The 1940s and 1950s were the heyday of the soda fountain where a soda jerk would serve soda beverages, ice cream, and sometimes food such as sandwiches and hamburgers.
The idea of the soda fountain began with consumer demands for mineral waters. For thousands of years, people throughout the world have felt that drinking and/or bathing in natural mineral waters was not only healthy, but that it could cure many different diseases. In the 1700s, a number of European scientists attempted to create effervescent waters which might have curative powers. Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman and English scientist Joseph Priestley in the 1770s developed a machine that would saturate water with carbon dioxide. The first British patent for a method of impregnating water with carbon dioxide went to Henry Thompson in 1807. The resulting product—water impregnated with carbon dioxide—is commonly called soda water. It contains no soda.
Soda water was introduced to American consumers in 1806 by Benjamin Silliman, a chemistry professor at Yale University. By the end of the nineteenth century, there were several companies manufacturing soda fountain equipment.
During the heyday of soda fountains, they served a social function where people could meet, talk, and perhaps even choose sexual partners. The decline started in the 1950s with an emphasis on self-service drug stores coupled with the rise of car culture. Drive-in restaurants and roadside ice cream outlets reduced the number of soda fountain customers. In today’s self-serve culture, soda fountains, which are labor-intensive and customer-service oriented, no longer fit into commercial marketing ideas.
Shown above is the soda fountain in the pharmacy at Hell Roarin’ Gulch in the World Museum of Mining in Butte, America.
Shown above is the soda fountain at the Miracle of America Museum in Polson, Montana.
Shown above is the soda fountain at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon.
Coca Cola was an important part of the soda fountain (the displays shown above are in the Classic Auto Museum in Bigfork, Montana) and soda jerks would make cokes using syrup and carbonated water. In many soda fountains, customers could also get flavored cokes.
Welcome to Street Prophets Saturday, a kind of soda fountain open thread located at the intersection of Politics and Religion. Pull up an imaginary stool, order your favorite soda fountain concoction, and tell us what’s on your mind.