Learn more about the Father of the Franchise Industry in this illuminating history about the Howard Johnson restaurant franchise and the man behind it all.

Howard Johnson created an orange-roofed empire of ice cream stands and restaurants that stretched from Maine to Florida, and all the way to the West Coast. With a reputation for good food at affordable prices, hungry customers would regularly return for more. The attractive white Colonial Revival restaurants, with eye-catching porcelain tile roofs, illuminated cupolas and sea blue shutters, were described in Reader's Digest in 1949 as the epitome of eating places that look like New England town meeting houses dressed up for Sunday. Highlighted in television shows such as Mad Men and films Netflix's 2019 The Irishman, it's obvious that Howard Johnson's occupies an indelible and pleasant place popular culture. Boston historian and author Anthony M. Sammarco recounts how Howard Johnson introduced twenty-eight flavors of ice cream, the Tendersweet clam strips, grilled frankforts and a menu of delicious and traditional foods that families eagerly enjoyed when they traveled.

On November 28, 1942, fire roared through Boston’s famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub during what was supposed to be a high-spirited Saturday night. By midnight, more than five hundred people were dead, dying, or maimed for life.

Local author Stephanie Schorow probes the club’s history, the circumstances leading to the fire, and the tragedy’s lingering impact. The inferno reached deep into the city’s social structure––its politics, medical care, law enforcement, and religious life––and touched nearly everyone in the Boston area, even those who had never set foot in the club. In this newly updated and revised edition, Schorow has added new information, photographs, interviews and insights on the worst nightclub fire in American history.

The complete history of the home of Red Sox Nation.

Five days after the sinking of the Titanic, Boston's Fenway Park held its grand opening. Since that day, millions have witnessed the Red Sox play baseball. Their Royal Rooters evolved into the Fenway Faithful and are now commonly referred to as Red Sox Nation. Nine World Series have been staged upon Fenway's turf, along with three Major League All-Star Games. Aside from baseball, Fenway has been host to professional and amateur football games, ice hockey, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, hurling, boxing and wrestling matches, and even a circus. Music from concerts has reverberated across its lawn, religious services have been held, and political rallies staged - all adding patches to the quilt of Fenway's rich, illustrious history. The structure that noted author John Updike referred to many decades ago as a lyric little bandbox has become one of New England's most beloved historical landmarks.