A history of The Tropics restaurant

The Tropics neon sign

Tami Goodrich, whose family owned The Tropics in Lincoln, Illinois, for 40 years, recently gave a presentation that delved deep into the history of the Route 66 restaurant.

The New Herald News published a long article about Goodrich’s presentation at the Palms Cafe Grill in Atlanta, Illinois, including a slide show.

Many people already know about The Tropics’ neon sign and how original owner Vince Shwenoha drew from his experiences in California for the its tropical decor when it opened it in 1950.

Goodrich talked about other more-obscure historical tidbits. Here are some of the highlights:

— Longtime owner Lewis Johnson used a van to pick up and drop off many of his 81 employees that didn’t own cars.

— The Tropics had one employee, Betty Fletcher, who worked there from the beginning until Johnson sold the business in 1997.

— “When we talk about the Logan County Fair, and Dad would go buy the grand champion [steer], then have it slaughtered, and he’d put the blue ribbons on the smorgasbord while he was carving the roast. I guess that made it extra special,” Goodrich said.

— Celebrity diners at the Tropics included Danny Thomas, Bobby Burgess and Cissy King from the Lawrence Welk program and Joan Mondale, wife of vice president Walter Mondale.

— The Tropics suffered long closures in 1965 and 1975 because of fires.

— After Interstate 55 bypassed Lincoln, it appeared The Tropics would go bankrupt. But a big ice storm in 1978 save the restaurant when it became the go-to place for hungry utility-line workers. The workers made sure the power was on early at the restaurant so they could have a place to eat.

— The Tropics closed barely a year after the Johnson family sold it. It closed for good in 2004 after sporadic reopenings. The property was sold in 2014 and the sign removed.

— Goodrich served two of The Tropics’ homemade salad dressings, French and Thousand Island, that were part of the restaurant for decades.

A group is embarking on a three-year, $50,000 fundraiser to restore The Tropics sign and re-install it at a to-be-determined site. A GoFundMe page has been set up here.

(Vintage image of The Tropics restaurant’s sign in Lincoln, Illinois, via Facebook)

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