Manufacturers: Sterling China and Hall China
User: Country Kitchens
Date of examples: circa 1930s – 1950s
Notes: According to an article by William Collins in the July 18, 1957, edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer, "Big Bill" Johnson came to Cincinnati, Ohio, when he was 14 after trying to join the Army with a forged document saying that he was 18. Despite that, the Army turned him down because of poor eyesight.
Johnson, according to the story, was a "hillbilly" from a farm near a crossroads called Foggertown in Clay County, Kentucky. An only child, he had a big share of the work around the farm helping his father. As he grew older, he daydreamed of eventually going into some kind of business – other than farming.
After his failed attempt to join the Army, Johnson ended up holding several jobs in Cincinnati during the Depression years. He noticed that sometimes the men working with him had high school educations, and a few even had some college credits. He knew that when the time came for promotions, their backgrounds would give them an advantage.
What he needed was a job where a limited formal education was no handicap. He found his future when he started frying hamburgers at the White Castle. This was a business that required common sense and the ability to get along with people. Johnson possessed both qualities.
In 1939, he and Bill Goodman saved $400 to make a down payment on some restaurant equipment and rented an empty store at 73rd and Vine streets in Cincinnati for their first Country Kitchens. In 1942, they moved the restaurant to Paddock Road and Vine Street. After this move, Johnson opened several other Country Kitchens in Dayton, Springfield, and Moraine City, Ohio.
In January 1957, there was a story in the Journal Herald in Dayton, about the Frisch's Big Boy drive-in restaurant chain purchasing two Country Kitchens in Dayton and one in Springfield for $775,000. However, in the July article by Collins, noted above, Johnson still planned to open another Country Kitchens "somewhere in Cincinnati" and it can be inferred he wasn't done expanding the business. In 1958, Johnson began selling franchises for Country Kitchens.
An article in the Dayton Daily News dated Nov. 12, 1968, told of an agreement reached between Minneapolis-based Country Kitchen International and Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees to stop using the name Country Kitchen for his proposed restaurant chain. Instead, they would be called Mickey Mantle's Country Cookin.
The article went on the say that Country Kitchen International had Country Kitchens franchises in Dayton, Hamilton, Middletown and Cincinnati. And that the new Dayton Country Kitchens was opened at Wilmington Park and East Dorothy Lane in 1963.
It seems that by 1969, what began as Country Kitchens, dropped its "s" to become Country Kitchen International. Another article in Dayton's Journal Herald dated Feb. 11, 1969, stated: "A new corporation in Minneapolis has opened the road for Country Kitchen expansion into Canada, according to Bill Johnson of the parent firm. The new corporation, Country Kitchen International, … has 25 restaurants now in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa and came about through the merger of two franchises.
"Country Kitchens Inc. has 10 restaurants in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. … Johnson founded the chain in 1939, sold one of the early ones here (Dayton) to Frisch (Big Boy)."
In 1977, Country Kitchen International was acquired by Carlson Companies, Inc., a privately owned conglomerate whose holdings included several retail firms, Radisson Hotels, and the TGI Friday's restaurant chain. Over the next several years, the Country Kitchen chain continued to expand, reaching a peak of 340 locations by the end of the decade. By 1986, the number of locations had dropped to 246, three of which were owned by the company and the rest by franchisees. They were spread out over 20 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, with about two-thirds found in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
Growth continued over the next several years, however, and the restaurants totaled 250 by 1996. However, much like Howard Johnsons, the number of outlets continued to drop and now (2026), it appears that there are only about 20 locations still open in the country.
White body mug with a black stripe around the top and the company logo in black and white on the left side. The logo is a drawing of a two-patty hamburger over a simple shield with the letters "C/K" inside.
Sources:
Cincinnati Enquirer – July 18, 1957 – article by William Collins about the founder, Bill Johnson
Dayton Journal Herald – Jan. 9, 1957 – story about sale of several locations to Frisch's Big Boy
Dayton Daily News – Nov. 12, 1968 – article about settlement with Mickey Mantle
Encyclopedia.com – information of the company's history
Contributors:
Roland Burritt: ID, creamer and glass photos
Ed Babcock: mug photos
Ed Phillips: author