This Is What I Miss Most From The 1950s

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  • Опубліковано 22 тра 2020
  • Most of my subscribers and commentators were not alive in the 1950s. But those who were have either fond memories or memories that are not so fond from that time. But this one thing those of us who were around at that time can probably all agree on. The soda fountain. How wonderful it was. The bubbly sodas. The beautiful counters. The wonderful chairs. The Tiffany lamps. The ice creams. The fresh fruits. The soda jerk. In this video I have tried to give a sense of what it was that made the soda fountain so wonderful. In my town there was one in the drugstore and one in a department store. I took girls on dates there and we just sat and sipped on and tasted the most wonderful sweet things. I honor the soda fountain, one of my favorite memories from my youth. And I would like to thank Emidicta for digitizing the old 78 record.
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 758

  • @nickames3808
    @nickames3808 4 роки тому +475

    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!!!

    • @avianearth2397
      @avianearth2397 4 роки тому +9

      I agree!

    • @karenax254
      @karenax254 4 роки тому +7

      Definitely!

    • @absolutmauser
      @absolutmauser 4 роки тому +44

      If you include “Artisanal” and “Sustainable” in the name, the hipsters will give you at least a couple weeks to get it going!

    • @poppop-oj6by
      @poppop-oj6by 4 роки тому +22

      @@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.

    • @grace7701
      @grace7701 4 роки тому +9

      I have always thought the same that if these were made a thing again how popular they would be, many people want to return to happier older times, they love nostalgia even if they had never experienced it themselves. I grew up going to an roller skating rink in RI in Warwick that was really old, neatest place and they had a room with the original soda fountain and all the original fixtures and you could still order from. My mom would tell me stories about coming there as a kid. Sadly it has been torn down but I am so glad that an 80s kid got to experience a bit of the past and have it for my own memories.

  • @DennisTrovato
    @DennisTrovato 4 роки тому +282

    I honestly didn't even know that "I scream, you scream..." was a song. I thought it was just a funny saying.

    • @VictrolaJazz
      @VictrolaJazz 4 роки тому +5

      ua-cam.com/video/3-3rQc6OmIw/v-deo.html

    • @rosalindr4975
      @rosalindr4975 4 роки тому +7

      VictrolaJazz thanks for link! Great

    • @JR-zm2yu
      @JR-zm2yu 4 роки тому +1

      ᛞᛖᚾᚾᛁᛋ ᛏᚱᛟᚹᚨᛏᛟ Good point - i forgot to mention that in my post👍👍🎼🎶🎤

    • @JR-zm2yu
      @JR-zm2yu 4 роки тому

      Rosalind R DITTO - i just checked out the link!!! 🎼🎶🎹🎤

    • @M5StAr.2.0
      @M5StAr.2.0 4 роки тому

      Me too and i would love to taste ine! I was born in

  • @thecatguy4301
    @thecatguy4301 4 роки тому +378

    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

    • @effexon
      @effexon 4 роки тому +6

      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...

    • @breejames6323
      @breejames6323 4 роки тому

      What town are you from ?

    • @coreycox2345
      @coreycox2345 4 роки тому +2

      @@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.

    • @coreycox2345
      @coreycox2345 4 роки тому +1

      @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.

    • @thecatguy4301
      @thecatguy4301 4 роки тому

      @3MM4 P33L It was a wonderful time

  • @kathyakamimi4989
    @kathyakamimi4989 4 роки тому +126

    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...

    • @JoJo-ic1th
      @JoJo-ic1th 4 роки тому +1

      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. :)

    • @mysticgeneie4668
      @mysticgeneie4668 4 роки тому

      Ok boomer.

    • @SoloTravelerOffTheBeatenPath
      @SoloTravelerOffTheBeatenPath 4 роки тому +12

      @@mysticgeneie4668 Shutup coomer.

    • @tamisweetie
      @tamisweetie 4 роки тому

      Wow... what a beautiful memory :) Thank you for sharing!

    • @notbot8830
      @notbot8830 4 роки тому +2

      This is why I like Denny’s

  • @LaurenCassidy
    @LaurenCassidy 4 роки тому +125

    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.

    • @thiosemicarbizidebenzoylal2921
      @thiosemicarbizidebenzoylal2921 4 роки тому +1

      Are you also inrigued by house servants with black skin or Native peoples murdered for kicks.

    • @cathyt502
      @cathyt502 4 роки тому +3

      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.

    • @WitchKing-Of-Angmar
      @WitchKing-Of-Angmar 4 роки тому

      @@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??

  • @MomentsInTrading
    @MomentsInTrading 4 роки тому +47

    The soda fountain is a big part of the youth of George Bailey in Its A Wonderful Life.

  • @pattyfarghaly1821
    @pattyfarghaly1821 4 роки тому +31

    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.

  • @ljstevens
    @ljstevens 4 роки тому +47

    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.

