@@arbyfc You could put up a sign that phones are not alowed and that a jacket is manditory. If you come in without the proper attire you are offered a jacket to borrow for an hour. It's imporrtant to create the atmosphere.
I grew up in the 70s in a small town. We still had a drugstore that was established in the late 1800s. They still had the original soda fountain and the pharmacist who owned the place, Mr. Skolnick was the head soda jerk. Us kids would go there after sports, church and other things. It was AMAZING and I'm so lucky to have been one of the last few ppl to have experienced that past. Like many other things, my town was somewhat of a living history museum and we got to grow up and experience the world as it was in times passed. Thank you for doing these short films, they fill my heart with AMAZING memories
First let me say. David Hoffman, you are yourself, a national treasure. I’m not old enough, myself to experience the “Soda fountain” in its glory. But at 53 years old, I do remember as a boy, walking to my local Woolworths in Chicago and sitting at the counter for lunch and a milkshake. There was still Remanence of what was. Honestly, I think now more than ever, with all the processed food and the Conveniences of getting quick fix of gmo’s, allot of people what appreciate a Reinvention of a retro “Soda fountain” … any entrepreneurs out there?!
Agree!! I’m 50 and I remember going to Woolworths as well, sure brings back such beautiful nostalgic memories! Thanks for sharing, I sure wish things were much simpler now as they were then. Take care.☺️
Growing up in the 60’s, we had a beautiful soda fountain in our local drugstore downtown. I think what I miss the most is the tall, ice cold milkshake glass the soda jerk would bring with a big stainless steel container that would have the milkshake inside. The jerk would ceremoniously pour the shake into the glistening glass, top it off with a mound of whipping cream and a beautiful cherry on top! And, there was always some left over in the metal container they would leave with you. Man, oh man, it was awesome. And those are the days...
Yes i remember that . I had it many times. My favorite is a vanilla milk shake, i still drink them today, but most places just don't make them as good as the good old days. :)
I've always been fascinated by the idea of the 1950s soda fountain. If you are around NYC, you should visit Eddie's Sweet Shop. It opened as an ice cream parlor in 1925 and became a sweet shop in 1967. It still has decor from the 1950s and their ice cream is homemade.
Margie's Candies is still open in Chicago. Guys still take their dates there. It's not far away from where Riverview Amusement Park used to be in the 60s.
@@thiosemicarbizidebenzoylal2921 those were different times...but this is of a nostalgic gleem of life from the 50s and 60s, just cause you watch the help once doesn't make you a professional historian of the 60s who knows what all about the ginchiest time periods; no need to destroy precious moments of positive time in the eyes of the person who expierenced it first hand, morphing their sense of reality to make them feel bad. Also Native Americans left this zone after the 1700s giving up on us being of no help and only trouble...not sure where the heck your making an assumption that they contributed to the 50s..much less for killing??
I live in a small Midwest town that has a small pharmacy on main street. Still operates a soda fountain machine. Before covid, all the local kids go to get amazing ice cream treats and flavored sodas. Cool little business.
This a wonderful story! I grew up in Australia and we did not have soda fountains but we did have milk bars where young people went to hang out. Not as fancy as the soda fountain but a similar concept... a meeting place for young people with milkshakes and hamburgers. Maybe a pinball machine or two. The soda fountain is a great piece of Americana!
In the early 50's, both my Dad and his oldest brother were Soda Jerks in their local drug store in a suburb of NYC. The place they worked at was closed by the time I was a child in the 60's. There was a newer ice cream parlor that was modeled after the older soda fountains called Daddy Michael's , complete with stained glass lighting, and a beautiful, well polished wood counter with brass foot rails. My grandmother would take me there every Saturday. I have very fond memories of those times spent with my grandmother. Your video brought it all back to me. Thank you.
Daddy Michael’s! A treasured memory of my childhood, too. It was a re-creation of the old soda fountains but a very faithful one with shining fixtures, ceiling fans, marble-topped table and wire chairs, etc. I’d always get a hot fudge sundae. If it was your birthday they’d serve it to you with a lit sparkler in it. Every sundae I’ve had since in the past half-century or more, I’ve probably been trying to recapture the taste and feeling of those first ones at Daddy Michael’s.
LJ Stevens ::Lj likewise in Portland, Oregon, downtown but on the top floor of the Meier & Frank building was lunch counter/fountain whose claim to fame was the SUMMER~GIRL: slabs of ice cream with orange and grenadine juices phosphate-style......I would have to check with Mike and Matt to research the formula before we would replicate them this summer...
Every place had a soda fountain. None left here anymore. Cherry Cokes..Raspberry Lime Rickies..Ho Js ...oh boy. Dad's Mom was a New Yorker . She would get egg creame or a chocolate soda. I enjoyed this show. Oh those days.
I grew up in the 80's and we had a soda fountain in Logan, Utah. My friends and I as kids would go in there and hangout at the bar and get ice cream, malts, and soda concoctions. It's been around since 1914. Bluebird Restaurant Fountain and Candy. If you are on the town check it out. The town is amazing too.
I love the idea of a soda fountain and the memories that could be made with friends. I’m 18 and part of the class of 2020 so I’ve been thinking about memories a lot lately. Maybe some that could have been made or some in the past. I just know that if I had a soda fountain in town I’d love it!
I was born on 2008 but really I love 1950 even till 1700s people than 2000 . I always ask grand fathers how you lived in 1950 but they tell it as an normal days . But my only wish was to discover and experience the old days like yours and I will do my best to collect many informations of 1900..... Thank you to the Wise man.......
I remember having a chocolate ice cream soda at an S.S. Kresge's store sitting at the silver and red counter on a red swivel stool. It's a vivid memory because I loved the ice cream soda so much!!! I was probably 5 years old or so.
Books can change someones life so much. Somehow this reminds me to another one of your videos about this gentleman talking about how growing up in 1950s USA was like. If only it was possible to re-live a certain period without the risk of changing the present by changing the past. You know, seeing the pictures of these Soda Bars i always feel a strange nostalgia for something i have never experienced personally and yet it feels so familiar and inviting. It's hard to explain but something about it all feels a lot less de-humanized as the present time we live in.
