LITTLE ROCK — The most familiar icecream chain of post-World War II America arrived in central Arkansas in August 1956. That's when Howard Johnson brought its 28 flavors to a new restaurant and motor lodge on University Avenue just south of Asher Avenue, along what was then the recently completed New Benton Highway.
By the 1970s, the Howard Johnson name appeared on more than 1,000 restaurants nationwide, but financial problems in the 1980s led to the chain's demise. According to the nostalgia Web site HoJo Land.com, which is dedicated to "serving up warm memories of an American icon," only three of the restaurantsare still in business. Operating under the name HJ Restaurant, they can be found in Bangor, Maine; Lake George, N.Y.; and Lake Placid, N.Y.
The Web site also lists alphabetically what it says were Howard Johnson's 28 flavors: banana, black raspberry, burgundy cherry, butter crunch, butter pecan, butterscotch, caramel fudge, chocolate, chocolate chip, coconut, coffee, frozen pudding, fruit salad, fudge ripple, lemon stick, macaroon, maple walnut, mocha chip, orange-pineapple, peach, peanut brittle, pecan brittle, peppermint stick, pineapple, pistachio, strawberry, strawberry ripple, vanilla.
Style, Pages 52 on 08/23/2009