Welcome to the Harvest House Cafeteria in Cerritos, California.
Ummm...no wait. I mean Flint, Michigan...Niles, Ohio...Toledo, Ohio...Cleveland, Ohio...Carlsbad, California...Indianapolis, Indiana...okay, I have no idea.
A generic card for a chain restaurant that was apparently owned by Woolworth's. I never went to a Harvest House, though I do have very fond memories of going to the counter at Woolworth's in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with my grandmother.
The real question here is where was this photo actually taken? Were there several restaurants that looked exactly like this or did they just take a shot and slap different cities on the back?
I have found other vintage post cards for Harvest House online with different images. It appears there were two other images used for their cards seen here and here.
So that's today's mystery. Where did this room actually exist? Did it exist?
I can't guarantee any of these links will work in the future because many of them are for cards currently for sale.
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Chicago too. Wow looks just like it
ReplyDeleteI worked for HHC from 1968 in Elyria, OH until 1976 in Flint, MI starting as a dishwasher and ending as assistant manager. The decor/construction was all very similar, the red leatherette chairs to the light green trim. This photo could have been from any of them. In fact, the one in Elyria looked exactly like this if the photographer were standing at the back door to the dishroom facing toward the front door.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found the post and contributed to it. I had imagined there would be a sameness to all of these places. Good old Woolworths was pretty much the same from coast to coast.
DeleteI also worked at the Flint, MI HHC, and within the above mentioned time frame. Note to "Anonymous," posted on 9/3/2012, did you work for Art Popa? Is your name John Niegowski? My name is Dick Marvin and my email address is dmarvin6@gmail.com.
DeleteYes, I also worked several years at a HHC. This stock photo is on all the location postcards, so it's impossible to know which precise rest. the image is from... And my HHC, in Ohio, also looked exactly like this one!
ReplyDeleteI'm quite happy to see that various former employees are finding this and confirming their memories of the place. Thanks for the comment.
DeleteWish I had the Harvest House recipe for bread pudding with custard sauce. I used to go there with my mom and grandmother in Woodlawn, near Baltimore.
ReplyDeleteI found this online. It's from a Milwaukee newspaper in 1988. The provide a couple of recipes from Harvest House. Hope it's what you're looking for:
Deletehttp://tinyurl.com/c5pax8j
I worked for Harvest House in Akron, Niles, and Boardman, OH. They all pretty much looked like the postcards, only minor differences.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information. It was unusual to find restaurants that looked alike, except for Howard Johnson's. There's something fun to think of this restaurant being repeated all over the country so they could use the same card everywhere.
DeleteI remember the Harvest House in River Roads Shopping Center in St. Louis. The Municipal Opera had an arrangement with them at some point (60s & 70s, at least) to bring visitors there, and my grandparents used to eat there see who they might see. I recall encountering a number of local celebrities as well as people like Al Lewis, who seemed genuinely glad that people recognized him, and Angela Lansbury (in her pre-Sweeney Todd days) who seemed genuinely surprised that people remembered her.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your memories! I'm really enjoying all the stories that are remembered because of this simple scrap of paper. Glad it was a fun and special place for your grandparents.
DeleteMy first job was at the Harvest House in the Beaver Valley Mall, Center Township, Monaca, PA in 1974. It looked just like the picture, even the carpet was the same. I was a busboy, dishwasher, and pot scrubber. The Woolwoth's coffee shop was serviced by the same kitchen and backroom facilities. I met my first wife there, working on the serving line.
ReplyDeleteThrilled you found this and shared your memories. Thanks!
DeleteDo anyone have the recipe for Harvest House cafeteria cheese cake?
ReplyDeleteSadly, I don't have it nor can I find it. Maybe someday someone will find your post and provide some information. Keep your fingers crossed.
DeleteI worked HHC in Castleton Mall, Indpls., IN. Think it was 1977-1980 sometime in that span. Manager Mr. Perryman, assistant Mark. Other employees Rosie, and Shirley. I would like to have the recipe to the HHC fruit muffins. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post, but understand I don't have anything other than an old postcard. I do not have recipes. Perhaps someone will read your comment and provide it in the future.
DeleteUsed to go to the one in Richmond Mall in Richmond Heights, Ohio (east side of Cleveland) and it looked exactly like this one. I think my Grandma might have even worked there at some point. Thanks for the great memory!
ReplyDeleteSo happy to know this little card has brought back so many good memories to so many people. Thanks for letting me know!
DeleteOn eBay I found photo reprint for a Woolworth's Crossroad Cafeteria (exterior image), St Petersburg, FL and another for a harvest house restaurant interior in same town. Would it have been the same restaurant, different name? The Woolworth image had date of around 1960? I'm trying to piece some of the history of my home town that one wouldn't find in usual places.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could help, but I honestly don't know. I never went to one of the restaurants and only know it through this old post card. Perhaps someone will find your comment and provide information. As you can see there have been several comments from former employees.