Your either the most uneducated man, or truly a apartheid affecianado. SODA FOUNTAINS, LUNCH COUNTERS AND MANY OTHER VENUES were apartheid culture at its height.
@@thiosemicarbizidebenzoylal2921 yeah that may be true but there's no reason they had to just go away; it's not like racism was inherent to the businesses. My famlily sells the Mexican equivalent of these mixed drinks, shaved ice "raspados', and people really like these "beverages". The stylization of the soda fountain in all its fancyness may have necessitated rascism to accentuate their exclusivity, their luxury given the culture of the time however their returning wouldn't signify an open acceptance of what they represented for segregation in the past.
I enjoyed the history lesson very much, and I miss a good chocolate malted or chocolate egg cream and a grilled cheese (with tomato when available...). I, too would purchase a copy of your book. My youngest sister, Amy Zavatto, writes about wine and spirits! I found a book in the trash over 30 years ago- it was a bartender's guide to making drinks from the late 1920's...I don't bartend anymore, so I sent it to her as a gift. Well, I love iced cream, and my Aunts used to take me to Howard Johnson's or Jann's (I'm not sure of the spelling...). Janns had that elegance in the early 1960's and just the decor fascinated me! Thank you, David, for cheering me up today. Now I think I'm going to have some iced cream! 😊❤🌈 Peace and Love and Blessings, Janet Zavatto.
Janet Zavatto : all attributes David extolls are contained in FARRELL'S ICE CREAM PARLOUR, RIGHT DOWN TO THE SODA WATER 2 Cents, in Portland Oregon....
Growing up in the 1950s Brooklyn, the soda fountain in the candy store was the Jewish Man's Bar. Everybody hung out there just ask people from some other cultures would hang out at a bar. My favorite was cherry soda with chocolate ice cream. Where I live in Florida someone opened up a replica the old New York candy store soda fountain about 10 years ago. After about two years he went out of business. Despite the transplanted New Yorkers here, he didn't make a go of it.
You can still get Egg Cremes, Frappes, and Rasberry Lime Rickies at Waltz Soda Fountain in Darimiscotta Maine. It’s a cute lunch counter in an old Rexall Drug (was refurbished and now located in another oldie but goodie in Maine , Reny’s Department Store on Maine Street. Great holiday town in Maine.
As a child, I only remember one. And it was already a food service counter. But they would still mix you up different drinks (not a bar). It was in a bowling alley, and I can only imagine how busy that place was in its heyday. 👍
This was great. Your book is a treasure. Who would have thought soda jerks had a union and it was a skilful profeesion. Thanks for bringing us the past which may have been forgotten. Very interesting.
They had the biggest and best sundaes in the tall glass at Howard Johnson.. the other place I also loved was the old root beer place..A&W.. I don't know what they've done to their pop.. it's very bad now and Shakey's pizza on Friday nights.. where kids and families had so much fun and the pizza was really good.. fresh..made it right in front of you and so hot when they brought it out to where the family were.. even the sauce was amazing.. great memories..
@@dexterm1285 well it just figures it would be in the Philippines.. LOL.. I miss it even after so so many years.. there might be a few in the US.. I grew up in Vermont and then it wasn't in the area where we were anymore..sad really.. my children didn't get to experience Shakey's Pizza on Friday or Saturday and the fun there.. I keep wondering IF the sauce and everything else still taste the same..or as close to it..
For decades my hometown drug store was famous for a treat they called a Candyland. People who moved away, including me would head there for one on trips to visit. Sadly the Cunningham drug store closed a number of years ago. Candyland was not forgotten. A couple years ago a couple bought a closed filling station restaurant which was famous in its own right and opened it in style of soda fountains calling it ...Candyland. The old recipe lives again with other ice cream etc. Some things are so good people cannot see them die! Ah, the memories!
I always love your uploads ...I was born in 73 in Kentucky..I live in Bavaria,Germany now..They...don't ...have ...rootbeer ...here....So no more frosty mugs of rootbeer float for me..Kind of odd as I think the Bavarians would love rootbeer..
I live near a town that still has one of these in a pharmacy. It's a lot of fun. If you live near or pass by Kenova, West Virginia, check out the Griffith and Feil pharmacy. Assuming they are still open after the lock down.
I stumbled across this video trying to learn more about the soda fountain culture and how the unique drinks there were special to the people who once had the pleasure of enjoying them. I realized that there was a whole sociocultural experience lost when the economy had moved on from locations like soda fountains. As a young person I hope to recreate as many of these "lost" drinks as I can for the purpose of recapturing some of those moments that were lost so many years ago, and this video only motivated me more. Thanks for this
Thank you, David! I just found copy of your book. It's on it's way to me. I love your idea of sharing books from your library. I enjoy your videos so very much. Captivating and rich in factual content. Thank you very much!
Mr hoffmann,thanks for sharing this wonderful memories of soda fountains, I never saw one in my lifetime, but I watched in movies and I know some people love 50's memorabilia about this place, I think today the most near experience of that place is the dinners,made with stainless steel.
Hello David. I grew up in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. In our town we had a Pharmacy with a soda fountain, a Woolworth store with a fountain and several diners that served all your favorite meals. When I was a teenager, my Mom would send me downtown to pay insurance bills. As a treat, I got to go to the Woolworth store and have a Coke. Felt good sitting there and feeling somewhat important. Great memories!!
There was an old fashioned soda fountain in Brown’s Addition in Spokane, Washington until the early to mid 1980’s. At age 57 I’m catching on that the times are changing (and they have been changing) and what I took for granted year’s ago are gone forever.
I'm in my 20's and you have painted a wonderful picture of the simple times! I know talking to my godfather that people were so much happier back then! And just hearing your story and the smile in your face confirms it!
I love these kinds of stories. I've always been fascinated with the 1950's. I miss the fountains and I never even experienced them. Bring back the fountains and the morals of the 50's.
Watching this brought back great memories to this old guy. We had three pharmacies in our small town and all had soda fountains. I was a soda jerk at one of these from 1965-1967 and have nothing but great memories of my time working there. Thanks for all your videos.
