known as Cayce, the Columbia-West, South Carolina
Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge was added to a circa
1953 Restaurant in the early 1960s. The Motor Lodge
continued to be a HoJo's until the middle 1980s and
endured a steady but slow decline which lasted until
its ultimate closure during 2005. The long-lasting
Landmark's erasure will have been completed by mid-December
of 2008. A CVS is scheduled to replace it.
Thanks
to Tom E. for his timely alert about Cayce's final
fate.
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| Darien
Demolished |
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| Dairen,
CT --
Photo January 2002: Dan Holbrook |
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While
Darien's Restaurant closed in 2000, its Motor Lodge
lingered on until nearly the end of 2008. Plans published
in 2006 announced that the classic 1962 Howard Johnson's
would be demolished and a retail center anchored by
a Whole Foods Market was to be established in its place.
Delayed by land use and ownership issues, the redevelopment
was put on hold providing a brief reprieve to the site.
Alas not even the "global financial meltdown"
could save the 46 year old HoJo's, for its total elimination
will have been completed by the beginning of December,
2008. |
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Owned
by the Darien
Hospitality Group,
the Darien Motor Lodge was one of the last original
HJ's in all of New England. Moreover it was the second
last of the several hundred built to continue to feature
a signature A-frame Gate Lodge topped with a space age
tower-style cupola and Lamplighter weathervane (the
last Howard Johnson's with a cupola topped Gate Lodge
complete with Lamplighter is Harrisburg--assuming
that it yet remains). |
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Below:
Even in its circa 1990s squared off state, the A-frame
Gate Lodge still boasted a gleaming Orange Roof and
towering cupola topped with The Lamplighter. Thank
you Scott C. for letting us know that Darien is lost. |
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| Visions
of Orange: re-Views |
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Perry
Above: Even as late as 1989 the many
intact and well maintained vestiges of the Orange
Roofed chain continued to highlight the roadscape
lulling HoJo's fans into complacency. |
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Tampa-East
Right: American hospitality at its
pinnacle...a mere lad of about 13 at the time,
Steven LJ Russo always stopped at Howard Johnson's
whilst on holiday with his folks! Note the ultramodern
"media" controls built into the central
table between the beds, and also his Mom's use
of the padded headboard. On the bed, no doubt
the young Steve was thumbing his HoJo's directory
for their next Orange Roofed stop! |
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| Pawtucket,
RI --
Photos ca. 1980s: Bob Venditti |
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Above:
Serving the Providence and Boston markets, Pawtucket
was built in the modern space-saving highway high-rise
style, yet it featured Howard Johnson's signature
A-frame Gate Lodge! |
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| It's
Dunn Gone |
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| Dunn,
NC --
Photo March 2008: Robby Delius |
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Upon
its demolition in the first quarter of 2008, the Dunn
Motor Lodge had become one of the last most intact examples
of its type. The complex had been a fixture along the
west side of I-95 at exit 72 since 1961. Only its considerably
altered Restaurant remains.
Special
thanks to Robby Delius who has monitored and documented
Dunn's de-construction... |
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| The
goal is to serve the hospitality needs of travelers with hotel and
restaurant descriptions focusing on Howard Johnson's. |
| Google
Bans ORANGEROOF
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Are
you tired of seeing so many online Advertisements...
This site had set up an agreement with Google's adsense division
to provide relevant content ads for viewers to click. You
see, Google charges advertisers and then offers webmasters
a small cut if they allow the advertisements to be displayed
on their sites. The set up pretends to be a way for the little
guy to make a few pennies in order to offset the costs associated
with providing websites like this one. But the whole scheme
is simply too good to be true, and after a couple of months
Google abruptly canceled this site's account seizing the $38
which had accrued. Meanwhile Google reported excellent financials
for the first quarter of 2008 with its stock price soaring
on the news (BTW, Google's two founders celebrated a one hour
increase in their wealth to the tune of $2.2 billion
each as a result). Hmm. So Google gets little guys to display
ads, cancels them, takes the money, and then posts a big profit.
How long before somebody catches on--I wonder? Below is a
copy of the short email Google sent: |
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While
going through our records recently, we found that your
AdSense account has posed a significant risk to our
AdWords advertisers. Since keeping your account in our
publisher network may financially damage our advertisers
in the future, we've decided to disable your account.
Please
understand that we consider this a necessary step to
protect the interests of both our advertisers and our
other AdSense publishers. We realize the inconvenience
this may cause you, and we thank you in advance for
your understanding and cooperation.
Sincerely,
The
Google AdSense Team |
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You
can Cancel Google... Well not really, but
there are a couple of things that you can do. First change
to another search engine like Yahoo! or MSN. Second and better,
switch to Firefox
and BLOCK Google's ads with AdBlock
Plus or
some other add-on
that might be available. This site was NEVER any kind of risk
or threat to Google or its advertisers and made every effort
to follow Google's rules. Nonetheless, even without the small
amount of revenue that was anticipated from Google to financially
support this site, it will remain online in one form or another.
Thanks for everyone's comments and encouragement! Rich
Firefox
AdBlock
Plus |
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| Site
remains largely dormant |
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11/15/2008:
Sadly, production of Howard Johnson's Toastees ceased some
six months ago. No doubt the miniscule royalties realized
by Mr. Kushner from his contract with the now defunct America's
Kitchen were all that sustained his "LaMancha Group."
Save for the now non-standard and virtually independent Lakes
Placid
and George,
as well as the de-oranged Bangor
restaurant little is left, for Toastees limited availability
in Publix
stores as well as in various supermarkets in the Northeast
United States represented the last tangible evidence of the
once largest and greatest hospitality chain on the planet.
Please
note that this site and its affiliated sections will be mostly
dormant until further notice. Due to personal circumstances
your webmaster and Howard Johnson's enthusiast has moved half-way
across the country and must focus on continued employment.
There will regrettably be little or no free time in which
to update this site. However it will remain online and available--and
of course--free of charge:) Thank you for your continued support
and interest! Richard Kummerlowe |
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| Hard
to Believe but |
| ONLY
Three Howard Johnson's Restaurants Remain: |
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At
the onset of my endeavor/adventure to document Howard
Johnson's in 1998, I never could have imagined that
I was witness to the end of an era. It is difficult
to believe that an institution so ingrained in our culture
could vanish almost without a trace. For it would seem
that with each passing day another HoJo's is closed
and demolished. Not that long ago Howard Johnson's was
the largest hospitality chain in the world. But now
this once ubiquitous roadside landmark fades from America's
rear-view mirror, and as we speed off into the uncharted
future fewer and fewer orange roofed Restaurants and
Motor Lodges remain to serve the hungry and sleepy motoring
public.
This
site commemorates the Roadside Empire created by Howard
D. Johnson, and chronicles with photographs and commentary
the story of a once vast organization and its legacy
to the American roadscape, and to the hospitality industry.
Please browse and enjoy the photographs, and I hope
that they rekindle many memories. |
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"Howard
Johnson's -- An American way of life -- convenience, comfort
and hospitality for the entire family, at home and away from
home." |
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