From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for May 12, 1990:

An article featuring Jennings Daylight Donut Shop, 729 Massachusetts, described its 25th anniversary celebration today, a milestone marked by reduced prices and giveaways.. Owner Peggy Johnson recalled the day in 1965 when her parents, Claire and Bill Jennings, had opened the shop. “I was making 75 cents an hour and I thought it was just wonderful,” said Johnson, who had been 11 years old at the time. “Of course, this was a kid’s dream to have your own doughnut shop.” The quarter-century had seen few changes in the shop’s operation, which in addition to serving delicious doughnuts and coffee also served as a morning meeting place for many Lawrence residents. “It’s a tradition. It’s a habit,” said Vern Carlsen, who had been meeting with Horace Nelson and Virgil Boyd on Saturday mornings to drink coffee and solve the world’s problems. Local attorney and weekday morning regular Jon Getz, who stopped in daily to read the newspaper over his morning coffee, said Jennings was one of the few restaurants in town where the owners didn’t mind if you stayed to read. “If they ever closed this place down, I’d go crazy because I’m in this routine,” Getz said. Retiree Frank Branigan said he had been starting his mornings at Jennings nearly every day for the past 17 years, stopping in to read the paper and do the crossword puzzle. “Mostly I come in here though, to watch the people,” he added. “I’ve watched them for years. I know them by sight, even if I don’t know them by name…. I’ve watched couples come in when they first met and I’ve watched them until they were married and they’ve even come in with their children.” Owner Johnson said basketball star Wilt Chamberlain had been a regular during his years in Lawrence, and singer Lena Horne had once stopped her limo outside while she came in for some doughnuts. The store had originally opened in 1965 in a small building at 530 W. 23rd, now the site of the Louisiana Purchase shopping center, and had stayed there two years before moving to the Malls Shopping Center in a location that remained open until 1971. The family had opened a second store at 745 Massachusetts in 1970, but catastrophe had struck in December 1977 when a natural gas explosion damaged the shop beyond repair. The doughnuts had made a comeback less than a year later when Johnson reopened the store at 729 Mass.