Soda Fountain
A soda fountain is a device that dispenses
carbonated drinks. They can be found in restaurants,
concession stands and other locations such as convenience
stores. The device combines syrup (commonly dispensed
from a Bag-In-Box), carbon dioxide, and water to
make soft drinks.
By extension, the term also may refer to a small
eating establishment, common in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries, often within a pharmacy or
other business, serving soda beverages, ice cream,
and sometimes light meals.
The soda fountain was an attempt to replicate mineral
waters that bubbled up from the Earth. Many civilizations
believed that drinking and/or bathing in these mineral
waters cured diseases, and large industries often
sprang up around hot springs, such as Bath in England
or the many onsen of Japan. Early scientists tried
to create effervescent waters with curative powers,
including Robert Boyle, Friedrich Hoffmann, Jean
Baptiste van Helmont, William Brownrigg, Antoine
Laurent Lavoisier, and David Macbride. In the early
1770s, Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman and English
scientist Joseph Priestley invented equipment for
saturating water with carbon dioxide. In 1774 John
Mervin Nooth demonstrated an apparatus that improved
upon Priestley's design. In 1807 Henry Thompson
received the first British patent for a method of
impregnating water with carbon dioxide. This was
commonly called soda water, although it contained
no soda.
The soda fountain began in Europe, but achieved
its greatest success in the U.S. Benjamin Silliman,
a Yale chemistry professor, was among the first
to introduce soda water to America. In 1806 Silliman
purchased a Nooth apparatus and began selling mineral
waters in New Haven, Connecticut. Sales were brisk,
so he built a bigger apparatus, opened a pump room,
and took in three partners. This partnership opened
soda fountains in New York City and Baltimore, Maryland.
At roughly the same time, other businessmen opened
fountains in NYC and Philadelphia. Although Silliman's
business eventually failed, he played an important
role in popularizing soda water.
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
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