This is a sweet homage, David. Your eyes lighting up while you talk about it is almost the best part! I think the closest we got when I was a kid, was Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor, though nobody dressed up. Sadly, I believe Farrell's went out of business. Thanks! 😊🩵
@StephanieJeanne... I remember Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor I can still recall the servers would make a big fuss with it was someone Birthday two of the servers would run around the dining area with what look like stretcher with a big bowl of ice cream in the center and ring a bell. 😉
@@drewpall2598 😄 Haha, yeah, that was a special order. The item was called The Zoo. It was a huge bowl with many flavors of ice cream that served like 10-12 people. They would play a siren and the workers would run around and bring it to your table. I think I had one of my birthdays there. They also had an item called the pig trough. If you ate the whole thing, they would bring it to the attention of everyone, sing a silly song about what an oinker you were, and you'd get a big ribbon. I loved that place as a kid. 🥳😊
@@StephanieJeanne My mom told me this story that a group of employees at one doctor office she manages she call Farrell's to make reservation for a group of 15 employees including doctors it was one of the Senior doctor Birthday and he got so embarrassed over the drawing attention it was his birthday. 🥳
@@drewpall2598 😂 I bet!! They were boisterous in that place!!Some fun times, though. I loved their candy/novelty shoppe they had inside there, too. 🍬🍭🍫🎉
Same here and my mom's family left Astoria Queens in 66. I did get to experience an automat before it closed in NYC in 80s which gave me a taste of some places my parents went to when they were kids in the 50s
I just got off the phone with my sister and we were talking about Malted Milk! Our great aunt worked at one of the drugstores in our small town in the 60’s, and they made the best little hamburgers. Great memories. Thanks, David❣️
Indian here... Here in India we still have establishments where a person creats a different flavoured soda. We don't call them by Soda Fountain, they are just simply called as Cold Drink Shops, nothing fancy. Probably most favorite flavour of all Indians is - Lemon Salt Soda.
Ahhh yess, dont forget the soda fountains. Always thrilled with your uploads Mr.Hoffman. Adore the nostalgic feel and emphasis you put into these historical videos. I dont comment on every video, but im always here, appreciating👏🏽📽🎥💫
Funny enough, in Malaysia, we have FnN Ice Cream Soda - which is a bottled soda with 'ice cream soda' flavour. I don't know how well known F'n'N is, but the Ice Cream Soda is one of my favourite pop drinks ever. It's heavenly and light.
Soda fountains were before my time, but seeing them in movies I always thought it would be nice to go on a date at one. Thank you for sharing about them.
Since you grew up in the NY metropolitan area around the same time I did, I'm sure you remember black & white ice cream sodas. These have been my favorite since my mother first bought me one in 1951 in NJ. I watched the soda jerk making each one, memorizing the steps and ingredients. It's a good thing I did; nobody here in Ohio even knows what one is. This is why I have a bottle of seltzer, one of chocolate sauce, milk, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream in my fridge right now. The best way to make a really good soda is to mix in a little ice cream with the milk and chocolate sauce. The only thing I can't do is to get one at a Woolworth's for 25 cents any longer.
My great-grandfather ran a soda fountain. A soda fountain in Houston closed around the turn of the millennium, and I went there once as a child shortly before it went out of business.
I was born 1975, but raised with a love and appreciation of golden age film and TV, this has not changed at all, except in growth. I've seen the name "David Hoffman" so many times, it's great to see you still entertaining! (By the way, is that not a "Maltese Falcon" in front of you?) Thank you for all of your contributions to great cinematic entertainment. :-] oh, I would love to experience a classic soda fountain. I wanted to, greatly, when Wally Cleaver became a soda jerk.
The “House of Flavors”, founded in 1929 in Ludington, Michigan is still going strong. My mother sat at the very same counter back as a teenager back in the ‘50’s.
Mm-mm root beer floats. Was a soda jerk in HS & early college mid-60's. Was in a Rexall Drug Store & served lunch on Saturdays. Miss the community comrade, love your videos
I do remember Howard Johnson ice cream. Di you remember their fried clams? We have fewer and fewer soda parlors in the deep recesses of the country. There was one in Brookfield Wisconsin in the 90s. Another off the square in Greencastle, Indiana in the 20s. There is a handmade hard candy guy in Florida? Who has a soda fountain. Maybe you should hit the road and find the dinosaurs that are left? Would make a great documentary. Thanks for the memories
I swear you are a national treasure! Your foresight from being a documentarian gives you so much insight into the knowledge and experiences you have that are lost on younger generations. Please keep making videos we love them!
David looking back to 50s/60s have found memories of these. And on the weekend all of my mother's siblings and parents would head to Long Beach Island to help my God mother out since her husband died in 1963. Old fashioned milkshake blender from the diner I still make an occasional milkshake. Sunday afternoon all would go to dinner at my Aunts dinner. They are gone now and I am the head of the clan now in my 70s. Thanks for the memories.
In the eastern reaches of San Diego County, California is the city called Julian. It's an old timey town in the mountains where the gold mines were closed down long ago but still thrives on tourism and apple pie. Up there is a restaurant called Miner's Diner where they have an honest to goodness soda jerk and soda fountain. I ordered a chocolate soda with ice cream, definitely a fun experience. ^_^
Hi David, Back in the 40's, I went to school on a streetcar, and then a bus, some miles away from my house in Cleveland. Where I caught the bus, was a Drug Store on the corner. On my way home from school, I'd usually stop and have something at the "very fancy soda fountain" at "Five Points" drug store. Usually a Cherry Phosphate, for a nickle. Now and again some ice cream, I couldn't afford the banana split, because it was a quarter, or so. I got my money for the movies or the soda fountain by collecting soda bottles out of the rubbish cans, and you would be surprised how many things people throw out! Now at 83, I surely miss those good old days! Best of Luck to you Dave! Bob U
Thanks, Dave. I was on the tail end of the Pharmacy soda fountain thing. I thought it was wonderful when mom brought me into the pharmacy for one of those concoctions.
Just found your channel today and I gotta say, it's gearing up to be one of my favorites. I've always enjoyed peering into the past, longing to live in days that were never mine. This video in particular satisfies that hankering, especially because I'm venturing in to make my own craft brew soda concoctions. I'm looking forward to watching more from your channel and hoping to peer into my own past, that now being in my 30's, seems like another world from the one we find ourselves in today. God bless!
