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 several areas, including design, service, sanitation, and labor relations. It was a contemporary of food-service companies such as Horn & Hardart and a predecessor to companies such as McDonald's.
History Founding
The first Childs Restaurant was launched in 1889 by brothers Samuel S. Childs and William Childs, on the ground level of the Merchants Hotel at 41 Cortlandt Street (between Broadway and Church Streets, on the current site of the World Trade Center complex) in Manhattan's Financial District.Austin, Kenneth L., "Childs Company Ups and Downs", The New York Times, August 29, 1943 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 featured white tiles, white uniforms, and female servers rather than the then-common male servers.Women would work for lower wages than men. 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."Childs Restaurant Founder Is Dead: Samuel S. Childs", The New York Times, March 18, 1925 They also are credited as inventors of the "tray line" self-service cafeteria format, which they introduced in 1898 at their 130 Broadway location.
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"."Childs Unique Dairy Company", The New York Times, November 27, 1898 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."Standard Oil Money To Extend Childs", The New York Times, June 6, 1912
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 ten years old and highly successful."In The Real Estate Field", The New York Times, August 1, 1899 After a short period of family competition, Hendrick ultimately brought his restaurant under the Childs umbrella. He remained an operating executive of Childs Restaurants until the family lost control.
In 1906, fifteen similar restaurants (called "green doors"), 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 he died in 1929, and is cited as a driving force behind the physical expansion during that period."Ellsworth Childs Dies Suddenly At 60", The New York Times, Page 23, April 18, 1929"Ellsworth Childs Leaves Small Estate", The New York Times, Page 12, July 3, 1929
Peak years
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."Owner-Employees Face Two Tests; Battles for Control of Childs and Standard Oil...", The New York Times, March 3, 1929
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."
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. However, 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.
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."$10,500,000 Bonds for Savoy-Plaza", The New York Times, November 29, 1925 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."Going Vegetable-wise", Time, March 19, 1928"Childs' War", Time, February 11, 1929 The company's stock reached a low of $44 in 1928,"Childs Returns to the Restaurant Business; Buys the Archambault...", The New York Times, December 9, 1929 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."Childs Co Control Seized By Family", The New York Times, January 31, 1929 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."Childs Is Ousted At Stormy Board Session", The New York Times, Page 17, March 8, 1929 He did retain a modest non-controlling equity position, which he eventually sold and/or bequeathed."Business & Finance: Stewart Out, Childs Out", Time, March 18, 1929"William Childs Left Estate to Relatives", The New York Times, July 29, 1938
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),"Repeal Cuts Price of Drinks In Half", The New York Times, December 5, 1933 and launched a new subsidiary division called "The Host", meant to be lower-priced than Childs. The company also obtained a hot dog vending license for the 1939 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, which proved to be a financial mistake.
In August 1943, under pressure of significant debt maturity, the company filed for bankruptcy reorganization. Childs emerged from bankruptcy in 1947,"Childs Plan Approved; Order of Confirmation Is Issued...", The New York Times, Page 29, December 24, 1947 and continued to operate through the 1940s and 1950s.
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.; it 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 on-site butchering."Childs Executive Now Heads Sherry", The New York Times, May 25, 1950
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."Childs Co Changes Name" The New York Times, Page 42, February 23, 1956Sonesta Intl Hotels Corp Company History, retrieved April 25, 2009"Childs Vote Scheduled; Company Proposes Lease and Purchase of Hotels", The New York Times, Page 53, September 28, 1955 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."Childs Approves Plaza Purchase", The New York Times, Page 37, November 18, 1955
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.),Fowler, Glenn, "Irving Riese, 71, A Restaurateur Specializing In Fast Food Outlets", The New York Times, December 11, 1990 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.The Riese Organization Corporate History , obtained April 23, 2009
In 1970, Hotel Corporation of America (formerly Childs) was again renamed, to Sonesta International Hotels Corporation ().Entity Information for "Sonesta International Hotels Corporation", formerly known as "Childs Company", New York Department of State, Division of Corporations As of 2009, the company operates 25 hotels on three continents, and owns several cruise ships, and is still led by the Sonnabend family.
Architecture
Despite their market position, Childs Restaurants were distinguished for their architectural quality, and former locations continue to be appreciated by historic preservationists.Report of New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, February 3, 2003, Designation List 344, LP-2106 , obtained April 24, 2009Gray, Christopher, "Streetscapes: The Childs Building; Fast Food, Then and Now, On Stylish Fifth Avenue", The New York Times, November 6, 1988Gray, Christopher, "Streetscapes: The Former Childs Restaurant in Coney Island", The New York Times, July 1, 2002Gray, Christopher, "Streetscapes: William Van Alen; An Architect Called the 'Ziegfeld of His Profession'", The New York Times, March 22, 1998Dunlap, David W., "A Long Farewell to a Restaurant's White-Tiled Past", The New York Times, March 20, 2008 In his design and construction efforts, William Childs and his internal architect of 30 years, John Corley Westervelt,"J.C. Westervelt, Architect, 61, Dies", The New York Times, April 9, 1934 consulted and engaged respected architects including William Van Alen (modernist designer of the Chrysler Building), Hirons & Dennison, Pruitt & Brown, and McKim, Mead, and White. 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".Laurence, F.S., The American Architect & The Architectural Review, September 10, 1924 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.Stern, Robert A. M., et al, New York 1930, Architecture and Urbanism Between the Two World Wars (New York: Rizzoli, 1987), pp. 275–6.
Notable locations The table that follows is an incomplete list of locations built for Childs that 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: