Howard Johnson's: How the Idea That Saved It Twice Finally Killed It

In nineteen seventy-five, Howard Johnson's ran more than a thousand restaurants and five hundred motor lodges, and fed more Americans than any organization in the country except the United States Army. You found it from a mile away, by the orange roof over the highway. Sometime in early twenty twenty-two, the last one in the world quietly served its final meal, and nobody even recorded the date. This video explores how Howard Deering Johnson invented roadside dining, how one idea — the central kitchen, the same meal in every state — saved his company through the Great Depression and the Second World War, and how that same idea, once every chain in America had copied it, left the country with no more need for the orange roof. If you ever slid into one of those booths — if you ordered the fried clams, if you argued with your brother over which of the twenty-eight flavors to get — tell me which restaurant and which road in the comments. I read every one. Subscribe for more stories of the giants that felt permanent, right up until the day they were not. CHAPTERS 0:00 The last orange roof 0:23 What Howard Johnson's used to be 1:20 1925: a failing drugstore in Quincy 2:05 1935: one of America's first franchise deals 2:20 The central kitchen and the orange-roof promise 2:45 The war nearly ends it 2:55 The golden age 3:17 Two roads close in 3:49 The Interstate reroutes America 4:34 When predictability became sameness 5:35 Sold: Imperial, then Marriott 6:31 Prime Motor Inns and Wall Street 7:01 The idea that conquered the country 7:57 The lights go out, one by one 8:55 The booth you didn't know was the last IMAGE CREDITS Creative Commons images via Wikimedia Commons. All images have been cropped, colour-graded and animated. Howard Deering Johnson portrait — OptimistMover (CC BY-SA 4.0) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Howard Johnson's sign, Afton Mountain — Ben Schumin (CC BY-SA 2.0) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Ice-cream flavor selection sign — Whoisjohngalt (CC BY-SA 4.0) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Howard Johnson's, Roosevelt Blvd. c. 1965 (two views) — Florida Keys–Public Libraries (CC BY 2.0) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Cupola base, former Howard Johnson's — Ben Schumin (CC BY-SA 2.0) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge, Miami Beach 1966 — Phillip Pessar (CC BY 2.0) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge, Portage, Indiana 1971 — Steve Shook (CC BY 2.0) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... First McDonald's museum — Bruce Marlin (CC BY-SA 2.5) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Howard Johnson's, Bay City — "B" (CC BY 2.0) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Howard Johnson's, Times Square — alex lines (CC BY-SA 2.0) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... "WELCOME" sign, former Howard Johnson's — Ben Schumin (CC BY-SA 2.0) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Old Howard Johnson's, Asbury Park NJ — Acroterion (CC BY-SA 4.0) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Howard Johnson Express Inn, Tallahassee — The Bushranger (CC BY-SA 4.0) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — Missvain (CC BY 4.0) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Lake George, New York (winter) — Tyler A. McNeil (CC BY-SA 4.0) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Archival film: "The Restaurant Operator" (1946) and 1950s home movies via Prelinger Archives / archive.org (public domain). Stock clips via Pexels (Pexels License). Public-domain photographs via the Library of Congress and Boston Public Library Tichnor Brothers collection. Music: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) — Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 "Ossuary 5 - Rest", "The Descent", "Anguish" #HowardJohnsons #RoadsideAmerica #TheFallOfGiants