Every Sunday, my family went to Karp's Pharmacy just for the soda fountain (1950s). It was the best treat ever! My Sister and I still talk about it. Mr. Hoffman is a human crowbar and can pry out a wonderful memory to enjoy throughout the day!
I visited one highly recommended (by an old timer) soda fountain shop located somewhere in Pasadena, CA. How you've described these fantastical and vintage Americana places. This was pretty much spot on with how my friend had described them.
Love hearing your stories,David. I grew up in the 70s in Marion,Ohio and our local Murphys still had that kinda thing. I,however,was wide eyed at the drive-ins which showed me a steady diet of horror,sci-fi,Disney,fantasy,etc. all nighters. We saw everything from Rocky to Close Encounters to Texas Chainsaw Massacre to The Boatniks at the drive-in and I loved every minute of it. The best times. Kids today will never know the freedom we had. Maybe that's why they are so oppressed but don't even know it?
Ahh...I remember Jahn’s growing up in the Bronx back in the day. Those beautiful sundaes, malted’s, and ice cream sodas were to die for. And anyone who frequented the place will never forget the “Kitchen Sink”. Sadly they are no longer around, along with the many other things that brought us joy growing up.
Mr. Hoffman, I was in charge at age 13 of making the simple syrup and changing the “explosive” canisters for sodas as needed. I’d get called at at all times because the other soda jerks were afraid to do it. Thank you for those long ago memories.
What a delightful little slice of your life, Mr. Hoffman. And I just learned that "I scream" is actually at a Foxtrot tempo! :-) Please keep these coming. And I'll have a Cherry Phosphate, please.
Flat Earth Math , Cherry Phosphate was what my brother and I used to drink at Highfield’s drugstore in Greenville, Michigan in the mid 60’s. I remember back in the late 50’s, it was a hot summer afternoon, when my older sister and I sat down inside Goulet’s drugstore so we both could have a nickel coke. The soda jerk said he was sorry as they no longer had nickel cokes. All they had were the larger sized 10 cent coke glasses. My sister ordered one of those as we only had a dime. She gave it to me to drink, but I felt sorry for her since she didn’t get anything to drink. I was the same age as Beaver Cleaver and just as dumb. My poor sister. I should have asked for two straws. I guess she was just looking out for her little brother.
In Glenolden, PA. There was a Pharmacy on Chester Pike. I had the privilege to experience the "Soda Fountain" way back in 1973. In 1976 a Robber Killed a Beloved Police Officer. The Pharmacist closed the store for that. Very Sad ! Trajic !
I'm SURE that if someone was to open a place like this when the Economy recovers, it could be Very Successful in the Right Locations!!!
I agree!
Definitely!
If you include “Artisanal” and “Sustainable” in the name, the hipsters will give you at least a couple weeks to get it going!
For sure
@@arbyfc You could put up a sign that phones are not alowed and that a jacket is manditory. If you come in without the proper attire you are offered a jacket to borrow for an hour. It's imporrtant to create the atmosphere.
I grew up in the 70s in a small town. We still had a drugstore that was established in the late 1800s. They still had the original soda fountain and the pharmacist who owned the place, Mr. Skolnick was the head soda jerk. Us kids would go there after sports, church and other things. It was AMAZING and I'm so lucky to have been one of the last few ppl to have experienced that past. Like many other things, my town was somewhat of a living history museum and we got to grow up and experience the world as it was in times passed. Thank you for doing these short films, they fill my heart with AMAZING memories
how did you feel when you were small? not many young people cant see the value then, but much later, maybe only 20 years later...
What town are you from ?
@@effexon I grew up in a small city. It was my reward for behaving myself at the dentist and had great value at the time.
@3MM4 P33L The one I mentioned was a Woolworth's. It was a fine and dime with marble floors, so elegant at the same time. It was a treat to go.
@3MM4 P33L It was a wonderful time
First let me say. David Hoffman, you are yourself, a national treasure.
I’m not old enough, myself to experience the “Soda fountain” in its glory. But at 53 years old, I do remember as a boy, walking to my local Woolworths in Chicago and sitting at the counter for lunch and a milkshake. There was still Remanence of what was.
Honestly, I think now more than ever, with all the processed food and the Conveniences of getting quick fix of gmo’s, allot of people what appreciate a Reinvention of a retro “Soda fountain” … any entrepreneurs out there?!
Agree!! I’m 50 and I remember going to Woolworths as well, sure brings back such beautiful nostalgic memories! Thanks for sharing, I sure wish things were much simpler now as they were then. Take care.☺️
Growing up in the 60’s, we had a beautiful soda fountain in our local drugstore downtown. I think what I miss the most is the tall, ice cold milkshake glass the soda jerk would bring with a big stainless steel container that would have the milkshake inside. The jerk would ceremoniously pour the shake into the glistening glass, top it off with a mound of whipping cream and a beautiful cherry on top! And, there was always some left over in the metal container they would leave with you. Man, oh man, it was awesome. And those are the days...
Yes i remember that . I had it many times. My favorite is a vanilla milk shake, i still drink them today, but most places just don't make them as good as the good old days. :)
Ok boomer.
@@mysticgeneie4668 Shutup coomer.
Wow... what a beautiful memory :) Thank you for sharing!
This is why I like Denny’s
I LOVE your enthusiasm David! My father was a soda jerk in the 40s and I'm sure he had a great time concocting treats behind that beautiful counter.
I've always been fascinated by the idea of the 1950s soda fountain. If you are around NYC, you should visit Eddie's Sweet Shop. It opened as an ice cream parlor in 1925 and became a sweet shop in 1967. It still has decor from the 1950s and their ice cream is homemade.
Are you also inrigued by house servants with black skin or Native peoples murdered for kicks.
Margie's Candies is still open in Chicago. Guys still take their dates there. It's not far away from where Riverview Amusement Park used to be in the 60s.
