For me, it was the vanilla ice cream. There was something about the Howard Johnson's vanilla that was just creamier than anything else I'd ever tasted as a kid growing up in Rhode Island. The toys in the lobby were always cool, too.
What's your favorite HoJo's memory or story? Share it here.
Local historian and author Anthony Sammarco has a new book coming out this month from History Press called "A History of Howard Johnson's: How a Massachusetts Soda Fountain Became an American Icon."
We'd love to hear your memories or stories, and will run a few of the best in an upcoming "G" section of the Globe, along with a short excerpt from the book.
Just browsing the book sparks lots of fun questions. Do you know where the first HoJo's opened, back in 1929? Or his first ice cream stand? Good stuff. We might chuckle at the orange roofs we see today, but the story behind them looks pretty interesting.
