When you were a kid in the 50's, 60's, or early 70's, and you had a thirst, odds are a soda fountain was located somewhere close to your parched self.
Time was when soda fountains were part of the services offered at drug stores, dime stores, department stores, and other locations that might seem strange today.
In fact, it's nigh impossible to find soda fountains ANYWHERE nowadays.
Maybe your community is blessed enough to even have a classic soda fountain up and running somewhere, but the sight of a counter with revolving-topped-stools placed there for the customers' convenience was once a ubiquitous one, so much so that if you were in a strange town, and developed a thirst, you would look for a Rexall drug store.
The classic soda fountain had one or more tall soda water dispensers. The soda jerk received his proud moniker from his propensity for pulling back the handles of the dispensers, sometimes two or more at a time, in order to mix the soda water with the other delicious ingredients that would make up a perfect concoction that might cost a dime.
Everybody loved soda fountains. Kids, of course, for the obvious reasons that there were readily obtainable treats within a shout of wherever they might have to accompany their mothers on their daily rounds. Mothers loved them too, because a dollar might buy drinks and ice cream cones for two or three kids and still provide some change. And businesses knew that a soda fountain would only enhance the experience for their customers, and cause them to return more frequently.
The allure behind soda fountains can be traced back to the early 19th century. Naturally carbonated water would bubble up from springs in a few select locations throughout the earth, and these springs gained a reputation as places to go to get healed from various ailments.
Obviously, not every community was blessed with these springs, so scientists went to work on creating their own charged water. In 1807, Henry Thompson received the first British patent for charging water with carbon dioxide, and he wasted no time before bottling and selling it.
The water was known as "soda water," even though plain old CO2 was the only added ingredient.
Soda fountains began to proliferate all over the US and Britain. The invention of refrigeration caused the industry to explode, and by the early 1900's, soda fountains were even more commonplace than in our childhoods. Prohibition caused even more soda fountains to open during the 20's.
By the time the 60's arrived, the handwriting was already on the wall for soda fountains. Drive-in restaurants had become very popular after WWII, and hamburger chains were also spreading in earnest. There were now many places to grab a quick bite besides the corner drug store, and in fact new pharmacies were being built that didn't even have soda fountains.
But if soda fountains were migrating away from the drug stores in the 60's, they were finding new homes in dime stores. Woolworth's, TG&Y, Kress, and many more of the chain stores that were built in the 50's and 60's all had a soda fountain that would also grill you up a burger and throw in some fries or onion rings for your high-calorie, saturated fat-laden delight.
When the first big chain stores opened, they too had soda fountains. K-Marts, Gibson's, and the earliest Wal-Marts of the 70's all had a familiar counter where you could hop up on a stool and order a paper cup-full of some brightly-colored liquid that was being circulated vigorously in a big clear glass tank at counter level.
But as Burger Kings, McDonald's, and other fast-food chains began filling every available empty lot in suburban America, the soda fountains began disappearing. Many stores dropped food service altogether, and many that didn't instead had a small McDonald's or the like inside their confines. Another nail in the soda fountain's coffin was the birth of the convenience store, where you could serve yourself a soft drink on ice, albeit under circumstances that are completely devoid of any charm whatsoever.
Nowadays, the retro movement has made for a modest resurrection of the soda fountain. You can spot 50's style diners in many trendy locations, and you can relive a trip to your childhood by hopping up onto a stool and ordering yourself a cherry soda.
It's nice, to be sure, but not quite as nice as traveling back in time and experiencing the taste, the feel, and the aromas of the soda fountains that you visited as a child.
Comments (8)
I suppose that what made the shops of old so charming was that you were surrounded with folks you knew.
Posted by Steve Skinner | April 20, 2009 9:38 AM
Posted on April 20, 2009 09:38
I remember some of the soda fountains had a string or wire running the length of the counter with many colored balloons attached. Each balloon had a piece of paper inside where you had a chance of buying a banana split from one cent to about a dollar and a half.
Posted by David S Paleg | April 20, 2009 10:33 AM
Posted on April 20, 2009 10:33
Downtown lunch counters/fountains were wonderful! But in 1956, a small neighborhood shopping center opened a block from home with a drug store and a Woolworth's— both had lunch counters! My mom got her hair done every Friday at the salon at that shopping center. On school breaks and vacations, I would walk down there at noon and she and I would have lunch at Woolworth's. Their burgers were the best!
In 1989, My mom's long-term heart condition became acute the same day as the SF earthquake. I spent the next three weeks 50 miles away caring for her in a university hospital, where she died. A week or so later, after things settled down, I decided to walk down to Woolworth's for an early supper. OMG, there was nothing in there but empty racks and shelves. And no more lunch counter— it had held on until the very last! Staring at that dark, haunting counter through the plate glass, I thought of all the times my mom and I had walked down there and eaten at that counter, and as I stood there the tears that I had held throuhgout her last days finally came. Memories of Mom and lunch counters are forever after linked.