@@thiosemicarbizidebenzoylal2921 those were different times...but this is of a nostalgic gleem of life from the 50s and 60s, just cause you watch the help once doesn't make you a professional historian of the 60s who knows what all about the ginchiest time periods; no need to destroy precious moments of positive time in the eyes of the person who expierenced it first hand, morphing their sense of reality to make them feel bad. Also Native Americans left this zone after the 1700s giving up on us being of no help and only trouble...not sure where the heck your making an assumption that they contributed to the 50s..much less for killing??
I love it! Everything about it. It's everything we are lacking today... class!
I live in a small Midwest town that has a small pharmacy on main street. Still operates a soda fountain machine. Before covid, all the local kids go to get amazing ice cream treats and flavored sodas. Cool little business.
Fun irony of the story. The former owners that operated the business for decades were so proud of their machine and it was called Hoffman Pharmacy..
This a wonderful story! I grew up in Australia and we did not have soda fountains but we did have milk bars where young people went to hang out. Not as fancy as the soda fountain but a similar concept... a meeting place for young people with milkshakes and hamburgers. Maybe a pinball machine or two. The soda fountain is a great piece of Americana!
I grew up in the African bush - closest I came to one was the place in the Archie comic books!
I honestly didn't even know that "I scream, you scream..." was a song. I thought it was just a funny saying.
ua-cam.com/video/3-3rQc6OmIw/v-deo.html
VictrolaJazz thanks for link! Great
ᛞᛖᚾᚾᛁᛋ ᛏᚱᛟᚹᚨᛏᛟ Good point - i forgot to mention that in my post👍👍🎼🎶🎤
Rosalind R DITTO - i just checked out the link!!! 🎼🎶🎹🎤
Me too and i would love to taste ine! I was born in
In the early 50's, both my Dad and his oldest brother were Soda Jerks in their local drug store in a suburb of NYC. The place they worked at was closed by the time I was a child in the 60's. There was a newer ice cream parlor that was modeled after the older soda fountains called Daddy Michael's , complete with stained glass lighting, and a beautiful, well polished wood counter with brass foot rails. My grandmother would take me there every Saturday. I have very fond memories of those times spent with my grandmother. Your video brought it all back to me. Thank you.
Daddy Michael’s! A treasured memory of my childhood, too. It was a re-creation of the old soda fountains but a very faithful one with shining fixtures, ceiling fans, marble-topped table and wire chairs, etc. I’d always get a hot fudge sundae. If it was your birthday they’d serve it to you with a lit sparkler in it. Every sundae I’ve had since in the past half-century or more, I’ve probably been trying to recapture the taste and feeling of those first ones at Daddy Michael’s.
LJ Stevens ::Lj likewise in Portland, Oregon, downtown but on the top floor of the Meier & Frank building was lunch counter/fountain whose claim to fame was the SUMMER~GIRL: slabs of ice cream with orange and grenadine juices phosphate-style......I would have to check with Mike and Matt to research the formula before we would replicate them this summer...
Your white privilege is showing. Shame on you.
Every place had a soda fountain. None left here anymore. Cherry Cokes..Raspberry Lime Rickies..Ho Js ...oh boy. Dad's Mom was a New Yorker . She would get egg creame or a chocolate soda. I enjoyed this show. Oh those days.
Yah !!! :)
Chocolate soda? Must have been delicious.
I grew up in the 80's and we had a soda fountain in Logan, Utah. My friends and I as kids would go in there and hangout at the bar and get ice cream, malts, and soda concoctions. It's been around since 1914. Bluebird Restaurant Fountain and Candy. If you are on the town check it out. The town is amazing too.
Thanks David . Fascinating stuff . I loved the photos and you brought them to life .
I love the idea of a soda fountain and the memories that could be made with friends. I’m 18 and part of the class of 2020 so I’ve been thinking about memories a lot lately. Maybe some that could have been made or some in the past. I just know that if I had a soda fountain in town I’d love it!
So sorry your class had to make history by having quarantine. Congrats on graduation! Cyber hugs
I was born on 2008 but really I love 1950 even till 1700s people than 2000 . I always ask grand fathers how you lived in 1950 but they tell it as an normal days . But my only wish was to discover and experience the old days like yours and I will do my best to collect many informations of 1900.....
Thank you to the Wise man.......
You are welcome and thank you.
David Hoffman filmmaker
Omg! I was a soda jerk at Cupid Candies in Evergreen Park IL a long time ago! Good times ❤
:) wish i saw
I was born in 1957, we still had a Red Cross Pharmacy with a soda fountain until 1970... Loved the cherry cola floats!
I remember having a chocolate ice cream soda at an S.S. Kresge's store sitting at the silver and red counter on a red swivel stool. It's a vivid memory because I loved the ice cream soda so much!!! I was probably 5 years old or so.
Nice! Don't you just love those kind of memories... I sure do.
Thank you Mr.Hoffman ,your preservation of history is unprecedented
My soda fountain was in Hagyards Drug Store in Lenox Massachusetts. I can still see every inch of it.
Right out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
Beautiful storytelling
Thank you! 🙂
Books can change someones life so much. Somehow this reminds me to another one of your videos about this gentleman talking about how growing up in 1950s USA was like. If only it was possible to re-live a certain period without the risk of changing the present by changing the past. You know, seeing the pictures of these Soda Bars i always feel a strange nostalgia for something i have never experienced personally and yet it feels so familiar and inviting. It's hard to explain but something about it all feels a lot less de-humanized as the present time we live in.
Your either the most uneducated man, or truly a apartheid affecianado. SODA FOUNTAINS, LUNCH COUNTERS AND MANY OTHER VENUES were apartheid culture at its height.
@@thiosemicarbizidebenzoylal2921 yeah that may be true but there's no reason they had to just go away; it's not like racism was inherent to the businesses. My famlily sells the Mexican equivalent of these mixed drinks, shaved ice "raspados', and people really like these "beverages". The stylization of the soda fountain in all its fancyness may have necessitated rascism to accentuate their exclusivity, their luxury given the culture of the time however their returning wouldn't signify an open acceptance of what they represented for segregation in the past.
