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Historical Article
The American Drink
Charles Pierce Burton
Current Literature. Volume 21. 1897. p. 51.
There has been much discussion of the question what might properly be selected as the national flower, and the delicate, sunny, graceful obiquitous [sic] golden rod, which blooms for all, has by general consent been given the post of honor. This question having been settled to the satisfaction of many at least, another may be raised: What is the national beverage? Not tea or coffee or beer or whiskey. All of these have their admirers in this country, but their use and abuse are not confined to America by any means. What then? The merry fizz of the soda fountain throughout the land is surely a sufficient answer to the question. The great American drink is soda in all its various forms. Those who have been abroad will tell you that soda water is a rarity in foreign countries and is not fit to drink. A fortune awaits the enterprising Yankee who first locates in Paris with a high grade soda fountain and reveals to the multitude at the French capital the delights of ice cream soda for two. Soda water, therefore, is as distinctively American as is pie or water melon, and has developed a tremendous industry. Fifty million dollars are invested in soda making apparatus. The soda water trust (for our favorite drink is both charged and trusted) is capitalized at thirteen millions.
The beginning of soda water is lost in the misty realms of the past. It is largely an evolution, yet someone must have made a start. Someone, utterly reckless for the stomach's sake, once stirred together a little common baking soda and tartaric acid, and drank the foaming compound with a relish. And what shall we say of that other who ten years ago dropped some ice cream into his glass of soda? Perhaps he, too, was experimenting; perhaps it was an accident, pure and simple. There is yet a third to complete this illustrious trinity of humanity's benefactors. The late John Matthews, of New York, was the first man to conceive the idea of manufacturing gas with which to charge water. This was in 1832.
Soda water, which by the way, contains no soda whatever, is water charged with carbonic acid gas and flavored to suit the taste. Like other things that are charged, it is largely a matter of faith. It used to be more faith than anything else. Nowadays there is less foam and more substance to the beverage. Carbonic acid gas, to which the world owes much, is a poison when taken into the lungs, but in the stomach it is said to be healthful. Soda water, then, shoud not be inhaled and should not be permitted to go down the wrong way. After performing its mission in a glass of soda water, the gas usually escapes through the nose of the drinker with a sensation which must be experienced to be appreciated. From this simple mixture of bi-carbonate of soda and tartaric acid developed a drink which consisted literally of wind to a great extent. Quantities of air were forced from a reservoir into the beverage to make it sparkle. Then came the use of carbonic acid gas, and John Matthews. Druggists used to make their own gas from sulphuric acid and marble dust, using extracts for flavoring. Now, there are large business firms growing rich in the manufacture of crushed fruit flavors for soda dispensers, and the carbonate acid gas is not a gas at all but a liquid when it reached the druggist. Subjected to great pressure, the gas is liquified and is then shipped in strong drums which hold twenty pounds, enough to charge one hundred gallons of water. And these drums of liquid gas for carbonating water are to be obtained - let this be whispered, not spoken aloud - from the nearest brewery. Think of it, ye teetotalers who smack your lips over your glasses of vanilla. It is true. Beer, too, is carbonated; the brewing companies, buying such quantities of the liquid gas, can get it purer than it can be made in small amounts. Consequently, the druggists buy theirs from the breweries whenever convenient.
From one fountain a great variety of drinks can be drawn according to the skill of the presiding genius. The soda water expert experiments with mixing flavors, produces a new drink and lies awake nights thinking up a name for it. The new mixture has a run for a few days and the thirsty public goes back to the standard flavors. Chocolate is the favorite. Next, in the order named, come vanilla, strawberry and lemon. The bulk of the ice cream soda is consumed by women and children. Men often enjoy it, but usually call for phosphates or egg drinks.
The beginning of soda water is lost in the misty realms of the past. It is largely an evolution, yet someone must have made a start. Someone, utterly reckless for the stomach's sake, once stirred together a little common baking soda and tartaric acid, and drank the foaming compound with a relish. And what shall we say of that other who ten years ago dropped some ice cream into his glass of soda? Perhaps he, too, was experimenting; perhaps it was an accident, pure and simple. There is yet a third to complete this illustrious trinity of humanity's benefactors. The late John Matthews, of New York, was the first man to conceive the idea of manufacturing gas with which to charge water. This was in 1832.
Soda water, which by the way, contains no soda whatever, is water charged with carbonic acid gas and flavored to suit the taste. Like other things that are charged, it is largely a matter of faith. It used to be more faith than anything else. Nowadays there is less foam and more substance to the beverage. Carbonic acid gas, to which the world owes much, is a poison when taken into the lungs, but in the stomach it is said to be healthful. Soda water, then, shoud not be inhaled and should not be permitted to go down the wrong way. After performing its mission in a glass of soda water, the gas usually escapes through the nose of the drinker with a sensation which must be experienced to be appreciated. From this simple mixture of bi-carbonate of soda and tartaric acid developed a drink which consisted literally of wind to a great extent. Quantities of air were forced from a reservoir into the beverage to make it sparkle. Then came the use of carbonic acid gas, and John Matthews. Druggists used to make their own gas from sulphuric acid and marble dust, using extracts for flavoring. Now, there are large business firms growing rich in the manufacture of crushed fruit flavors for soda dispensers, and the carbonate acid gas is not a gas at all but a liquid when it reached the druggist. Subjected to great pressure, the gas is liquified and is then shipped in strong drums which hold twenty pounds, enough to charge one hundred gallons of water. And these drums of liquid gas for carbonating water are to be obtained - let this be whispered, not spoken aloud - from the nearest brewery. Think of it, ye teetotalers who smack your lips over your glasses of vanilla. It is true. Beer, too, is carbonated; the brewing companies, buying such quantities of the liquid gas, can get it purer than it can be made in small amounts. Consequently, the druggists buy theirs from the breweries whenever convenient.
From one fountain a great variety of drinks can be drawn according to the skill of the presiding genius. The soda water expert experiments with mixing flavors, produces a new drink and lies awake nights thinking up a name for it. The new mixture has a run for a few days and the thirsty public goes back to the standard flavors. Chocolate is the favorite. Next, in the order named, come vanilla, strawberry and lemon. The bulk of the ice cream soda is consumed by women and children. Men often enjoy it, but usually call for phosphates or egg drinks.
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In the late nineteenth-century, before photographs became the standard images used in advertising, illustrators frequently made the figures in their advertising artwork look as much like celebrities as was possible while still avoiding outright libel. The lady in this Hires' Root beer ad resembles First Lady Frances Cleveland, and is even wearing the same dress Mrs. Cleveland wore in official portraits!
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More Victorian advertisements
Other historical soda articles:
Evils of Encouraging the Ice Cream Soda Trade (1897)
How to Draw A Glass of Ice Cream Soda (1893)
Origin of Ice-Cream Soda Water (1892)
Serving Ice Cream Soda (1901)
Soda Water (1896)
Back to Historical Articles Index
Soda resources:
Acid Phosphate (for adding to sodas): Extinct Chemical Company http://www.artofdrink.com/shop
Tonic (for adding to sodas): Bradley's Tonic Co. http://kinatonic.com/about-us/
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In a seaport town in the late 19th-century Pacific Northwest, a group of friends find themselves drawn together —by chance, by love, and by the marvelous changes their world is undergoing. In the process, they learn that the family we choose can be just as important as the ones we're born into. Join their adventures in
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Non-fiction:
True
Ladies and
Proper Gentlemen
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