Appleseed1
Johnny Appleseed
Ms. Mitchell
English 1301
22 October 2013
The Evolution of Soda Pop and America
Two centuries ago, both the Greeks and Roman used mineral water for bathing and in the 1700’s Europeans began to drink mineral water for supposed therapeutic benefits (How Products).Kate Mckay, in her article “Tired of Beer? Become a Soda Connoisseur,” states that it wasn’t until the 18th century that scientists began to carbonate regular water with CO2. Pharmacists sold the water as a cure for a variety of ailments and later began adding syrup to make the so called medicine “go down easier” (Mckay).The modern soda pop was born.
Soda was originally sold at fountains in pharmacies. According to “How Products Are Made,” once soda began to be bottled in 1803, and then fitted with a cork in 1850, pharmacists and scientists scoured the globe for ingredients to add to the perceived medicinal benefits of soda. “John Pemburton, an Atlanta pharmacist, combined the coca plant with cola nuts after he observed Bolivian Indian workers chewing the leaves to fight off fatigue, and African workers chewing cola nuts for an energy boost.” Thus, the world’s most famous drink, Coca-Cola, was born (How Products Are Made).
After soda began to take off from the pharmacy counter, specialized soda shops began to open across the country. According to Mckay, early soda shops were “often classy places, anchored by a grandiose fountain made of marble, gilded with metal piping and spigots, and ornamented with figurines, gas lights, and mirrors.” They were also often “single sex” establishments (Mckay), as different fountains were often frequented by either men or women. As the temperance movement and later prohibition took hold, soda shops began replacing saloons on the streets of major cities. Soda was seen as a substitute for alcohol, and as saloons and bars shut down or converted, fountains became a hub of American social life. During WWII, soda fountains were installed on warships, and “soda, along with tobacco and toiletries, was considered essential to soldiers’ moral” (Mckay). It was even thought by many of the American people that sodas were responsible for the GI’s honorable behavior during the war (Mckay).
The flavors available at a soda fountain were originally as varied as the American populace. Mckay reports that flavors such as apple, banana, nutmeg, mulberry, pistachio, chocolate, birch beer, green apple, sarsaparilla, and maple were common, along with the standard name brand colas such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola. It was not uncommon to find up to a hundred different flavors at a soda fountain, particularly a larger one. It wasn’t until the popularization of the automobile that these counters and assorted flavors began to wane, as the American people were on the move more and had less time to sit for lunch (Mckay). “How Products Are Made” details the death of the soda fountain paralleled the rise of the bottled drink. As Americans became more mobile, vending machines became the more popular method to accruing soft drinks. Coca-Cola and Pepsi began to focus their efforts on bottling and distributing their drinks, and in the 1950’s the first canned sodas were introduced. Coke and Pepsi introduced the first diet drinks in 1962, and clear, supposedly healthier colas such as Sprite were introduced in the 1990’s (How Products Are Made). By this time, the soda fountain had virtually disappeared from the American landscape. As the large companies rose to dominate the market, it was the independent and classic soda makers that were caught in the war between (Mckay).
However, there is still enough room in the big name cola market for a few independent bottling companies. Soda makers such as Jones (famous for their Thanksgiving flavored sodas) and the Dublin Bottling Company still create quirky hand crafted drinks. These independent soda companies sweeten their sodas with real sugar cane instead of high fructose corn syrup, and in a few places across the country old tyme soda fountains are popping back up (Aubrey). It seems as though soda has grown with America, from its beginnings as a medicine in the 1800’s to its reputation as a war time moral booster in the 1940’s. It experienced a kind of death following the end of the war as the independent company was run out of business by Coca-Cola and Pepsi and the American people chose convenience over quality. Fortunately, soda has experienced a revival with companies handcrafting soft drinks as it was done a hundred years ago. Soda has become a part of the national identity, growing and evolving along with the nation in which it was tempered.
Works Cited
Aubrey, Allison. "In Soda Revival, Fizzy Taste Bubbles Up From The Past." NPR. NPR, 01 Sept. 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2013.
"How Products Are Made." How Soft Drink Is Made. N.p., n.d. Web. 10Oct. 2013.
Mckay, Kate. "Tired of Beer? Become a Soda Connoisseur." The Art of Manliness. N.p., 5 June 2008. Web. 10Oct. 2013.