This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about HoJo's below in the comments.
Howard Johnson's and its 28 flavors gave mid-20th-century Americans a view of the future: choice. In a time of eight-color boxes of Crayolas and three television stations, the implication of HoJo's abundance fired our imaginations. Though the restaurant chain had been in business since 1925, it took off during the depression when the founder adopted the now-traditional Cape Cod building with an orange roof topped by a weather vane of Simple Simon and the Pieman.
The company was also among the first to franchise, a major contributor to its growing success. With the advent of the national freeway system in the 1950s, Howard Johnson's quickly monopolized the rest stops and exits, making it larger than Micky D's, the King, and the Colonel combined.
Part of its success was in devising better prepackaged foods and a standardized menu, allowing the common Joe to work the grill. By 1954, the chain had grown to 400 restaurants, large enough to support expansion into the motor lodge business, catering to the increasingly mobile American traveler.
In the '60s, HoJos served more food to Americans than anyone except the U.S. Army. By the time the descendants of the founder sold the firm in 1980 to Imperial Group, the chain included 1,000 restaurants and 500 motor lodges.
Eventually, though, the company's business model was widely adopted and improved upon. The company gradually lost market share and changed hands several times. Various new initiatives proved unsuccessful, and finally the restaurant and motor lodge sectors were sold off separately (hence the existence of Howard Johnson's (restaurants) and Howard Johnson (lodging). Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) owns the motor lodge business, while the restaurant sector is owned by La Mancha Group LLC, which is attempting to use it to brand groceries and open a chain of ice cream shops.
So how did Howard Johnson's become HoJo? We can only speculate, and I speculate the nickname came about for two reasons:
One is the human love of rhythm; in this case, the double O, as in yo-yo, polo, cocoa, Han Solo, the dodo, and FloJo's mojo. HoJo flows pleasingly off the tongue. Howard Johnson's flows out like a handful of rusty bolts.
Also, it may have been a way for the young, returning from the war, to stake their claim, differentiate their favorite hangout from the staid restaurants of their parents. Where Howard Johnson's sounded like a meeting place for accountants, HoJo's was informal, hip, youthful, the kind of place a guy could bring his main squeeze and show off his street rod. And, of course, gorge on 28 flavors.
Either way, the company was savvy enough to pick up on the nickname and trademark it. To this day, Wyndham's site for their piece of the HoJo pie is www.hojo.com.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-08-2008 @ 7:51AM
bored early in the AM said...
reminds me of in my town how there is a resturaunt named Cole Farms that we all call Cole Hole. And an Ice Cream place named Hodgeman's that is in the town refered to as Frozen Custard or more lovingly FroCo.
8-08-2008 @ 9:35AM
Jessica said...
It's Han Solo, not Hans Solo.
Sorry. Star Wars buff.
8-08-2008 @ 7:41PM
Vinny said...
Howard Johnsons motels are still good value for money. They are a big step above most of the Pakastani owned motels that dominates the lower priced motels in the South. I try to find a Howard Johnsons when I travel because they are usually very clean and their prices aren't out of sight. Lately they offer Mexican restaurants attached that are a fantastic value. If I could afford it I would stay at the higher priced Motels but I can't, so HoJo's is just fine for me.
8-09-2008 @ 12:03AM
Jim said...
being one of those 50's people I seem to recall
Ho Jo's was for brevity....