“Dehumanized” yes
I enjoyed the history lesson very much, and I miss a good chocolate malted or chocolate egg cream and a grilled cheese (with tomato when available...). I, too would purchase a copy of your book. My youngest sister, Amy Zavatto, writes about wine and spirits! I found a book in the trash over 30 years ago- it was a bartender's guide to making drinks from the late 1920's...I don't bartend anymore, so I sent it to her as a gift. Well, I love iced cream, and my Aunts used to take me to Howard Johnson's or Jann's (I'm not sure of the spelling...). Janns had that elegance in the early 1960's and just the decor fascinated me! Thank you, David, for cheering me up today. Now I think I'm going to have some iced cream! 😊❤🌈 Peace and Love and Blessings, Janet Zavatto.
Janet Zavatto grilled cheese w/dill pickle = still a favorite!!😊
I imagine iced cream and ice cream may be two different things? 🤷🏼♂️
Janet Zavatto : all attributes David extolls are contained in FARRELL'S ICE CREAM PARLOUR, RIGHT DOWN TO THE SODA WATER 2 Cents, in Portland Oregon....
Sir, you should re-release your book on amazon. I'd definitely snap one up!
Its on Amazon! I bought one!
Here, here!
I am inspired to open up a soda fountain but the thing is times have change everyone is in a hurry rushing they don't want to stay in.
Maybe one day!
SteelStreet Videocrew1 It's back 50 yrs plus now - the whole world has slowed down - go for it👍👍🙏
Growing up in the 1950s Brooklyn, the soda fountain in the candy store was the Jewish Man's Bar. Everybody hung out there just ask people from some other cultures would hang out at a bar. My favorite was cherry soda with chocolate ice cream. Where I live in Florida someone opened up a replica the old New York candy store soda fountain about 10 years ago. After about two years he went out of business. Despite the transplanted New Yorkers here, he didn't make a go of it.
We still have an old soda fountain, that is still open, in Bramwell, WV. 😋
What is it called?
Thanks for this wonderful memory of your life :D
The soda fountain is a big part of the youth of George Bailey in Its A Wonderful Life.
Great point
You can still get Egg Cremes, Frappes, and Rasberry Lime Rickies at Waltz Soda Fountain in Darimiscotta Maine. It’s a cute lunch counter in an old Rexall Drug (was refurbished and now located in another oldie but goodie in Maine , Reny’s Department Store on Maine Street. Great holiday town in Maine.
This shall be my road trip...
Thank you Mr. Hoffman for once again providing a nice narrative escape to a simpler time during a time of worldwide crisis.
As a child, I only remember one. And it was already a food service counter. But they would still mix you up different drinks (not a bar). It was in a bowling alley, and I can only imagine how busy that place was in its heyday. 👍
I guess I'm old .... I love your stories..... I grew up in a small town in NH Woolworths had a soda fountain
I remember the tail end of Howard Johsons. Thanks David.
Most people today know the Blazing Saddle version of Howard Johnsons but alas, not the real thing.
This was great. Your book is a treasure. Who would have thought soda jerks had a union and it was a skilful profeesion.
Thanks for bringing us the past which may have been forgotten.
Very interesting.
They had the biggest and best sundaes in the tall glass at Howard Johnson.. the other place I also loved was the old root beer place..A&W.. I don't know what they've done to their pop.. it's very bad now and Shakey's pizza on Friday nights.. where kids and families had so much fun and the pizza was really good.. fresh..made it right in front of you and so hot when they brought it out to where the family were.. even the sauce was amazing.. great memories..
Funny you mention Shakeys Pizza...they are pretty big now in the Philippines.
@@dexterm1285 well it just figures it would be in the Philippines.. LOL.. I miss it even after so so many years.. there might be a few in the US.. I grew up in Vermont and then it wasn't in the area where we were anymore..sad really.. my children didn't get to experience Shakey's Pizza on Friday or Saturday and the fun there.. I keep wondering IF the sauce and everything else still taste the same..or as close to it..
Wow. Yes. Going to Howard Johnson's for ice cream was a true treat. I'm impressed with your contribution.
For decades my hometown drug store was famous for a treat they called a Candyland. People who moved away, including me would head there for one on trips to visit. Sadly the Cunningham drug store closed a number of years ago. Candyland was not forgotten. A couple years ago a couple bought a closed filling station restaurant which was famous in its own right and opened it in style of soda fountains calling it ...Candyland. The old recipe lives again with other ice cream etc. Some things are so good people cannot see them die! Ah, the memories!
I always love your uploads ...I was born in 73 in Kentucky..I live in Bavaria,Germany now..They...don't ...have ...rootbeer ...here....So no more frosty mugs of rootbeer float for me..Kind of odd as I think the Bavarians would love rootbeer..
I would love to see a revival of soda fountains. Heck, I'd even want to be a soda jerk and try concocting all of those flavours. :)
I live near a town that still has one of these in a pharmacy. It's a lot of fun. If you live near or pass by Kenova, West Virginia, check out the Griffith and Feil pharmacy. Assuming they are still open after the lock down.
I stumbled across this video trying to learn more about the soda fountain culture and how the unique drinks there were special to the people who once had the pleasure of enjoying them. I realized that there was a whole sociocultural experience lost when the economy had moved on from locations like soda fountains. As a young person I hope to recreate as many of these "lost" drinks as I can for the purpose of recapturing some of those moments that were lost so many years ago, and this video only motivated me more. Thanks for this
Thank you, David! I just found copy of your book. It's on it's way to me.
I love your idea of sharing books from your library.
I enjoy your videos so very much. Captivating and rich in factual content.
Thank you very much!
We had a 100 year old soda fountain close in 2018 here in Dallas. Sad day!
Thank you for sharing that glimpse of by gone days. America has lost so much
Mr hoffmann,thanks for sharing this wonderful memories of soda fountains, I never saw one in my lifetime, but I watched in movies and I know some people love 50's memorabilia about this place, I think today the most near experience of that place is the dinners,made with stainless steel.
Oh how I remember the soda fountains of the 40's & the 50's as well.....those were the days! Walt in Miami
Hello David. I grew up in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. In our town we had a Pharmacy with a soda fountain, a Woolworth store with a fountain and several diners that served all your favorite meals. When I was a teenager, my Mom would send me downtown to pay insurance bills. As a treat, I got to go to the Woolworth store and have a Coke. Felt good sitting there and feeling somewhat important. Great memories!!
