Howard Johnson's: Good Roadfood!

http://www.autoage.org

Neat website above (hope it is OK to link) has pictures of old HoJos hotels and restaurants. I have great memories of the Newark, Del., and Chattanooga, Tenn., locations. They had the best vanilla milkshake ever. The website above has link to other HoJos websites, too. There are actually a handful left. I believe the Times Square location has closed, sadly. This website has info on Times Square closing: http://www.hojoland.homestead.com/

OK, Now that you mention the Milk Shake, it triggered a memory for me. At the HoJo's I worked at in Eastern Mass. We had Milk Shakes and Frappes. The difference being the addition of ice cream to the Frappe in the Steel Can before you 'beat' it. The Milk Shake was just that-- Milk and flavor syrup beat up real good.
The reason I mention it, this is just about the only example of regional 'specialization' in the menu of the Hojo chain that I recall.
HoJo Clam Chowder was ALWAYS the Milk Chowder of the Boston area, even when we tried it on a trip west (in Albany,NY), No Tomatoes anywhere in this stuff.

Al, Nightline did a story recently on one of the few remaining HoJos restaurants, in CT. The guest was Jaques Pepin, famous chef and often seen with the late Julia Child. Pepin was head HoJo chef for ten years (I believe)! That was news to me! He said he still uses many of the old recipes for himself, including the chowder you mention. Chef Pepin said he learned much about the way America eats through his HoJo experience.