Howard Dearing Johnson
Howard Dearing Johnson was born in 1897, the son of a cigar merchant.
By the time Johnson inherited his father's business, it was heavily in
debt. He sold what he could and in 1925 borrowed $500 to open a small
patent medicine store in Quincy, Massachusetts.
Johnson put in a soda fountain and sold three flavors of ice cream,
vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Three years later, he added
frankfurters, hamburgers, and other easily prepared menu items. The
little drugstore became the first Howard Johnson's Restaurant.
By 1935, there were 25 Howard Johnson roadside ice cream and sandwich
stands in Massachusetts. During the next five years, the number grew
to more than 100 along the Atlantic Coast through Florida.
In 1940, Johnson opened a restaurant on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the
first turnpike restaurant in the country. Howard Johnson's customers
had become mostly travelers.
The next logical step was to add motor lodges to the orange-roofed
highway restaurants. The first Howard Johnson's Motel franchise opened
in Savannah, Georgia, in 1954.
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