Childs Restaurants was one of the first national dining chains in the United States and Canada, having peaked in the 1920s and 1930s with about 125 locations in dozens of markets, serving over 50,000,000 meals a year, with over $37 million in assets at the time. Childs was a pioneer in a number of areas, including design, service, sanitation, and labor relations. It was a contemporary of food service companies such as Horn & Hardart, and a predecessor of companies such as McDonald's.
The first Childs Restaurant was launched in 1889 by brothers Samuel S. Childs and William Childs, on the ground level of the Merchants Hotel (current site of One Liberty Plaza, also previously the Singer Building), at 41 Cortlandt Street (between Broadway and Church Street), in New York City's Financial District.[1] The brothers' concept for the establishment was to provide economical meals to the working class, quickly, and with an unusually high emphasis – for the period – on cleanliness and hygiene. Their novel design format included white tiles, white uniforms, and waitresses instead of the then-common waiters.[2] In addition to these signature characteristics, Childs locations also featured their pancake griddles in the front window. Within five years, Childs had grown to five profitable locations.[3] They also are credited as inventors of the "tray line" self-service cafeteria format, which they introduced in 1898 at their 130 Broadway location.[4]
In 1898, the brothers, confident and ready for more aggressive expansion, combined with several investors to legally incorporate the Childs Unique Dairy Company, with capitalization of $1,000,000, and the stated intent to "establish and operate restaurants in New York City and elsewhere".[5] It was widely speculated, and finally confirmed in 1912, that several officers of the Standard Oil Company were investors in the restaurant chain, including Henry Morgan Tilford and Charles Sweeney.[6]
In 1899, F.O. Hendrick, a nephew of Samuel and William Childs, launched a casual luncheon restaurant at 142 Fulton Street, practically across the street from his uncles' first location on Cortlandt Street, which was by then 10 years old and highly successful.[7] After a short period of family competition, Hendrick ultimately brought his restaurant under the Childs umbrella, and remained an operating executive of Childs Restaurants until the family lost control.
Childs Company Stock Certificate – 1908
In 1906, fifteen similar restaurants (called "green doors") which were independently owned and operated by Ellsworth Childs (brother of Samuel and William) were consolidated into the company. Thereafter, Ellsworth remained an executive of Childs until his death in 1929, and is cited as a driving force behind the physical expansion during that period.[8][9]
Peak years
Exterior of a Childs on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC, in 1917Interior of a Washington, DC location, c. 1920
In September 1919, the company launched an employee stock ownership plan for its restaurant managers, and three years later, extended the plan to all employees. Within 10 years, employees would own almost 25% of the company's common stock.[10]
In November 1920, an article in The Magazine of Wall Street, entitled "Where Everybody Eats Now and Then," called Childs "a national institution. Millions of people eat there at least once in a while and some eat much more often. . . . Most of the people who go into Childs' go in for quick lunches but you can get anything there from a doughnut to a steak."[11]
By 1925, the chain operated 107 locations in 29 cities, served 50,000,000 meals every year, and was reporting consistent annual profits of $2,000,000. The company also grew to include other real estate interests. In March 1925, company president Samuel S. Childs died, although he had not been personally involved in the business for some time, instead focusing on his political career and many other civic and business activities. Operation of the restaurants had long been delegated to his brother and co-founder William, as vice president and general manager, and other family members.[3]
The late 1920s witnessed a roller-coaster of events for the company. In November 1925, the Childs company became a major partner in the development of the landmark Savoy-Plaza Hotel, at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street.[12] Around 1927, William Childs began to impose his vegetarian dietary preferences on the chain's menu, which generated significant backlash from customers and his fellow managers and investors.[13][14] The company's stock reached a low of $44 in 1928,[15] and during a board meeting on December 12, 1928, William was pressed into resigning as president, but remained chairman of the board. At the following board meeting on January 30, 1929, William attempted to turn the tide by firing several executive officers and company directors, replacing them with family members.[14][16] A proxy battle ensued, but on March 7, 1929, William and his supporters lost the fight to retain control of the company he co-founded 40 years before, by then valued around $37,000,000.[17] He did retain a modest non-controlling equity position, which he eventually sold and/or bequeathed.[18][19]
Decline and rebirth
In the 1930s, no longer under the direction of the Childs family, the chain returned meat to its menus, introduced alcohol at many locations (after the repeal of Prohibition),[20] and launched a new subsidiary division called "The Host", meant to be lower-priced than Childs. The company also obtained the hot dog vending license for the 1939 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, which turned out to be a financial mistake.
Childs WWII era menu cover c. 1943
In August 1943, under pressure of significant debt maturity, the company filed for bankruptcy reorganization.[1] Childs emerged from bankruptcy in 1947,[21] and continued to operate through the 1940s and 1950s.
