Howard Johnson's and Holiday Inn: Musings about two 20th century hospitality giants | Rolando's Roadside Roundup
Plus, I'm taking a road trip; memories of Lucy the Elephant; farewell to a Hollywood icon; another beloved elephant is in the pink again; and even more roadside headlines
Howard Johnson is still around, one of 22 hospitality brands within the Wyndham Hotels & Resorts group. Back in 1986, when its lodging business was severed from the restaurant division, Howard Johnson’s (note the apostrophe S they had long used) was an ailing, iconic yet still beloved hospitality giant. The story after that point is complicated and requires masterful flow-chart skills.
The bottom line is, in the 36 years since the split happened, the hotels found safe if unremarkable harbor under various corporate overlords, but the restaurants dwindled from a few hundred down to one, with the last closing earlier this year, in Lake George, New York, though to call it a shell of what it once was it to be exceedingly polite.
Another hospitality chain that dominated the roads of the 20th century was Holiday Inn, whose “Great Signs” were a symbol of home away from home on highways until 1982, when the company decided to move away from them, and soon most were gone.
There are notable similarities and differences between both Howard Johnson’s and Holiday Inn, and I explored those as a guest on the EPS podcast, short for Everything is a Primary Source. It was a pleasure to chat with host Eric Paul and I hope you can give the episode a listen and give Eric’s show a follow — his library of episodes is really interesting!
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE WITH ME HERE or wherever you get your podcasts! It’s also on YouTube, embedded below.
Here, I am sharing photos I’ve taken over the years of old HoJo’s and Holiday Inns, though these two smaller “Great Signs” are not “in the wild” but at the wonderful American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio. The one outside the museum is being restored. Find out what they are doing to it — and donate!
For me, HoJo’s will always represent carefree vacations, grade-school birthday parties, and ice cream, delicious ice cream. I was never one for Tendersweet clams, however.
What are your memories of HoJo’s and Holiday Inn?
Road trip time! Follow along with me!
I hit the road Monday morning, and am writing this from my hotel room in Florence, South Carolina, as I explore the Southeast on a pre-Christmas adventure.
No matter how much you plan ahead for such excursions, no matter the research or how thorough the punch list, surprises of the wonderful variety always await, and this trip has not disappointed.
I will be sharing photos, anecdotes and more as I go. These updates will be available as a premium for my patrons, so please consider upgrading your subscription to paid. It’s a wonderful way to support my work documenting these places.
Sweet memories of Lucy the Elephant
The other day, I posted news about Lucy the Elephant, the legendary roadside novelty in Margate, New Jersey. Lucy had just gotten a big shower, courtesy of the local fire department, which was trying to find leaks in the new metal skin Lucy had received.
Well, the scaffolding has been removed and Lucy is free, gleaming in the December Jersey Shore sun. I was delighted when a reader, Mary Ellen Coghlan, sent along a photo of the liberated Lucy. But I was intrigued when Mary Ellen told me she had a picture of her Aunt Mae visiting Lucy in 1944, when Lucy was already 63 years old! (She’s America oldest roadside novelty.)
And so right below a picture taken by her niece, is a photo of Aunt Mae Coghlan taken in 1944!
Thanks, Mary Ellen, for sharing these treasures of today and yesterday with us. Pictures like that are such a wonderful reminder of why places like Lucy the Elephant mean so much to us.
Mary Ellen sent along one more pic — Lucy taken from behind,. It’s hard not to chuckle.
Notes From the Road
You’ve probably seen the posts about Ames coming back. The reports are based on a website and Linkedin page, and feed off collective wishful thinking. All the chatter, however, has been amusing. See above for an excellent surviving storefront, that looks as though Ames just closed — except it’s already been 20 years since they went bust! If somebody does make a go of Ames again — some deep-pocketed, nostalgic soul — feel free to start here. [Yahoo!]
The Raising Cane’s chain, whose signature dish is chicken fingers, is growing fast, and will soon open in Times Square. My photo from last week.
The historic Pink Elephant car wash sign in Seattle has a new home — the Amazon campus! [Geekwire]
These were once part of a pack. Below is my photo on the Pink Elephant Car Wash in Rancho Mirage, California, taken in 2018.
Call it an oasis in the desert, I wrote back in 2018. The beautiful Pink Elephant Car Wash in Rancho Mirage, California brings smiles to faces as well as shines to cars. Descended from but not affiliated with a similar pack of roadside pachyderms in the Seattle area, the Rancho Mirage car wash revels in its history, selling photos, shirts and other memorabilia. This relic is in good hands.
A rare “Magnolia” model Sears kit house is a precious architectural flower of Syracuse. And yes, there was a time you could order A HOUSE from the Sears catalog. I’ve been in one and was impressed. [Syracuse.com]
NYC’s Landmarks Preservation Commission denied landmarking for a rare 19th-century “Dutch-American” house is Brooklyn, arguing it has been altered in multiple ways. This, to me, seems like an opportunity to remind the agency about the middle word in its name - PRESERVATION. [Brownstoner]
My friend Steve Spiegel (colorbyspiegel on Instagram) reports that the iconic P&J Liquor store signage in Hollywood, California, has been taken down. The neon blade sign (not photographed but in Steve’s post, below) has been saved, according to a comment on Steve’s page, but the amazing plastic signage, with the old telephone exchange — HO — for Hollywood was removed for parts unknown. See Steve’s excellent post below. As he says, “When these things go, they are gone and they will not be replaced.” I’ll keep you informed on the fate of the signage.
Alas, my picture, above, was taken 10 years ago as a friend drove me around Los Angeles. I shot it from the car and made a note to go back one day for a better shot. Too late, alas. And how I love signs with telephone exchanges (with a starburst in front of it, no less) and fanciful vintage typeface. I’m really sad about this one.
The Tucson Inn sign as it looked in May 2018. (Rolando Pujol) The beloved Tucson Inn sign in Tucson, Arizona, has been relit! Above is my pre-renovation photo. The site of the motel now belongs to Pima Community College. The restoration was part of the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation's Neon Sign Project. [Photos: Tucson Inn]
The Neon Sign Project folks are behind Tucson’s Neon Sign Walk, where signs from shuttered businesses have been reinstalled in stunningly restored condition. Below is a gallery of some of my photos from the neon walk from my 2018 visit.
A new ownership group will save Oklahoma City’s Skirvin Hotel, built in 1911 and once the city’s most notable hotel. [News 9]
The fascinating story of Nashville’s Batman building, built in the 1990s for Bell South and a lasting vote of confidence in a once “seedy area.” And no, the architects were not thinking of the Caped Crusader when they designed the tallest building in Tennessee. [WKRN]
You’d need 409 billion Lego bricks to build the Empire State Building, and almost double that amount to build One World Trade Center. The more you know! [Fast Company]
Is the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina, America’s most beautiful building? [Star Telegram]
The story of North Platte, Nebraska’s “Little Store.” [The Landmark]
What will become of Holman’s, the dive bar in Southeast Portland with a killer neon sign? [PDX Eater]
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The post and star for the American Sign Museum's Holiday Inn sign are going to be restored thanks to this fundraiser:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/holiday-inn-great-sign