We have 3 soda fountains/malt shops where I live in Tennessee. I love them so much; definitely my happy place!
There was an old fashioned soda fountain in Brown’s Addition in Spokane, Washington until the early to mid 1980’s. At age 57 I’m catching on that the times are changing (and they have been changing) and what I took for granted year’s ago are gone forever.
Yes!
I've always wanted to go to one.
I loved a coke float when I was a kid. We made them at home.
I'm in my 20's and you have painted a wonderful picture of the simple times! I know talking to my godfather that people were so much happier back then! And just hearing your story and the smile in your face confirms it!
I love these kinds of stories. I've always been fascinated with the 1950's. I miss the fountains and I never even experienced them. Bring back the fountains and the morals of the 50's.
I wish there was something around like this today. I would love this kind of experience.
Watching this brought back great memories to this old guy. We had three pharmacies in our small town and all had soda fountains. I was a soda jerk at one of these from 1965-1967 and have nothing but great memories of my time working there. Thanks for all your videos.
Awesome video Mr. Hoffman. The Ice Cream song put a smile on my face. the 1950s are such a glorious time.
This channel needs more attention and recognition! Great videos!
I wish I knew how.
David Hoffman - filmmaker
This is a sweet homage, David. Your eyes lighting up while you talk about it is almost the best part! I think the closest we got when I was a kid, was Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor, though nobody dressed up. Sadly, I believe Farrell's went out of business. Thanks! 😊🩵
@StephanieJeanne... I remember Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor I can still recall the servers would make a big fuss with it was someone Birthday two of the servers would run around the dining area with what look like stretcher with a big bowl of ice cream in the center and ring a bell. 😉
@@drewpall2598 😄 Haha, yeah, that was a special order. The item was called The Zoo. It was a huge bowl with many flavors of ice cream that served like 10-12 people. They would play a siren and the workers would run around and bring it to your table. I think I had one of my birthdays there. They also had an item called the pig trough. If you ate the whole thing, they would bring it to the attention of everyone, sing a silly song about what an oinker you were, and you'd get a big ribbon. I loved that place as a kid. 🥳😊
@@StephanieJeanne My mom told me this story that a group of employees at one doctor office she manages she call Farrell's to make reservation for a group of 15 employees including doctors it was one of the Senior doctor Birthday and he got so embarrassed over the drawing attention it was his birthday. 🥳
@@drewpall2598 😂 I bet!! They were boisterous in that place!!Some fun times, though. I loved their candy/novelty shoppe they had inside there, too. 🍬🍭🍫🎉
@@StephanieJeanne Girl you got good memories of Farrell's I have forgotten about candy/novelty shoppe they had inside. 👍🧡
I'm 21 and I love your vids, you capture the vibe of the old days that us young people can't go to
Man, I miss the 50s! ...and I was born in 1974. :'(
Nakidz Excellent😂🙏
Same here!
Same here and my mom's family left Astoria Queens in 66. I did get to experience an automat before it closed in NYC in 80s which gave me a taste of some places my parents went to when they were kids in the 50s
sssss Compared to now?
@Blackpilled Saint Corporations existed back then unless you mean corporations promoting feminism.
You just made me feel so nostalgic for a time and place that I never even got to experience.
I just got off the phone with my sister and we were talking about Malted Milk! Our great aunt worked at one of the drugstores in our small town in the 60’s, and they made the best little hamburgers. Great memories. Thanks, David❣️
Indian here... Here in India we still have establishments where a person creats a different flavoured soda. We don't call them by Soda Fountain, they are just simply called as Cold Drink Shops, nothing fancy. Probably most favorite flavour of all Indians is - Lemon Salt Soda.
This is so wholesome. Thank you : )
My very first job ever was a soda jerk, at 19 years old, in Africa 😂
I would love to read a book about your life, Mr. Hoffman. I remember going to the soda fountain as a youngster and 'I scream you scream'!
Thank you, but no one has written one yet.
David Hoffman - filmmaker
David Hoffman You're welcome. I will continue to hope you might write one. :)
I love watching these.
Ahhh yess, dont forget the soda fountains. Always thrilled with your uploads Mr.Hoffman. Adore the nostalgic feel and emphasis you put into these historical videos. I dont comment on every video, but im always here, appreciating👏🏽📽🎥💫
Glad you like them!
Funny enough, in Malaysia, we have FnN Ice Cream Soda - which is a bottled soda with 'ice cream soda' flavour. I don't know how well known F'n'N is, but the Ice Cream Soda is one of my favourite pop drinks ever. It's heavenly and light.
Fascinating piece...and with your masterful narrative style, it is must-see UA-cam. Thank you, David!
Wow, thank you!
Soda fountains were before my time, but seeing them in movies I always thought it would be nice to go on a date at one. Thank you for sharing about them.
Since you grew up in the NY metropolitan area around the same time I did, I'm sure you remember black & white ice cream sodas. These have been my favorite since my mother first bought me one in 1951 in NJ. I watched the soda jerk making each one, memorizing the steps and ingredients. It's a good thing I did; nobody here in Ohio even knows what one is. This is why I have a bottle of seltzer, one of chocolate sauce, milk, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream in my fridge right now. The best way to make a really good soda is to mix in a little ice cream with the milk and chocolate sauce. The only thing I can't do is to get one at a Woolworth's for 25 cents any longer.
Wonderful, just wonderfully told. What a great story! Put a big smile on my face. Thank you.
My great-grandfather ran a soda fountain. A soda fountain in Houston closed around the turn of the millennium, and I went there once as a child shortly before it went out of business.
I was born 1975, but raised with a love and appreciation of golden age film and TV, this has not changed at all, except in growth. I've seen the name "David Hoffman" so many times, it's great to see you still entertaining! (By the way, is that not a "Maltese Falcon" in front of you?) Thank you for all of your contributions to great cinematic entertainment. :-]
oh, I would love to experience a classic soda fountain. I wanted to, greatly, when Wally Cleaver became a soda jerk.