Childs menu from Toronto, Ont.1946Childs menuChilds menu
By 1950, the company had shrunk to only 53 locations, and was losing money. Nonetheless, it managed to acquire the candy and ice cream maker Louis Sherry Inc., and announced several significant operational changes, including "returning to its old custom of flap-jack making in the windows" and the introduction of prepared meats, to eliminate the need for butchering on-site.[22]
In 1955, a young hotelier named A.M. "Sonny" Sonnabend assumed the presidency of the Childs company, and pointed the enterprise in a new direction. In a series of coordinated transactions, the company's name was changed to Hotel Corporation of America, it acquired the Plaza Hotel in New York (across the street from the Savoy-Plaza Hotel, which Childs had developed), and entered into long-term leases for three other hotels in Boston, Cleveland, and Chicago.[23][24][25] The company was then structured into three divisions: restaurants, manufacturing and distribution of packaged foods (via subsidiaries Recipe Foods, Fred Fear, and Louis Sherry), and hotels.[26]
In 1961, substantially all of the remaining Childs restaurant operations, now greatly diminished in number and considered part of the company's past, were sold to the Riese Organization (National Restaurants Management Inc.),[27] which as of 2009 operates more than 100 restaurants throughout New York City, including franchised units of Dunkin' Donuts, KFC, Pizza Hut, T.G.I. Friday's and Houlihan's. A number of the Riese properties are former Childs Restaurants.[28]
In 1970, Hotel Corporation of America (formerly Childs) was again renamed, to Sonesta International Hotels Corporation (Nasdaq:SNSTA).[29] As of 2009, the company operates 25 hotels on three continents, and owns several cruise ships, and is still led by the Sonnabend family.[24]
Architecture
Surf Avenue, Coney Island, completed 1917Boardwalk, Coney Island, completed 1923Washington, DC, completed 1925
Despite their market position, Childs Restaurants were distinguished for their architectural quality, and former locations continue to be appreciated by historic preservationists.[30][31][32][33][34] In his design and construction efforts, William Childs and his internal architect of 30 years, John Corley Westervelt,[35] consulted and engaged respected architects including William Van Alen (modernist designer of the Chrysler Building), Hirons & Dennison, Pruitt & Brown, and McKim, Mead, and White.[31] One design critique from 1924 declared that Childs "stands as a milestone marking an enormous advance in the taste of what we are pleased to describe as the 'common people' of America".[36] In more recent years, celebrated architect Robert A.M. Stern described the Childs design as "austerely-elegant", and recognized their savvy in tailoring design to environment, such as in midtown Manhattan, where Childs was the first to make "dramatic use of large sheets of curved glass for corner windows", now a common technique.[30][37]
Notable locations
The table that follows is an incomplete list of locations that were built for Childs and reflect the company's style. Note that references often have pictures and more detailed histories, and links in the Address column, where provided, link to individual Wikipedia articles about the buildings listed:
Has plaque with what looks like a Childs logo and year built, but Brooklyn phone books of the period indicate it was occupied by a ladies tailor business called "Childs Bros." that despite its similar name had no known connection to the restaurant chain. Presently a commercial building.
By William Van Alen. 14 story building housed a restaurant on ground floor and some corporate functions above. By 1940 restaurant had moved next door to 425 Seventh Ave. Altered, in use as an office building with ground floor retail.
Closing dates, where known, are indicated in the above table. None of the nautical themed restaurants built in the early 1930s appear in 1940 telephone directories, indicating that Childs' had vacated those structures by that date. The earlier locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn do appear in those directories, except for the very early location at 815 Broadway and the South 4th Street location, which is not known to have been a restaurant.[46][63][87]
The following locations were not necessarily built by the Childs Company, but are notable for other reasons:
New York
41 Cortlandt Street, New York, NY (first location)
42 East 14th Street, New York, NY (longtime corporate headquarters, also housed a restaurant)[88]
200 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY (corporate headquarters in later years)[63]
3 Beaver Street, New York, NY (Demolished in 1928 to build part of 26 Broadway, also known as the Standard Oil Building)[89]
Tennessee Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ, replaced in 1927 by a company-built location one block away at South Carolina Avenue[99][100]
Missouri
218-220 North Seventh St & 614-616 Olive St, St. Louis. The North Seventh location was leased in 1903 in expectation of the crowds at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904.[101] In 1912 Child's leased 614–616 Olive St, which abutted the back of their N. Seventh St. location, allowing for entrance to the expanded restaurant from both streets.[102][103] Childs added a second story to the building in 1915 by which point they were the stated owners of the property.[104] Both locations would become referenced in advertising from 1915 until 1935, when the location closed.[105]
Although legally separate from the core Childs Restaurants chain, the founders and various family members operated a number of other businesses throughout the 20th century. Below are brief summaries of those operations.
