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Last Night's "Trippy" Mad Men: From Howard Johnson's To LSD
By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 23, 2012
Modified Apr 23, 2012
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![HOWARD JOHNSON'SIn the 1960s and 1970s, Howard Johnson's was the largest restaurant chain in the United Statesâthough now we know it mostly as a hotel. In 1961, founder Howard Deering Johnson hired "famed New York chefs Pierre Franey and Jacques Pépin to oversee food development... [they] developed recipes for the company's signature dishes that could be flash frozen and delivered across the country, guaranteeing a consistent product." In this episode, Roger asks Don to head up to the New York flagship "on business," saying, "How about a completely debauched and unnecessary fact-finding boondoggle to the flagship in Plattsburgh, N.Y?â Don takes Megan instead, and we get a look at the orange-roofed roadside chainâthe one they traveled to is now closed.](https://api-prod.gothamist.com/images/247616/fill-700x467%7Cformat-webp%7Cwebpquality-70/)
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 23, 2012
Modified Apr 23, 2012
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Last night's episode of Mad Men didn't have any major historical news moments overshadowing it, or even serving as a backdrop, as the past few have. This time there were references serving as time markers, from the popularity of Howard Johnson's at the time, to the Cornel Wilde movie The Naked Prey... stop reading now if you don't want to have any close encounters with the basics of the episode.
Previously: The Rolling Stones play Forest Hills, Queens, the Charles Whitman shooting spree in Austin, the Richard Speck murders, and that "thing'"happened in Bed-Stuy.
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1966
aliens
history
howard johnson's
lsd
mad men
television
UFOs
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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