FORGOTTEN HOWARD JOHNSON MEALS

In 1959, a young French cook named Jacques Pepin stood over a kettle of clam chowder big enough to bathe in.  His job was to make 3,000 gallons taste the same in Maine as in Florida. That was the secret of Howard Johnson's not the orange roof.  Today, people remember the roof and forget the food.  

Pepin famously turned down an opportunity to cook at the White House for President John F. Kennedy to work for Howard Johnson's in the 1960s.  During his decade-long tenure he perfected their commissary production, helping scale and standardize their famous chicken pot pies and other menu staples for the masses.  Before immigrating to the United States, Pepin established a name for himself in France as the personal chef to French President Charles de Gaulle. 

The signature dessert for kids was a scoop of their famous ice cream accompanied by a cookie. A child's perforated menu was offered so that after ordering you could punch out the lines and wear it as a ballcap.  

 Before drive-throughs, before frozen breakfast sandwiches, before frozen breakfast sandwiches Howard Johnson's served little griddle cakes that came off the supply truck by the case .. corn toasties, orange toasties, blueberry toasties.  They arrived frozen, golden discs of cornmeal batter studded with sweet kernels and the line cook  dropped them on the flat top until the edges crisped, the center turned tender and steaming.  A paddy of butter melted into the surface and a drizzle of syrup ran down the sides.  When the frozen food line was discontinued, the toasties went with it which has resulted in not being able to buy them anywhere today.  A whole category of American roadside breakfast simply disappeared and almost nobody remembers it existed.  

Howard Johnson's had the Shirley Temple and the Roy Rogers kid's drinks. This was the genius of Howard Johnson's.  He understood that the ritual of serving these drinks to kids with special names was the product.  The drink was just the excuse.  Almost no chain puts these on their menu, by name, anymore.  Another Howard Johnson's specialty was the Hawaiian baked ham. In the post-war years, anything with pineapple on it felt impossibly exotic! A few of the very last orange roof holdouts kept Hawaiian baked ham on the menu right up until the end.  

 Howard Johnson's was not just clams and ice cream.  It fed working men, too.  And the open steak sandwich was built for them.  A think tenderloin steak, charcoal broiled until the edges charred, was laid flat across a single slice of toast and covered in a ladle of dark pan gravy.  

 People forgot that Howard Johnson's began as a soda fountain and candy counter. Howard Johnson's offered  the "frappe".  Order a milkshake at Howard Johnson's and you got a New England "frappe".  And there was a difference even if the rest of the country never learned it.  A "frappe" was ice cream, milk and flavored syrup whipped together at the fountain until it was so thick the straw stood straight up on its own. A "frappe" cost a quarter and it was practically .. a meal. It was served with the rest of the steel cup removed from the spinner and placed beside your glass so you got every drop!

There was macaroni and cheese with elbow macaroni folded into a real cheddar sauce, poured into a dish, topped with crumbs and baked until the top browned and the edges bubbled.

Howard Johnson's was most famously known for its fried clam strips and its signature 28 flavors of ice cream.  

The iconic roadside chain also gained legendary status for its New England-style hot dogs served in square, butter-toasted split-top buns and traditional homestyle favorites like baked beans and chicken pot pies.  

For sit-down diners, travelers always knew they could get homestyle mainstays like meatloaf and roast turkey.

Here is what nobody tells you about Howard Johnson's.  The food was almost beside the point.  What Howard Johnson actually invented was the idea that a restaurant in main and a restaurant in Florida could be the exact same restaurant. When you saw that orange roof from a mile away, you were not just seeing a building, you were seeing a promise.  

Every chain you have ever trusted on the highway exit owes its DNA to a man who decided that consistency itself was worth selling.  This man was the one and only

Howard Johnson. 

Howard Deering Johnson

 

Julian Pump

595 Fairmount Avenue

Jamestown NY

Established 1919

Julian Pump and Manufacturing Corporation Automatic Gasoline Pump Manufacturer.  

A. N. Broadhead was President and Treasurer 

The Julian Pump Company was historically owned and operated by the Broadhead family who also held the Broadhead Mills, the Jamestown Shale Paving Brick Company and local real estate. Operating during the 1920s, Julian Pump was part of the robust roster of heavy manufacturing and metalworking companies that defined Jamestown during the era of automotive and industrial expansion.  Today, original signs and gas pumps manufactured by the company are highly sought after by collectors of vintage automobilia. 

Julian Pump memorabilia primarily consists of vintage items from the Julian Pump Company, which manufactured "Square Deal" gasoline.

Julian Pump Co. typewritten letterheads and original cancellation envelopes occasionally surface on auction sites. 

 

Father's Day is a special day dedicated to honoring fathers and father figures for their love, guidance, support and contributions to their families and society.  The deeper meaning of Father's Day is to recognize the important role that fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, guardians and mentors play in nurturing, protecting and supporting children throughout their lives.

In short, Father's Day is a time to say "thank you" to the men who have helped shape our lives through their care, sacrifice and encouragement.  

