The 25 People Who Changed Food in America

By Anne Mendelson

05.16.08
Howard Johnson

Howard Deering Johnson (1897–1972), food-service innovator


From an ice cream business in Quincy, Massachusetts, he went on during the Depression to establish a sprawling, highly visible restaurant franchise. Each franchisee had to employ the same distinctive architectural style and uniform menu. Johnson’s coup was to exploit expanding highway travel at a decisive moment, acquiring exclusive food-service rights along several state turnpikes and later purchasing strategic spots at highway exits.

Photographs by Time & Life Pictures/Getty

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