Posted on 08/23/2016 7:32:32 PM PDT by RightGeek
BANGOR, Maine — The closing of one of the last two Howard Johnson restaurants in a couple of weeks will mark the end of its fried clam strips, ice cream and other menu staples that nourished baby boomers and leave the once-proud restaurant chain teetering on the brink of extinction.
The slice of roadside Americana will no longer be served up in Bangor after Sept. 6.
For waitress Kathe Jewett, it's the only job she's held since starting work when the restaurant opened in 1966.
"It's bittersweet, but it's nothing to be sad about," the 68-year-old Jewett insisted Tuesday during a break from serving customers. "I've been here for 50 years — and it's time."
The closing will leave only one Howard Johnson restaurant, in Lake George, New York.
[More nostalgia and pictures at the link]
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
Is that yours?
Wow. And they used to be everywhere. So many things from my childhood and youth are disappearing. I’m definitely feeling my mortality these days.
Yep, brings back memories of family going out to dinner, and family vacation trips.
The names of closed businesses evoke memories for all of us.
Howard Johnson
Burger Chef
Kinney Shoes
Robert Hall
Ponderosa Steakhouse
A & P supermarkets
In various parts of the country, some defunct department stores come to mind:
Hecht Company
Woodward and Lothrop
The Broadway
Robinson’s
May Co.
Bullocks
Marshall Fields
Remember the old gas stations?
Flying A
Cities Service
Esso
Atlantic
Richfield
Nostalgia is alive and well, even if these places are all closed down.
No but I do recall seeing one (maybe a cousin) in my youth.
Great place. Now you have restaurants where the cafe dujour is New Zealand Peaberry.
As a kid we crossed country from NY to GA.
We had Howard Johnson’s until somewhere in the middle of the country then it became Denny’s through CA.
So only one Howard left now or just one in that syzys?
One left on the country?
My tablet is giving me fits.
Those that have only had clam strips, you don't know what you are missing.
“The left that night, crunchin’ across the mojave desert, their voices echoing thru the canyons of your minds... “ethel, wanna get a cuppa cawfee? howard johnson’s, ahhh there’s a howard jo’s! ... wanna eat some clams? ...”
Whatever happened to Mr. Softee and the Good Humor ice cream trucks??
I think I see the problem.
When we traveled from Boston to Maine I’d see these Howard Johnson’s restaurants all the time.
Always looked so inviting but no matter how often I would ask to eat there the answer was always no. We were pretty poor so it wasn’t a surprise. Going out to eat was almost unheard of.
Still, I would have liked to see what it was all about.
We’d go to lunch at the HoJo across the street from high school for the burgers. Even was an L&K a few doors down, too.
Funny, I wondered about the Hojo. This past weekend on my way up to Tannersville, NY, I saw one & was surprised they were still around. The one in NYC closed, I believe.
Another piece of Americana bites the dust.
Back in the 80’s, my wife and I worked at the same place and there was a HoJo nearby. We went there after work to take advantage of the Fried Clam Night Special on many occasions.
SAMBOS
There is still a Stuckey’s on I-40 in NC just west of the start up Black Mountain...
We didn’t have White Castle, but we had Blue Circle and Krystal...All the same as White Castle....
Warm memories from my childhood!!
When my family was on the road my parents always looked for HoJos!!
Market Basket is thriving and adding more stores throughout the New England area.
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