Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Johnston, Arthur H. 1871 - March 4, 1926 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com April 19, 2006, 1:04 pm Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Volume II, Pages 84-86 ARTHUR H. JOHNSTON. Resolute and energetic, Arthur H. Johnston steadily mounted the ladder of success, never losing sight of his objective, and his ability as a restaurateur placed him with Portland’s foremost business men. He was born in Wooster, Ohio, in 1871, and traced his lineage to the colonial epoch in American history. His parents were Samuel and Helen (Johnson) Johnston, the former a native of the state of New York, while the latter was born in Shreve, Ohio. Starting as a dishwasher in a restaurant, Arthur H. Johnston soon demonstrated his worth and worked his way through every department of the business, eventually becoming purchasing agent. Later he was made assistant manager of the Palmer House of Chicago and for eight years was in the employ of its proprietor, Potter Palmer, one of the best known hotelmen of the country. He was largely instrumental in securing for Mr. Johnston the position of manager of the South Shore Country Club of Chicago and the latter acted in that capacity until the opening of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, when he came to the northwest. During the fair he conducted a restaurant in Seattle, Washington, and afterward went to California, locating in Los Angeles. In 1915 he allied his interests with those of Portland, Oregon, becoming the owner of Leighton’s Dairy Lunch establishment, which he conducted for three years. With a capital of three thousand dollars he leased a small place, eighteen by fifty-seven feet, on Washington street and opened Coffee Cup No. 1. He had long ago found that the way to succeed was by practicing the golden rule. From the very start he secured the highest quality of workers possible, paying them good wages and allowing them to become interested in the business. Before long he had outgrown his small quarters and leased a fourth of a block, establishing Coffee Cup No. 2. “The secret of my success, if secret it is,” said Mr. Johnston in an interview accorded Fred Lockley of the Oregon Daily Journal, “is in team work and cooperation and willingness to help others. Faith in mankind pays, not only in satisfaction, but pays in dollars and cents. There is no boss and no employe is our establishment. We are fellow workers and the end we are all aiming for is better service. I believe every worker is entitled to more than a living wage. The old idea of one or two having all of the profits and paying just enough to the laborers to keep them alive will no longer work. I believe we all should be able to have leisure to enjoy life. There is a verse somewhere – I think it is in the Bible – that says, ‘They who give most, receive most.’ It has certainly proved true in our business. Aside from the human element, the success of our business has been founded on quality. We make all our own pastry and also all of the mincemeat we use. Everything we serve is the best that money can buy. We spend over twenty thousand years for coffee alone. Our milk, cream and butter bill amounts to over ninety thousand dollars a year. We spend more than one thousand dollars a month for advertising. No one can be a stockholder who is not an employe of the company. Yes, the business has proved profitable to myself and fellow workers. It is paying as high as forty per cent a year and it would pay even more if we were not constantly investing our profits in betterment. My ambition is to have Coffee Cup cafeterias from the Pacific clear to the Atlantic, just as Harvey has his eating houses all along the Santa Fe. With Milton, I believe that ‘They also serve who only stand and wait,’ and the more one can serve his fellowmen the happier he will be.” In 1901 Mr. Johnston was married in Chicago to Miss Lillian M. Needham, who was born in Marquette, Michigan. She received her early instruction in that state, completing her studies in Wisconsin, and remained at home until her marriage. Her father, the Rev. Simon B. Needham, was a native of West Virginia and became a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, working zealously and effectively in its behalf. The mother, Mrs. Jane Ann (Brown) Needham, was born in Kentucky and now resides with her daughter, Mrs. Johnston. Mr. Johnston was a Knight Templar Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He held the thirty-second degree in the order and was also connected with the Rotary, Ad and Press Clubs, the Portland Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Restaurant Men. In politics he was a democrat and manifested a deep interest in community affairs but never aspired to public office. With him there was no compromise with anything that he did not consider right and his life in its thoughtfulness and consideration for others was the outward expression of a generous, sympathetic and unselfish nature. To know Mr. Johnston was to be his friend, and his death on March 4, 1926, deprived Portland of one of its most progressive business men and a citizen whom it could ill afford to lose. Since July, 1926, Mrs. Johnston has operated the Coffee Cup and under her judicious management the business is constantly expanding. Like her husband, she is endowed with tact and foresight, as well as executive ability, and has the respect, confidence and goodwill of those in her service, many of whom have been connected with the business since its inception. She directs the labors of one hundred and thirty persons, about two-thirds of whom are stockholders in the corporation, and all are striving for its best interests. The publicity work is handled by an expert and some one employe is always featured in the weekly advertising. Mrs. Johnston is president and manager of the company, which employs specialists in the various lines of cooking, and the equipment includes six cold storage refrigerators, each the size of an ordinary living room. The work is facilitated by electrical apparatus and in point of operation the Coffee Cup is modern to the ultimate degree. Conducted with notable efficiency, it has become the most popular restaurant in the city and serves approximately one million, seven hundred and fifty thousand persons annually. The menu includes a wide variety of foods and the cooking is unexcelled. The business was increased in 1927 over business of 1926 to the amount of one hundred fifty-three thousand, four hundred and eight-five dollars and fifteen cents. Mrs. Johnston is a member of the Woman’s Club, the Woman’s Research Club, the Sorosis Club and the Business & Professional Women’s Club, all of Portland. She is one of the Women of Rotary and also belongs to the Soroptimist, the local chapter of the Eastern Star and the Daughters of the Nile. Her political allegiance is given to the republican party, and to movements for Portland’s growth and betterment she is always quick to respond. Earnest and purposeful, Mrs. Johnston is leading a busy, useful life and the scope of her interests indicates the breadth of her mind and the spirit by which she is actuated. Additional Comments: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Volume II, Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1928 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/johnston31gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 7.9 Kb