 

 

'Once in a lifetime'

Union Pacific Big Boy Engine No. 4014 traveling along the shore of Lake Erie

.. somewhere in Ohio ..

.. headed to Chautauqua County ..

Photo Credit to Michael Smoker

when Big Boy #4014 stopped in Ripley, New York.

The Union Pacific Big Boy #4014 is the largest and heaviest operational steam locomotive in the world.

Originally built in 1941 for WWII freight hauling, the colossal 1.2-million-pound or 600-ton engine stretches 132 feet (with tender).  Today, only eight survive in museums and Engine No. 4014 is the only one still operating. Union Pacific's iconic "Big Boy" cost approximately $265,174 per locomotive to build in 1941.  Adjustinf for inflation, this equates to roughly $5.8 million today.  If a new Big Boy could be manufactured from scratch today, experts estimate the modern construction cost could easily exceed $100 million due to the lack of specialized tooling and manufacturing infrastructure. 

Twenty-five locomotives were built.  Eight are preserved in museums with No. 4014 operational.

Union Pacific spent over $10 million between 2013 and 2019 to fully restore Big Boy #4014.

You can track the train by following the live location and the complete updated schedule on the Union Pacific Steam Tour Tracker.

Everyone wants a photo

even

the crew!

Union Pacific No. 4014 

.. crossing the Mighty Mississippi ..

..  enroute to Westfield ..

June 9, 2026

Photo Credit to Joel Seachrist

.. Ripley Welcomes Big Boy #4014 ..

.. A Day to Remember .. 

 

A Blog Request of My Followers

Please share this blog with others you think would have interest in reading 

about

.. people, places and things .. 

Hard to believe though I am nearing my 1,000 story being written since this blog was first created in 2023.

I would like to reach 100 followers this summer! 

I thank you.

Pat Locke

offshoremuse2023.blogspot.com 

 A Western New York Couple

Builds a Colorful House

out of

Colorful Bottles

These two large scenes appear at night when the light shines through .. a beach scene with complete with palm tress and a setting sun which is a nod to their favorite place in the Caribbean.  There is a large tree made of bottles of various sizes, shapes and colors.  The couple's creation has endured Western New York winters though they have acid washed the bottles to make them shine brighter and reseal the mortar.

Some folks use empty bottles for craft projects, but one Niagara County couple took recycling to another level.

What do you get when you mix a colorful vision, some ambition and more than 3,000 wine bottles?  If you're Kitty and Kevin, the end result is something really incredible.  A backyard structure that looks more like a work of art.  Kitty got the idea while enjoying a glass of wine with her son who was enjoying a beer from a blue bottle. She liked how colorful the bottle was and thought ther had to be some sort of craft project she could create using it.

 The creation was anything but a normal craft project!

After convincing Kevin  .. it took Kitty and Kevin a year of nights and weekends to build the 10'x12' building. They had some bottles of their own and enlisted the help of friends and family to collect bottles from area wineries, restaurants and bars. So instead of ending up in the trash, the bottles ended up stacked high and kept in place with mortar.  the finished product looks like stained glass when the bottles catch the light, from within, at night. 

One thing they don't plan on doing?  Building another wine bottle building.  

Someone already asked!

 

The Disco Era

Disco is a genre of dance music and a counterculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightlife scene.  Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated baselines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pianos, synthesizers and electric rhythm guitars.

Discotheques as a venue were mostly a French invention, imported to the United States with the opening of Le Club, a members-only restaurant and nightclub located at 416 East 55th Street in Manhattan, by nightclub owner and promotor, Olivier Coquelin, on New Year's Eve in 1960.  Coquelin is known for creating the first American discotheque in the United States. 

Disco music as a genre started as a mixture of music from venues popular among African Americans, Latino Americans and Italian Americans in New York City (especially Brooklyn) and Philadelphia during the late 1960s to the mid-to-late 1970s.

Several dance styles were developed during the period of disco's popularity in the United States which included recordings by Earth, Wind and Fire.  Disco crossover songs such as "September" and "Let's Groove" became massive staples of the disco dance floor though EWF are also considered an R&B band and pioneers of funk, soul and jazz. Another disco song, Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now was recorded in 1979 by American R&B duo, McFadden and Whitehead. Disco groups of the decade were The Bee Gees, Chic, KC and the Sunshine Band, The Emotions, The Jackson 5, Kool and the Gang, The Love Unlimited Orchestra, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, The Pointer Sisters and Sister Sledge among many others.

The Disco ee boomed in the 1970s and remains a pervasive influence today due to several key factors among them being Cinematic Magic found in the blockbuster film, Saturday Night Fever (1977) propelling the scene from underground clubs to straight mainstream living rooms. 

The most famous at the 2001 Odyssey club while the Bee Gees' "You Should Be Dancin'" plays.

Why It Survives Today

Disco never truly died because it simply .. evolved.  Contemporary stars consistently channel the genre's infectious, feel-good energy. At its core, the genre is all about joy, escapism and coming together on the dance floor which is a universal, enduring human desire.