In 1929, William Childs purchased a historic property near his home in Franklin Corners, New Jersey and converted it – without making any structural modifications – to an inn and restaurant. The Olde Mill Inn and The Grain House Restaurant. This upscale operation was distinctly different from the traditional Childs Restaurants, yet it also met with great success. The family continued to operate it for some time,[111] but The Olde Mill Inn and Grain House Restaurant was eventually acquired by The Bocina Group, which continues to operate it as of 2009.
In December 1929, after being ousted from the core company, William Childs announced that the family had taken over the Archambault Restaurant at 2678 Broadway, and would relaunch it as "Old Algiers" – the first in a series of "old-world" themed restaurants. In this business, he partnered primarily with three nephews, Ellsworth E. Childs, William S. Childs, and Wallace A. Childs.[15][112] The new company was soon organized under the corporate name Old London Inc., which was also the theme of their second 1,000-seat location, launched in 1931 at 130 West 42nd Street.[113] This enterprise did not expand much further, likely due to William's advancing age. He died in 1938, and is buried behind the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church near his New Jersey estate, with a large number of other Childs family members.[114]
As of 2009, the original F.O. Hendrick location is still an operating diner, now called the Anytime Cafe.
Key executives
Family-controlled period
Samuel S. Childs, co-founder and president (1889–1925)
William Childs, co-founder, vice president and general manager (1889–1925), chairman and president (1925–1929/30)
Luther Childs, director (? – 1929)
Ellsworth Childs, director (1906–1929), treasurer (1929)
Abraham M. Sonnabend, president (1954–1963) (Converted Childs into Hotel Corporation of America, later Sonesta International Hotels Corporation)[25][125]
We'll go to Yonkers – where true love conquers – in the wilds, And starve together dear – in Childs
In print
The 1920 novel Main Street, written by Sinclair Lewis, talks of the main characters eating at a Childs restaurant to economize while traveling to Minneapolis.
The poem "Spain in Fifty-Ninth Street", written by E.B. White and originally published in The New Yorker in 1935, tells the story of a brief but emotional interaction between a Childs hostess and a random customer (described as a "man of affairs") at the "Spanish Childs" location, presumably on 59th Street.[127] White wrote a number of other short stories and poems that referenced or featured Childs, likely due to the daily presence of the establishments in his life during the late 1920s and 1930s in New York City.
In film
A Childs restaurant is shown during a montage of the streets of Manhattan being cleared by police during the rampage of the Rhedosaurus in The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.
Taxi Driver directed by Martin Scorsese 1976. Main character Travis Bickle takes Betsy, played by Cybill Shepard, to Child's restaurant in Columbus Circle on their first date.
In television
Jimmy Darmody suggests to Richard Harrow, "Let's go get a steak" [at Childs] in the season 2 finale of Boardwalk Empire, "To the Lost".
Onstage
Childs Restaurant Scene in The Governor's Lady
Playwright David Belasco incorporated a complete reproduction of a Childs Restaurant in his 1912 production of Alice Bradley's The Governor's Lady.
Girl from Mobile, Versatile actress, Tragic or comic, Any old play, Suffered and starved, Met Stanislavsky. He said the world would Cheer her some day. Came to New York, Repertoire ready, Chekhov's and Shakespeare's and Wilde's. Now, they watch her flipping flapjacks at Childs. What a waste, What a waste, What a waste of money and time![131]
Related Research Articles
Broadway is a road in the U.S. state of New York. Broadway runs from the south at State Street at Bowling Green for 13 mi (20.9 km) through the borough of Manhattan, over the Broadway Bridge, and 2 mi (3.2 km) through the Bronx, exiting north from New York City to run an additional 18 mi (29.0 km) through the Westchester County municipalities of Yonkers, Hastings-On-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown, and Sleepy Hollow, after which the road continues, but is no longer called "Broadway". The latter portion of Broadway north of the George Washington Bridge/I-95 underpass comprises a portion of U.S. Route 9.
St. Albans is a residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Jamaica to the northwest, Hollis to the north, Queens Village to the northeast, Cambria Heights to the east, Laurelton to the southeast, Springfield Gardens to the south, and South Jamaica to the southwest. St. Albans is centered on the intersection of Linden Boulevard and Farmers Boulevard, about two miles north of John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Elmhurst is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bounded by Roosevelt Avenue on the north; the Long Island Expressway on the south; Junction Boulevard on the east; and the New York Connecting Railroad on the west.
Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to four other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast, and Woodside and East Elmhurst to the east. As of 2019, Astoria has an estimated population of 95,446.
Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Springfield Gardens, Cambria Heights, Rochdale Village to the southeast; South Jamaica to the south; Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park to the west; Briarwood to the northwest; and Kew Gardens Hills, Jamaica Hills, and Jamaica Estates to the north.
Dumbo is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It encompasses two sections: one situated between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, which connect Brooklyn to Manhattan across the East River, and another extending eastward from the Manhattan Bridge to the Vinegar Hill area. The neighborhood is bounded by Brooklyn Bridge Park to the north, the Brooklyn Bridge to the west, Brooklyn Heights to the south, and Vinegar Hill to the east. Dumbo is part of Brooklyn Community Board 2.
Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; East New York and the cemeteries of Highland Park to the southeast; Brownsville to the south; and Bedford–Stuyvesant to the southwest.
Union Square is a historic intersection and surrounding neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City, United States, located where Broadway and the former Bowery Road – now Fourth Avenue – came together in the early 19th century. Its name denotes that "here was the union of the two principal thoroughfares of the island". The current Union Square Park is bounded by 14th Street on the south, 17th Street on the north, and Union Square West and Union Square East to the west and east respectively. 17th Street links together Broadway and Park Avenue South on the north end of the park, while Union Square East connects Park Avenue South to Fourth Avenue and the continuation of Broadway on the park's south side. The park is maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
Henry Janeway Hardenbergh was an American architect, best known for his hotels and apartment buildings, and as a "master of a new building form — the skyscraper." He worked three times with Edward Clark, the wealthy owner of the Singer Sewing Machine Company and real estate developer: The Singer company's first tower in New York City, the Dakota Apartments, and its precursor, the Van Corlear. He is best known for building apartment dwellings and luxury hotels.
Woodhaven is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered on the north by Park Lane South and Forest Park, on the east by Richmond Hill, on the south by Ozone Park and Atlantic Avenue, and the west by the Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City, and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is known for its office and residential buildings, such as the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower and the MetroTech Center office complex.
Ridgewood is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It borders the Queens neighborhoods of Maspeth to the north, Middle Village to the east, and Glendale to the southeast, as well as the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bushwick to the southwest and East Williamsburg to the west. Historically, the neighborhood straddled the Queens-Brooklyn boundary.
New York City received a ninth consecutive annual record of approximately 65.2 million tourists in 2018, the busiest tourist city attraction, and one of the world's overall busiest tourist attractions, counting not just overnight visitors but anyone visiting for the day from over 50 miles away, including commuters. Overall the city welcomed 37.9 million visitors who stayed overnight in 2018, of whom 13.6 million were international. Major destinations include the Empire State Building, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island, Broadway theatre productions, Central Park, Times Square, Coney Island, the Financial District, museums, and sports stadiums. Other major visitor activities include luxury shopping along Fifth and Madison Avenues; entertainment events such as the Tribeca Film Festival; Randalls Island music festivals such as Governors Ball, Panorama and Electric Zoo; and free performances in Central Park at Summerstage and Delacorte Theater. Many New York City ethnic enclaves, such as Jackson Heights, Flushing, and Brighton Beach are major shopping destinations for first and second generation Americans.
57th Street is a broad thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Manhattan, one of the major two-way, east-west streets in the borough's grid. As with Manhattan's other “crosstown” streets, it is divided into its east and west sections at Fifth Avenue. The street runs from a small park overlooking the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson River in the west. 57th Street runs through the Midtown Manhattan neighborhoods of Sutton Place, Billionaire's Row, and Hell's Kitchen from east to west.
Cross & Cross (1907–1942) was a New York City-based architectural firm founded by brothers John Walter Cross and Eliot Cross.
NoMad, also known as Madison Square North, is a neighborhood centered on the Madison Square North Historic District in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.
This article is a timeline of the history of New York City in the U.S. state of New York.
As of the 2011 American Community Survey, New York City is home to 100,000 ethnic Koreans, with two-thirds living in the borough of Queens. The overall Greater New York combined statistical area enumerated 218,764 Korean American residents as of the 2010 United States Census, the second-largest population of Koreans outside of Korea and the most prominent.
The Childs Restaurant Building on the Boardwalk is a New York City designated landmark on the Riegelmann Boardwalk at West 21st Street in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. It was completed in 1923 for Childs Restaurants, an early restaurant chain and one of the largest in the United States at that time. It was designed in a "resort style with Spanish Revival influence" with colorful exterior terra cotta ornamentation that references its seaside location, with depictions of Poseidon, sailing ships, and sea creatures. It was a very large restaurant, with three stories and a roof garden.
The Hotel Beacon is a Beaux-Arts, 24-story building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, designed by Walter W. Ahlschlager. It was built in 1928 at 2130 Broadway, at the corner with 75th Street, on the site of the Tilden Club House and the Dakota Stables.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
