DID YOU KNOW?
This next business is Howard Johnson’s restaurant, which I visited many times while on vacation with my family back in the late 1960s. Howard Johnson's originally began as a single location opened by Howard Deering Johnson in 1925 and eventually grew
This next place I’ve been to a few times, and it was very popular in my day, is Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips. Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips There was a location on Dix-Toledo Road, across from the old Lincoln Park Shopping Center. The chain originally opened in 1969. The cod fillets I used to get there were lightly battered with a crisp, golden crunch, and the French fries and coleslaw always seemed better than what most other restaurants offered in those days.
Arthur Treacher’s expanded aggressively during the 1970s, growing from its Columbus, Ohio beginnings into a chain of about 826 restaurants by the end of the decade. After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1984, the chain steadily declined, shrinking to just a handful of locations by 2010. By 2021, only a single freestanding Arthur Treacher’s remained, located in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, marking the near end of another once-popular dining era.
This next business is Bill Knapp’s. Bill Knapp's It was a popular family dining chain in Michigan, founded in the 1940s. At its peak, it expanded to over 60 locations across Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Florida. The restaurant was
well known for its classic American menu, including burgers, fried chicken, and especially its famous cakes.
Despite its early success, Bill Knapp’s began to decline in popularity during the 1990s, which eventually led to the closure of all remaining locations by 2002. Still, the brand continues to hold nostalgic value for many Michiganders, and some baked goods outlets still operate under the Bill Knapp’s name today.
There was a location in Woodhaven, Michigan on Allen Road that is now an empty building, but the name still remains on the sign as a reminder of what once was. I really enjoyed going there with my parents back in the late 1960s.