In Fix the Pumps, Darcy O’Neil writes about how the soda fountain kept bartending alive during Prohibition. Photo: A. Paul Mitchell
These days, the words “soda fountain” conjure up idyllic images of midcentury teenagers innocently sharing a milkshake. But when the first soda fountains appeared in the late 19th century, they looked more like laboratories than family-friendly restaurants. And the drinks they served could pack a real punch — they sometimes contained cocaine and even heroin.
In this episode of the Storyboard podcast, senior editor Adam Rogers talks about the golden age of soda fountains with Darcy O’Neil, the blogger behind Art of Drink and author of Fix the Pumps.
In his book, O’Neil rescues hundreds of recipes devised by the pharmacists who owned the original soda fountains. “The nice thing about pharmacists is that they documented everything,” he says. In fact, their meticulous records have been a key clue in the current effort to reconstruct pre-Prohibition cocktails and bartending methods.
Darcy was in town to judge the first San Francisco Jerk Off, a soda-jerking competition held during San Francisco Cocktail Week. (For San Francisco residents looking for an authentic soda fountain all year round, be sure to check out The Ice Cream Bar.)
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