Thanks, Michael, for the encouragement! Sometimes I've felt a little self-conscious with my posts, as a number of them have been a bit on the long side. I was concerned that they might be thought of as too intrusive.

But one of the fun things about posting comments to a discussion that you find interesting is the way that it stimulates one's thoughts and forces one to think them through, articulate them and sharpen them. (I do print them out later and save them.)

With regard to your question about why many people seem to have fond regard for Howard Johnson's: I don't know why others may have liked the Howard Johnson's chain, but I believe I liked it for, of all things, the design of its various restaurants! -- both the traditionally styled ones and the more "contemporary" ones. It seems to me that the design good sense of the Howard Johnson's people was similar to that of the Disney people who built Disneyland. Somehow, they were "always" able to create cheerful, welcoming restaurant spaces.

However, my feelings in this regard may be somewhat skewed -- or, even, very inaccurate -- because I've lived my entire adult life in Manhattan, have never learned how to drive, and, when I think about it, have traveled extraordinaly little on America's highways. Most of my car (and highway) experiences have been as a child in my father's car. (He did, however, like to drive around a lot just for the fun of it. So as a child I probably did see an average, or more than average, amount of the region's highways.)

Perhaps the single Howard Johnson's that made the greatest impression on me was the one on Queens Blvd., just to the east of where it goes under the Long Island Expressway. (When this Howard Johnson's was built, the Expressway hadn't been built yet. Instead, the Expressway in this area was some sort of boulevard -- Horace Harding Blvd., I believe.)

This Howard Johnson's was built for the 1939 World's Fair and was, at least at the time, the largest Howard Johnson's ever built. As I remember it (and my childhood memory may be off), it looked like a gigantic, festive Colonial mansion. I always wanted to go inside and explore it.

My impression of contemporary-styled Howard Johnson's (if they were indeed Howard Johnson's and not some other chain) were that they were generally speaking good examples of "friendly" modernism -- airy, light-filled, cheerful, cleanly styled, but warm. In my mind, the ones that were situated along highways brought liveliness to long highway journeys and with their designs captured the original "beauty" of America's early highways -- green meadows, contemporary stone walls, open spaces, sun and light, sweeping lines, etc.

Although I've never really been to a "Starbuck's," I kind of suspected that part of the chain's appeal is for the reasons described in Peter's post. But, the old-time New Yorker in me is puzzled as to how they've been able to maintain this atmosphere -- especially in New York? For example, Chock Full O'Nuts (which by the way was probably one of the most socially conscious chains ever) outlets were famously designed to be physically uncomfortable after a set period of time. And one of the reasons given for the demise of the Automats was the difficulty they had keeping people -- especially poor people -- from hanging out all day long.

I wonder if the high prices enable them to do what Chock Full O'Nuts and the Automat couldn't? (Or maybe like some suburban malls, they play continuous classical music to create a civilized atmospher and repel the incontrovertibly obnoxious?)

- - - - - -

I'd like to add one other reason that some chains seem to get off "free" and other don't. And this one also may apply to Starbuck's.

Reason 9: Some chains are less disliked or less criticized because they are on the "right" side of the "culture wars" -- i.e., are appealing to the educated, sophisticated elites who are the main critics of chain stores to being with.

So this may be part of the reason that some critics might decry a Baskin-Robbins, for example, while ignoring (or welcoming) a Godiva.

Other "chains," in addition to Starbuck's and Godiva, that sophisticates seem to tolerate or welcome: Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn (owned now by Williams-Sonoma?), Urban Outfitters, (that gadget chain, whose name escapes me). (I'm sure there are others, but I'm drawing a blank right now.)

As someone who has mixed feelings about chains (but is probably more "pro" chain store than many) my "real" dismay is not with the chain stores themselves, but with the fact that so few of the modern ones seem to have originated in cities -- in particular NYC. (The only one I can think of is Barnes and Noble.)