DeleteThat looks exactly like the Harvest House in the Moorestown Mall in New Jersey. The restaurant was on one side of Woolworth's and the Harvest House Grille was on the other side of Woolworth's in the Mall. The management always had a huge spread for the employees who worked Christmas Eve when they had their break over in the restaurant. It was great! Thanks for the memories!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found the post. It continues to amaze me how many people have wonderful memories because of this one little card.
DeleteThe one I went to as a kid at Chapel Hill Mall in Akron, OH looked like this, as I remember it.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I'm hearing from other folks. I'm guessing they found a decor HQ liked and they just repeated it across all locations.
DeleteI worked at Chapel Hill Harvest House from about 1982 to 1985 or so. It looked exactly like the card, as others have said.
DeleteI'm happy you found the post and it brought back memories. I'm always amazed at how often people visit this post.
DeleteThe Harvest House I ate at on a regular basis with my mother and grandmother was also the one inside Chapel Hill Mall in Akron Ohio from about 1972- until it disapeared, and I'm not sure when that was?
DeleteFrom the address, this would have in the Los Cerritos Center Mall (still there today, just was there a year ago). Not sure in which part of the mall it was though. Thanks for posting, I was born in '75 and don't remember seeing any of these, but I remember Woolworth's vividly.
ReplyDeleteI remember going to the Los Cerritos Mall once back in '77, but have no memories of this place.
DeleteGlad so many people remember Woolworths. Had many a good lunch at their counter with my grandmother.
Saw an ad for HHC in 1971 Schenectady paper in Google News/newspapers online. Think your readers might enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteIf you've got a link send it along.
DeleteThere was a Harvest House next to Woolworth's at the Colonial Park Mall in Harrisburg, and yes, it looked like the card. There wasn't one at the Woolworth's in town though. I never realized that they were owned by Woolworth's, or that there was more than one!
ReplyDeleteI knew that mall very well. I used to go shopping downtown with my grandmother and we'd always have lunch at the Woolworth's counter. Thanks for the reminder of the Colonial Park Mall.
DeleteMy Grandma Jackie was a District Manager of the Koch's Men's store, (Big and Tall Men's, alterations made in store, Cleveland Cav players, Cleveland Brown Football players, etc) anyway, when I was a small child, I remember fondly of going to eat lunch with her at "The Harvest House" in Chapel Hill Mall Akron, Ohio!
ReplyDeleteTheir food was amazing they were kinda like a "Luby's". Cafeteria restaurant, I always got side orders passed through the grill of Macaroni & cheese, Jello with whip crime on top, chocolate pie, cake, vegetables, and their rolls and butter!!!
I also loved the smell when you walked into a Woolworth store, it had that great smell of clean/ medicine/ Woolworth Smell. I have searched for years for a picture of the Harvest House in Woolworth in Chapel Hill mall to add to my Pinterest, thank you so much for having this great remembrance for me and my family
I'm so glad this means something to you. Old pieces of paper can spark many a memory. I personally never went to a Harvest House, but do remember eating at the counter in Woolworth's in the 1950s. I always loved going there for milkshakes.
DeleteThank you so much, and I also remember having those wonderful milkshakes too!
ReplyDeleteI have fond memories of my father taking me to Harvest House at Oxford Valley Mall in the early-mid seventies after the mall opened. The Woolworths in the mall had two floors and adjacent to the bottom floor was the Harvest House restaurant. The entrance was so non descript I never knew it was even there until my father took me there to eat. But I remember it like it was yesterday, grabbing a tray and getting into the food line and viewing all the hot foods you could choose from that the servers would "plate" for you. At the end of the serving line you would pay for whatever you had on your
ReplyDeletetray(s)at the cashier. Then you would go find an empty table to sit and eat. I remember the restaurant being very clean, the food being pretty good and it was an affordable place to get a good hot meal. Sadly when Woolworths changed to Woolco I believe they closed the Harvest House restaurant there. Very, very good memories from 45 years ago.
Thanks for sharing this memory. I'm glad this little old postcard brought back good times of you with your dad.
DeleteI worked at the Harvest House in Colonial Park Plaza- was my first job, so I think about 1981. Can't say for certain about the postcard- the design is very similar to my memory of the Colonial Park location, but it seems a little bit different. But honestly, I spent very little time out front- I was the dishwasher. lol Thanks for reminding me of HH, the Woolworths counter, and also the Rea & Derrick soda fountain a little further down the mall.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for sharing. Again this little post has found its audience. I'm glad you have such great memories. I sure do miss Woolworths.
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