Antique Soda Fountain Recipes

There aren’t many true soda fountains left. An old-timey soda fountain was a magical place, like a bar, but instead of cocktails, lime rickeys and ice cream sodas and hot fudge sundaes were served on marble counters by soda jerks who were as creative with their recipes as bartenders are with cocktails today. If you’re lucky enough to have a soda fountain near you that can serve up a proper egg cream (modern ones are not made with eggs), you’re lucky enough. I have fond memories of soda fountains past, which is why I was attracted to a slim recipe book called…brace yourself, this is a long title…Howard Johnson’s Presents Old Time Ice Cream Soda Fountain Recipes or How to Make a Soda Fountain Pay. As advertised, it’s full of antique soda fountain recipes from the turn of the century.

This little book is adapted from an original handbook for soda jerks…another long title ahead…The American Dispensers Book Containing Choice Formulas for Making Soda Water Syrups and Fancy Drinks, or: How to Make A Soda Fountain Pay. Originally published in 1863 and updated regularly for 50 years, the 1971 adaptation starts out with recipes for making syrups, the basis of many soda fountain treats. These recipes are not handy for the home cook. It’s unlikely that anyone would need the 2 gallons of simple syrup (12 lbs of sugar, 1 gallon of water, put in a stone crock and agitate with a wooden paddle until the sugar is dissolved). Happily for all of us, there are now scads of bottled flavored syrups available, so you don’t need a stone crock and wooden paddle.

There are also recipes for ice cream, ices and sherbets; fizzes, sodas and flips; nostrums, egg drinks and phosphates and more. If you haven’t heard of some of those things, you aren’t alone. I have made a lifelong immersion study of ice cream and ice cream related food items and spent several years as a scoopist in various ice cream shops, but nostrums (“potions with which our forbears aided their digestions and recovered from hangovers”) and phosphates (made with acid phosphate, soda water and flavoring syrups) were completely new to me. Per Liquor.com, phosphates made a comeback around 2015, a hundred plus years after their peak popularity at the turn of the century. This means that instead of having to make your own phosphate solution (crush or grind sour salt crystals and dissolve in water) you can purchase it.

There are hundreds of antique soda fountain recipes in this little book, most of which sounded delightful. I picked out a few to share that looked like they would be both tasty and relatively easy to create at home.

The definition of “milkshake” is different depending on where you live. Here in New England, if you’re not at a fast food joint, a milkshake might be frazzled up milk and flavored syrup. If you want ice cream in it, you need to ask for a “frappe” (usually pronounced by ignoring the final p and e). And for reasons known only to them, in Rhode Island, a coffee frappe might be called a “cabinet.” In other parts of the country, you should ask for a “thick shake” to get a milkshake with ice cream.

Back in the 1800s, a milk shake was entirely different, made with shaved ice, syrup and ice cream. Hint: a food processor or blender can be used to make shaved ice at home.

These are also drinks that involve shaved ice. Can you imagine your local ice cream shop whipping up a Claret Limeade for you? Victorians considered claret as almost a health tonic, so it’s not surprising it would turn up in an antique soda fountain recipe.

Before there was a Charlotte Russe mall store, there was the Charlotte Russe “icebox cake.” Lady fingers on the outside, custard and/or mousse on the inside and topped with fruit, the cake originated in Europe in the 18th century. I’m not sure why the Charlotte Russe drink designated as a “lady’s drink;”  it’s been my experience that men like whipped cream, vanilla syrup and ice cream too.

Turn of the century ice cream recipes aren’t that different from modern ice cream recipes (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it), so instead of featuring one of those, how about ices instead? These Lemon Ice and Orange Ice sound refreshing and delightful and not difficult to make. The Cream Cherries recipe at the top could not be simpler. Of all the recipes in the book, it is the most tempting. Cherries on ice with whipped cream? Sounds like a dream.

The final two antique soda fountain recipes are for sherbets. The top recipe, Frappeed Fruits, sounds like a fruit carnival in a bowl. And I have never heard of grape sherbet. One wonders why? The world would be a better place with grape sherbet.

Do you have any soda fountain memories? Forever etched in my memory is the lime rickey from the late lamented Brigham’s of Boston. Oh, to watch the soda jerk squeeze those limes one more time. I’ve had many since from other places, but they are never as good. The internet has plenty of takes on the Brigham’s Raspberry Lime Rickey, including this updated adaptation from food52.com. (I will admit to rolling my eyes at the agave syrup, but the result is good so we’ll let it slide by.)

We can’t tease you by invoking the name Howard Johnson’s and then leave you high and dry. We have no idea what their connection was to this cookbook, but we do know that for a big chunk of the last century, eating at a Howard Johnson’s Restaurant was a treat. Read about the rise and fall of an iconic American institution here.

If you want to explore phosphates, here’s a site to get your started: Bring the Old Time Soda Fountain Back to Life at Home, liquor.com, has three phosphate recipes you can make at home.

To read more about Victorian soda fountains, try:

Victorians Drank Soda Out of Monstrous Gilded Machines from atlasobscura.com.

Soda Fountain Memories from waubanseemuseum.org

The History of the Soda Fountain from thoughtco.com