To me this seems to be a sad example of what left-liberal, anti-capitalist, anti-American thinking has done to American cities. Such thinking seems to me to have helped to create an American urban version of the "British Disease." (To quote a wonderful book title [although I may not agree with the book itself]: "The Future Used to Happen Here.")

Before I ever heard of Starbuck's, I had hoped that Dean & DeLuca would create a chain similar to what Starbuck's has become. And when I first saw Starbuck's, I believe I thought that this cahin was, indeed, a New York chain. (Although the company is, of course, from Seattle. I've since read that the founder is indeed a baby-boomer, from Brooklyn[?].) But even as I had this wish, part of me said that something like this would never happen, because the thinking of New York elites is so anti-chain to begin with.

So, as a result, New York has been colonized with chains from elsewhere anyway -- chains that "might" have been created here instead.

Posted by: Benjamin Hemric on May 14, 2005 7:26 PM

Well, as an ten-year-old child I didn't know what je ne sais quoi was, but I did like their ice cream! And their swimming pool. And over the horizon, waiting for tomorrow, were the Smokey Mountains, or Mammoth Cave, or even Mesa Verde and the Grand Canyon.

Howard Johnson's was a reliable source of decent meals and comfortable clean rooms--and that pool for the kids--and all at a price that ordinary working Americans could afford. My parents did NOT have a lot of money, so more expensive lodgings were out of the question. (We ate all our breakfasts and lunches out of a cooler, and sometimes dinner too, and I've lost track of how many times Dad patched the rusting body of our ancient Buick.) For a long time travellers had to take their chances with whatever they found in the way of restaurants and motels, and sometimes we had to make do with really awful dumps--dirty rooms, lumpy matresses, cold water, bad meals. Motel chains which imposed dependable standards of quality were a god-send. (AAA's motel and restaurant ratings also helped a great deal.)

The sneering contempt toward such chains comes mostly from the cultural "elites" who can afford the best and who despise those who are pleased to find "good enough" for they little money they have. As the population ages, there are fewer and fewer people who remember what things were like back then--and naturally few journalists and academics are interested in reminding us of facts that inconveniently contradict their prejudices.

It all seems a long time ago, now since those cross-country trips. The memories dim, but I do remember the difficulties and how much of an improvement Howard Johnson's and Holiday Inn were. I'm sorry to see Howard Johnson's fail, and will always remember them fondly. So here's to those evil captains of industry who figured out how to make a profit giving ordinary working people what they wanted. Thanks, from a kid who had a wonderful time.

Posted by: pst314 on May 15, 2005 2:10 PM

Hi. I have been looking for info reguarding the old Friendly Frost stores, thus I came upon this site...with someone's mention of the chain. My father was a salesman to store manager to district manager for the Friendly Frost Stores throughout the 60's and 70's. The original store was located on 123 Frost St. in Westbury, a place I visited often, and where my father worked. Thinking back, the name "Friendly Frost" seems like a silly name for an appliance store. I do get a kick remembering the store street sign tho, with those neon atoms spinning around a nucleus! If anyone has any memories of this store I would love to hear them. I was told that the stores closed in the 1980's. I wonder where that old sign went to? Randee: rand49@hotmail.com

Posted by: Randee on May 21, 2005 11:16 PM

Hi, Randee. I'm the poster who mentioned "Friendly Frost."

Sorry, but I only have vague memories of Friendly Frost myself. But you may want to post what you did here on the Queens (nostalgia) Board. (Just type into any search engine: Queens Board.) In the past when the name Friendly Frost has come up a number of people seemed to be more familiar with it than I. (You have to register with the Queens Board before posting. It's free, but there is a two post per 24 hr. limit to those who aren't subscribers.)

By the way, it was interesting to find out the origin of the name, "Friendly Frost." I had thought that it was because they started out selling refrigerators. Even so, as you point out, it still is kind of funny name for a store selling appliances -- even refrigerators.

Good luck!

Posted by: Benjamin Hemric on May 24, 2005 5:53 PM






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