Thompson’s Cafeteria Restaurants of Chicago, Illinois.

Although largely forgotten today, the Chicago-based John R. Thompson Company was one of the largest "lunchrooms" of the early 20th century. Food would be very cheap, but customers had to sit in a schoolroom-style chair with a small eating surface and widespread out armrests, one being short, making it difficult to get really comfortable and stay too long. It was Thompson's job to turn over tables faster and increase profits by decreasing customer dining time.

We so strongly associate fast-food chains with hamburgers that it may be surprising to learn that ThompsThompson'sar sandwiches included Cervelat (a cooked sausage), smoked boiled tongue, cold boiled ham, hot frankfurter, cold corned beef, cold salmon, and Herkimer County cheese, served on "Milwaukee Rye Bread" baked by the restaurant's chain's Bakery.

Thompson's Restaurant at Madison and Kedzie, Chicago. Circa 1933.

Thompson's Cafeteria on Randolph Street, Chicago.

Thompson was proud that his meals were suited for sedentary office workers of the early 1900s. A 1911 advertisement claimed that lunch at ThompsThompson'st "won't you logy and lazy and dull this afternoon." Thom "son, an Illinois farm boy, ran a rural general store as his first business. He sold it in 1891, moved to Chicago, and opened a restaurant on State Street. He proved to be a modernizer in the restaurant business as well as in politics. 

He operated his cafeterias on a "scientific basis," stressing cleanliness, nutrition, and quality while keeping prices low. In 1912, he moved the chain'chain'sssary into a premier new building on North Clark Street. Thompson's, with 68 self-service lunchrooms and a chain of grocery stores, became a public corporation in 1914, expanding outside Chicago and into Canada. 

By 1921, there were 109 restaurants, 49 of which were in Chicago and 11 in New York, with a commissary (a restaurant or cafeteria in a military base, prison, movie studio, or other institution) in New York City. By the mid-20s, Thompson's Restaurants, Childs Restaurants, and Waldorf Lunch System were the big three U.S. restaurant chains.

John R. Thompson Restaurant Office:

350 North Clark Street

John R. Thompson Restaurant Locations:

350 North Clark Street

15 West Adams

141 North Clark Street

354 North Clark Street

528 North Clark Street

44 South Clark Street

220 South Clark Street

520 South Clark Street

105 North Dearborn Street

337 South Dearborn Street

414 South Dearborn Street

80 East Jackson Boulevard

24 West Jackson Boulevard

60 West Madison Avenue

119 West Madison Avenue

339 West Madison Avenue

521 West Madison Avenue

811 West Madison Avenue

955 West Madison Avenue

1548 West Madison Avenue

3200 West Madison Avenue

1152 South Michigan Avenue

1418 South Michigan Avenue

2201 South Michigan Avenue

31 East Monroe Street

61 West Monroe Street

340 Plymouth Court

91 West Randolph Street

62 East Roosevelt Road

314 South State Street

412 South State Street

76 West VanBuren Street

110 West VanBuren Street

7 South Wabash Avenue

104 South Wabash Avenue

207 South Wabash Avenue

343 South Wabash Avenue

175 West Washington Street

3813 North Broadway

3875 Cottage Grove Avenue

235 South Halsted Street

1223 South Halsted Street

4167 South Halsted Street

6215 South Halsted Street

6243 South Halsted Street

3169 North Lincoln Avenue

1228 North Milwaukee Avenue

1581 North Milwaukee Avenue

206 West 31st  Street

1122 West 35th Street

1031 West Wilson Avenue

3420 W. Devon Avenue, Lincolnwood, IL (where Whistler's Restaurant was.)

In politics, Thompson served as a Republican committeeman and managed the campaign of a "good "government" national candidate in 1904. A few years later, he failed in his own bid to run for mayor, promising to bring efficiency to the government while improving schools and roads. In the 20s, he financed a personal crusade against handguns.

Despite John R. ThompsThompson'sessive politics, his business would go down in history as one that refused to serve Negroes. Or, as civil rights leader Marvin Caplan put it in 1985, "If the chain is remembered today, it is not for its food, but for its refusal to serve it." Thomson died in 1927.

Where he stood on the question of public accommodations is unclear, but the chain faced numerous lawsuits by Negroes in the 1930s. However, the best-known case occurred in 1950 when a group of integrationists led by Mary Church Terrell was refused service in a Washington D.C. Thompsson's Restaurant.

The group was looking for a case that would test the validity of the district's century public accommodations laws. After three years in the courts, the Thompson case (for which the Washington Restaurant Association raised defense funds) made its way to the Supreme Court, which affirmed the so-called "lost" "anti" discrimination laws of 1872 and 1873 as valid.

Over the years, the Thompson chain absorbed others, including Henrici and Raklios. At some point, possibly in the 1950s, the original Thompson's was dropped. 

By 1956, Thompson operated the Holloway House and Ontra Cafeterias. In 1971, as Green Giant prepared to buy Thompson's, they had about 100 restaurants, including Red Balloon family restaurants, Henrici's Restaurants, and Little Red Hen Chicken outlets. 

INDEX TO MY ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO FOOD & RESTAURANT ARTICLES.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.