{"id":2736,"date":"2007-04-18T02:05:00","date_gmt":"2007-04-18T06:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2007\/04\/howards-end\/"},"modified":"2010-12-30T12:02:02","modified_gmt":"2010-12-30T17:02:02","slug":"howards-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2007\/04\/howards-end\/","title":{"rendered":"Howard’s End"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

We lost our HoJo’s about ten days ago. I say “our” HoJo’s as it was the last Howard Johnson’s restaurant in Connecticut, one of four in the world. Open since 1957, the Waterbury eatery<\/a> was of the classic mid-1950s style<\/a> designed by Rufus Nims<\/a>, but with the later stylized cupola<\/a> atop a signature orange roof<\/a>, although it advertised some very un-HoJo-like entertainment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Howard Deering Johnson<\/a> ran a small drug store<\/a> in Wollaston, Massachusetts, south of Boston. He acquired a recipe for high butterfat content ice cream, which proved so popular that he opened a beachfront stand<\/a> offering 28 flavors<\/a>. More beachfront stands followed, and in 1929 he opened a sit-down restaurant in Quincy. In 1932 he made franchising history by licensing a friend to open the second HoJo’s restaurant<\/a> in Orleans<\/a>, on Cape Cod. By 1939 there were more than 100 restaurants; in 1979 when Johnson’s son sold out to Imperial Group PLC there were more than 1000 restaurants and 520 motor lodges across the United States.<\/p>\n

My region is a hotbed of former HoJo’s. Oldest is the New London store<\/a>, dating from the early 1940s and now an Italian restaurant<\/a>. Retaining its period curved roof<\/a> (now painted green), it has been updated by removal of the original dormer windows and cupola<\/a> and addition of a green-toned stone front<\/a> that was a 1960s HoJo feature. Original eyebrow dormers<\/a> on the east wing remain, however.<\/p>\n

Across the river in Groton, a building born as a HoJo’s, then converted to the companion chain Ground Round<\/a>, is now a bank<\/a>. Another few miles east in Mystic, the HoJo’s was converted<\/a> to a Bickford’s Grille<\/a>, but retained the stone front<\/a> where the anchors<\/a> for the Simple Simon logo<\/a> could still be seen. The youngest southeastern Connecticut Howard Johnson’s is the most distressed<\/a>. Standing vacant near the Rhode Island border, it’s an example of the late “mansard style” HoJo’s. Most recently an independent restaurant<\/a>, it’s been seeking a new owner<\/a> for years.<\/p>\n

There’s a cult following for HoJo nostalgia out in cyberland. Fascinating websites include HoJoLand<\/a> and Under the Orange Roof<\/a>. The Nahant, Massachusetts, community pages<\/a> include many historic photos<\/a> of Howard Johnson stands and restaurants. The only remaining restaurants<\/a> are in Bangor, Maine, and Lake George and Lake Placid, New York<\/a>. Howard Johnson Motor Lodges<\/a> abound, but they were split off from the restaurant business years ago.<\/p>\n

Alas, progress keeps passing us by. The Mystic Bickford’s is now closed<\/a>, undergoing renovations<\/a> that will make it all but unrecognizable<\/a>. Dennis David<\/a> stopped by the Waterbury eatery the other day as the new sign<\/a> was going up. All vestiges<\/a> of HoJo’s, save for the orange roof and base of the cupola<\/a>, are now gone. He and I went there for dinner in January after a gig at the Golden Age of Trucking Museum<\/a> in nearby Middlebury. I had fried clams. They were just as I remembered them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We lost our HoJo’s about ten days ago. I say “our” HoJo’s as it was the last Howard Johnson’s restaurant in Connecticut, one of four in the world. Open since 1957, the Waterbury eatery was of the classic mid-1950s style designed by Rufus Nims, but with the later stylized cupola atop a signature orange roof,….<\/span>
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