My pops passed a few years back, he always said the 50s were the best of times, everybody was working, the dollar went alot farther..
The “House of Flavors”, founded in 1929 in Ludington, Michigan is still going strong. My mother sat at the very same counter back as a teenager back in the ‘50’s.
You can easily pick up on your enthusiasm for this topic. What a wonderfully-organized video. Thank you for sharing!
Mm-mm root beer floats. Was a soda jerk in HS & early college mid-60's. Was in a Rexall Drug Store & served lunch on Saturdays. Miss the community comrade, love your videos
Ah, the milk shakes (foundtain made) and root beer floats! Those were glorious!
I love all your 50's mini series
I do remember Howard Johnson ice cream. Di you remember their fried clams? We have fewer and fewer soda parlors in the deep recesses of the country. There was one in Brookfield Wisconsin in the 90s. Another off the square in Greencastle, Indiana in the 20s. There is a handmade hard candy guy in Florida? Who has a soda fountain. Maybe you should hit the road and find the dinosaurs that are left? Would make a great documentary. Thanks for the memories
I swear you are a national treasure! Your foresight from being a documentarian gives you so much insight into the knowledge and experiences you have that are lost on younger generations. Please keep making videos we love them!
Thank you so much.
David Hoffman - filmmaker
David looking back to 50s/60s have found memories of these. And on the weekend all of my mother's siblings and parents would head to Long Beach Island to help my God mother out since her husband died in 1963. Old fashioned milkshake blender from the diner I still make an occasional milkshake. Sunday afternoon all would go to dinner at my Aunts dinner. They are gone now and I am the head of the clan now in my 70s. Thanks for the memories.
In the eastern reaches of San Diego County, California is the city called Julian. It's an old timey town in the mountains where the gold mines were closed down long ago but still thrives on tourism and apple pie. Up there is a restaurant called Miner's Diner where they have an honest to goodness soda jerk and soda fountain. I ordered a chocolate soda with ice cream, definitely a fun experience. ^_^
I was born in 2002 and i love the 1950s even though i have a huge appetite for the 1800s
Hi David, Back in the 40's, I went to school on a streetcar, and then a bus, some miles away from my house in Cleveland. Where I caught the bus, was a Drug Store on the corner. On my way home from school, I'd usually stop and have something at the "very fancy soda fountain" at "Five Points" drug store. Usually a Cherry Phosphate, for a nickle. Now and again some ice cream, I couldn't afford the banana split, because it was a quarter, or so. I got my money for the movies or the soda fountain by collecting soda bottles out of the rubbish cans, and you would be surprised how many things people throw out! Now at 83, I surely miss those good old days! Best of Luck to you Dave! Bob U
Thanks, Dave. I was on the tail end of the Pharmacy soda fountain thing. I thought it was wonderful when mom brought me into the pharmacy for one of those concoctions.
Absolutely brilliant. Mr. Hoffman, you are an absolute treasure. Thank you so very much for the memories. 👍❤️
Just found your channel today and I gotta say, it's gearing up to be one of my favorites. I've always enjoyed peering into the past, longing to live in days that were never mine. This video in particular satisfies that hankering, especially because I'm venturing in to make my own craft brew soda concoctions. I'm looking forward to watching more from your channel and hoping to peer into my own past, that now being in my 30's, seems like another world from the one we find ourselves in today. God bless!
Thank you
I loved the chrome-plated silver spigots! Newberrys,Woolworths etc.
Every Sunday, my family went to Karp's Pharmacy just for the soda fountain (1950s). It was the best treat ever! My Sister and I still talk about it. Mr. Hoffman is a human crowbar and can pry out a wonderful memory to enjoy throughout the day!
I visited one highly recommended (by an old timer) soda fountain shop located somewhere in Pasadena, CA. How you've described these fantastical and vintage Americana places. This was pretty much spot on with how my friend had described them.
Love hearing your stories,David. I grew up in the 70s in Marion,Ohio and our local Murphys still had that kinda thing. I,however,was wide eyed at the drive-ins which showed me a steady diet of horror,sci-fi,Disney,fantasy,etc. all nighters. We saw everything from Rocky to Close Encounters to Texas Chainsaw Massacre to The Boatniks at the drive-in and I loved every minute of it. The best times. Kids today will never know the freedom we had. Maybe that's why they are so oppressed but don't even know it?
Ahh...I remember Jahn’s growing up in the Bronx back in the day. Those beautiful sundaes, malted’s, and ice cream sodas were to die for. And anyone who frequented the place will never forget the “Kitchen Sink”. Sadly they are no longer around, along with the many other things that brought us joy growing up.
Mr. Hoffman, I was in charge at age 13 of making the simple syrup and changing the “explosive” canisters for sodas as needed. I’d get called at at all times because the other soda jerks were afraid to do it. Thank you for those long ago memories.
I would LOOOVE to get my hands on a copy of your book!
What a delightful little slice of your life, Mr. Hoffman. And I just learned that "I scream" is actually at a Foxtrot tempo! :-) Please keep these coming. And I'll have a Cherry Phosphate, please.
Flat Earth Math , Cherry Phosphate was what my brother and I used to drink at Highfield’s drugstore in Greenville, Michigan in the mid 60’s. I remember back in the late 50’s, it was a hot summer afternoon, when my older sister and I sat down inside Goulet’s drugstore so we both could have a nickel coke. The soda jerk said he was sorry as they no longer had nickel cokes. All they had were the larger sized 10 cent coke glasses. My sister ordered one of those as we only had a dime. She gave it to me to drink, but I felt sorry for her since she didn’t get anything to drink. I was the same age as Beaver Cleaver and just as dumb. My poor sister. I should have asked for two straws. I guess she was just looking out for her little brother.
@@phillipkulas2302 Delightful story. I was raised by three older sisters. :-)
Sounds like quite the experience, I hope someone revives the soda fountain someday.
In Glenolden, PA. There was a Pharmacy on Chester Pike. I had the privilege to experience the "Soda Fountain" way back in 1973.
In 1976 a Robber Killed a Beloved Police Officer. The Pharmacist closed the store for that. Very Sad ! Trajic !
More story telling about the old days plz! I like learning about times before mine