But all the memories are good ones!
Posted by NCeddie | April 20, 2009 10:35 AM
Posted on April 20, 2009 10:35
I was a habitué of soda fountains/lunch counters at the local Rexall, Ames, and Woolworth’s. For some reason a Coke made with syrup pumped from a stainless steel container with a porcelain knob, crushed ice and soda water tasted better to me than the 6.5 oz. bottles from the corner store and there was the aleatory ratio of syrup to water which created infinite gustatory adventures for a dime.
All of the above used the cone shaped Lily cups (with the green elongated S chain pattern) in the metallic cup holders. They were accompanied by a paper straw with the wrapper which when compressed and a drop of liquid was added, the accordianesque curl would crawl and writhe as if it were alive. - and if you dawdled over your soda for too long the cup would start to leak and the straw would melt as well.
One could get an ice cream soda at Woolworth’s for 25 cents and a coke or root beer ice cream float for 20 cents. A few years later the A&W root beer drive in (carhop service and all) opened up, it was closer to home and you could get a root beer float for 15 cents so I became a denizen of the A&W (there were about 5 fountain stools from which window service was available) instead of going all the way downtown to the soda fountain.
When they tore down one of the classic drugstores in the 70’s, I bought 2 of the fountain swiveling stools (3 banded art deco seats with a red oil cloth – remember oil cloth?) for $5 and boy were they heavy. The seats weren’t too bad but the columns must have weighed 30 pounds apiece. I used one to hold my keyboard bass when playing in my band and relinquished the pair to the local dump when divesting for my last move.
Amazingly while writing this reminiscence I can still recall the smell of the local Rexall soda fountain - a mix of ice cream cones and undefined chemicals which generates a Pavlovian response after 50 years. BTW I also remember the balloons mentioned by David Paleg in Woolworth's which were used as a come-on every so often.
Posted by Burt | April 20, 2009 6:42 PM
Posted on April 20, 2009 18:42
Steve's Sundry in Tulsa at 26th and Harvard still has a soda fountain! Photo and menu.
Posted by Mike Ransom | April 23, 2009 6:18 PM
Posted on April 23, 2009 18:18
In Portland Maine, every drug store had the stools, soda, ice cream, and some sort of eats. Most any department store had them, too, along with popcorn, peanuts, candy. It was about 1970 when it all began to die out. But I think that shopping used to be an all day affair, with many taking trolleys or the bus. But as cars became common, so much so that even house wives had one, then that was the end of needing a place to eat or wait for the bus.
Fast food was originally not bad. McDonalds was good. Their quarter pounder and filet of fish were very good. That early quarter pounder had a great taste. Today, Mc’s burgers taste like absolute crap. Then there is the stomach pump afterward. But fast food was cheap, too. That killed the stools and counters everywhere. American society was changing in so many ways so fast.
I noticed that Walmart, Sams, and Target tried to bring back the in-store food stuff with tables and benches rather than stools. Fast food was no longer fast, good, or cheap. It left a crack to get in. But then the dollar menu destroyed all that. Walmart food is gone. Can’t recall if Target still has it or not or reduced what it serves. But people wanted fast and convenient and affordable and for a while, they got it, till fast food woke up. Now they are faster, cheaper, and have enough edible stuff (not the burgers) to lure people in.
I miss the bar stools at the drug stores. But there are too many options today so that it could never be again. Everything used to be more local when cars were not so many. Those were the days, huh? Now cars and traffic are out of control, even in Maine.
You will observe that most fast food does serve ice cream and desert goodies. Dairy Queen stands in at times as a substitute with tables. But hey, I remember when we used to have jobs, too, and an economy. We made what we bought. Those were the days, huh? I want the old world back. Where did 1965 go, anyway. Who took it? There ought to be a law!
Posted by Scott | April 25, 2009 1:55 AM
Posted on April 25, 2009 01:55
I remember this pharmacy in the next town over had one. Being 19 years old it was the only one I have ever seen. Sadly Hurricane Katrina took it away. They never rebuilt it when they built the pharmacy back.
Posted by mystic_kitkat | May 5, 2009 5:17 PM
Posted on May 5, 2009 17:17
I love each and every one of your stories. I am a self-made man and I am recreating an authentic Rexall's-type soda fountain lunch counter in Indiana. If you are interested, leave a message here.
Posted by Jeff | February 4, 2010 11:40 AM
Posted on February 4, 2010 11:40