What's It Wednesday- I Scream, you scream, but can you name the 28 flavors?
A frozen concoction that has been around for centuries.
Ice Cream! It is a treat known the world over.
Jiffy Ice Cream freezer ACHC # 1977.014.1a
The oldest recorded history of “ice cream” dates to the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 CE). The Chinese Emperors are believed to have been the first to eat a frozen milk-like confection made from goat or cow milk mixed with flour and heated to thicken. Camphor from evergreen trees was added for texture and flavoring. Then the mixture was packed into metal containers and submerged in an icy pond until the “ice cream” was frozen. However, Egyptians, Ancient Greeks and Romans also have a history of making an icy treat to cool off.
Roman Emperor, Nero Claudius Caesar (54-86 CE) reportedly sent runners into the mountains to collect snow to be mixed with fruit and juices. In 1292, Marco Polo returned to Italy from China with a recipe for making what we know of as sherbet. By the 1600s, the recipe had evolved with the addition of cream to be “ice cream.” It was the elite treat for kings and queens, and the aristocracy, throughout Europe.
It wasn't until the late 1600s that ice cream was made available to the general public. In 1686, Francoise Procopio, opened the first café in Paris, Café Procope, and introduced a dessert recipe which blended milk, cream, butter and eggs into a frozen concoction.
Then almost 100 years later, ice cream came to the United States. The first ice cream shop was opened in Manhattan, NY by Philip Lenzi on May 12, 1777. He advertised the opening of the shop in the New York Gazette and announced that ice cream was available "almost every day."
Manufacturing became a major industry in America in the 1800’s with the invention of insulated ice houses and then innovations of mechanical refrigeration, electric motors, packing machines and freezing processes. By the 1900s, ice cream was big business.
ACHC #1994.011.2 Lowe's Pharmacy interior, 10-16 Main Street (Barnard Block)
Andover, as with many communities, has been home to multiple ice cream parlors going back to the Hinton family ice cream business in the late 1800s, early 1900s and continuing through the 1900s and since. Ice cream was served at Shattuck Farm, Rose Glen Dairy, Lowe’s Pharmacy pictured above, Cronin’s Ice Cream in Ballardvale, Brigham’s and a multitude of other ice cream purveyors.
And then there was Howard Johnson.
Howard Deering Johnson 1962, Age 65 Press Photo Public Use
Howard Deering Johnson was born in Boston in 1897 and grew up in Quincy, MA. The only son of four children, he dropped out of grade school and went to work in his father’s cigar store. He served in WWI as part of the American Expeditionary Force in France. After the war, Johnson returned to Quincy to work in the cigar store once again. When his father died in 1921, the cigar business was left to Howard, along with a sizeable debt. Johnson continued to run the store until 1924, when he sold the business and property hoping to make enough to be able to pay off the $10,000 debt. He wasn’t successful.
The next year Johnson borrowed $2,000 and purchased a pharmacy store in Wollaston, a neighborhood of Quincy. It was then that he made the decision to improve business by installing a soda fountain counter where he could sell ice cream. He also decided to improve his recipe for ice cream by adding butterfat. The addition was a success, making the ice cream more flavorful. He also began adding a variety of flavors.
28 flavors to be exact. The ice cream was a big hit. The concept of Howard Johnson’s restaurants was born.
Ad from Yankee magazine.
A year later, Johnson opened an ice cream stand in a small building on Wollaston Beach where he had rented a house for the summer. He allegedly sold 14,000 cones in one day.
The first Howard Johnson’s on Wollaston Beach in Quincy, Massachusetts– Source: Boston Globe no copyright infringement is intended
Johnson went on to open other beachfront stands which sold sodas, ice cream, grilled frankforts, and fried clams along the Massachusetts coast. In 1929, he opened the first formal, sit-down, Howard Johnson’s restaurant in the center of Quincy. The location in Quincy Square made the restaurant an initial success. Until the Stock Market crash in October.
The Howard Johnson’s managed to survive the crash and Johnson began to expand the business adding restaurants and franchising them. Howard Johnson would sell the rights to his name and logo to the franchisee and would ship the same food products to each restaurant franchise. The first Howard Johnson’s restaurant which operated as a franchise was in Orleans on Cape Cod.
Others followed, including one in Andover MA.
Howard Johnson’s South Main St (Rt 28) Bypass ACHC 1995.009.135.
In her August 27, 2015 article in the Andover Townsman, Andover Stories: Local ice cream business has flourished over the years, Gail Ralston wrote about the opening of the Andover Howard Johnson’s:
“Howard Johnson’s on South Main Street opened in 1936. Its Grand Opening was a phenomenon. Throngs showed up, lining up 10 feet deep throughout the afternoon until midnight. Traffic was so heavy that three police officers were needed to control it. That day, HoJo’s sold 3,200 quarts of ice cream and 3,096 frankfurters.”
Ad in the February 28, 1946 Andover Townsman
In 1936, there were 40 Howard Johnson’s franchises. Business was booming. By 1939, there were 107 supplying $10.5 million in revenues a year. World War II hit the industry hard. With 200 restaurants when the US entered the war, by the end of the war, there were only 14 still in operation. But ever the businessman, Howard Johnson secured licenses to operate his restaurants along major turnpikes and highways including Pennsylvania, Florida and New Jersey, as well as along the Southeast expressway in Boston. Travelers were comforted to find that they could count on receiving the same good fare from Howard Johnson’s across the country.
HoJo’s became a household name!
Thanks for reading!
Do you remember eating at Howard Johnson’s? What was your favorite ice cream flavor?
Please share your comments, pictures, or memories. I’d love to hear your stories. You can comment below or email me at mhelmers@andoverhistoryandculture.org
Marilyn
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Did you know that I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream was written by Howard Johnson, Billy Moll, and Robert A. K. King? You can listen to the 1925 recording by Waring’s Pennsylvanians.
Resources
Andover Center for History and Culture Collection
The Delicious History of Ice Cream
The Story Behind Howard Johnson’s