    • @GinaInCA
      @GinaInCA 4 роки тому +3

      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.

    • @codeblue2532
      @codeblue2532 4 роки тому +3

      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...

    • @bidmcms3
      @bidmcms3 4 роки тому

      Your white privilege is showing. Shame on you.

  • @jojobane8598
    @jojobane8598 4 роки тому +7

    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.

    • @jojobane8598
      @jojobane8598 4 роки тому +3

      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..

  • @shaunw9270
    @shaunw9270 4 роки тому +3

    Thanks David . Fascinating stuff . I loved the photos and you brought them to life .

  • @MrsC48
    @MrsC48 4 роки тому +38

    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.

    • @anns1921
      @anns1921 4 роки тому +2

      Nice! Don't you just love those kind of memories... I sure do.

  • @ramzpig1
    @ramzpig1 4 роки тому +25

    Thank you Mr.Hoffman ,your preservation of history is unprecedented

  • @thomasvogt2823
    @thomasvogt2823 4 роки тому +5

    Thanks for this wonderful memory of your life :D

  • @laertescushing3005
    @laertescushing3005 4 роки тому +43

    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!

    • @rosalindr4975
      @rosalindr4975 4 роки тому +8

      So sorry your class had to make history by having quarantine. Congrats on graduation! Cyber hugs

  • @hyacinthbucket2683
    @hyacinthbucket2683 4 роки тому +4

    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!

  • @marystachowiak7272
    @marystachowiak7272 4 роки тому +9

    I was born in 1957, we still had a Red Cross Pharmacy with a soda fountain until 1970... Loved the cherry cola floats!

  • @okthennone
    @okthennone 4 роки тому +14

    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.

  • @zenseed75
    @zenseed75 4 роки тому +7

    We still have an old soda fountain, that is still open, in Bramwell, WV. 😋

    • @km-di7vv
      @km-di7vv 4 роки тому

      What is it called?

  • @KRAFTWERK2K6
    @KRAFTWERK2K6 4 роки тому +49

    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.

    • @thiosemicarbizidebenzoylal2921
      @thiosemicarbizidebenzoylal2921 4 роки тому

      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.

    • @DeadPig325
      @DeadPig325 4 роки тому +9

      @@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.

    • @roizeldiez3500
      @roizeldiez3500 4 роки тому

      “Dehumanized” yes

  • @odonnabhainiverssen5006
    @odonnabhainiverssen5006 4 роки тому +27

    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.

    • @Elle-mq8ij
      @Elle-mq8ij 4 роки тому +2

      This shall be my road trip...

  • @janetzavatto5277
    @janetzavatto5277 4 роки тому +54

    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.

    • @JR-zm2yu
      @JR-zm2yu 4 роки тому +1

      Janet Zavatto grilled cheese w/dill pickle = still a favorite!!😊

    • @allemander
      @allemander 4 роки тому

      I imagine iced cream and ice cream may be two different things? 🤷🏼‍♂️

    • @codeblue2532
      @codeblue2532 4 роки тому

      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....

  • @browardperson
    @browardperson 4 роки тому +2

    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.

  • @Dan-oj4iq
    @Dan-oj4iq 4 роки тому +7

    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.

  • @TheCryptKeeper8
    @TheCryptKeeper8 4 роки тому +76

    Sir, you should re-release your book on amazon. I'd definitely snap one up!

    • @deltamoon99
      @deltamoon99 4 роки тому +22

      Its on Amazon! I bought one!

    • @goldendreams3437
      @goldendreams3437 4 роки тому +9

      Here, here!

    • @steelstreet3765
      @steelstreet3765 4 роки тому +16

      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.

    • @DavidHoffmanFilmmaker
      @DavidHoffmanFilmmaker  4 роки тому +19

      Maybe one day!

    • @JR-zm2yu
      @JR-zm2yu 4 роки тому +3

      SteelStreet Videocrew1 It's back 50 yrs plus now - the whole world has slowed down - go for it👍👍🙏

  • @mathology5710
    @mathology5710 4 роки тому +24

    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. :)

  • @BullCricket75
    @BullCricket75 4 роки тому +53

    Omg! I was a soda jerk at Cupid Candies in Evergreen Park IL a long time ago! Good times ❤

  • @maryburke6308
    @maryburke6308 4 роки тому +25

    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
      @dexterm1285 3 роки тому +1

      Funny you mention Shakeys Pizza...they are pretty big now in the Philippines.

    • @maryburke6308
      @maryburke6308 3 роки тому +1

      @@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..

  • @TargaWheels
    @TargaWheels 4 роки тому +7

    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. 👍

  • @sheilamorin8868
    @sheilamorin8868 4 роки тому +16

    I guess I'm old .... I love your stories..... I grew up in a small town in NH Woolworths had a soda fountain

  • @Autumn_Forest_
    @Autumn_Forest_ 4 роки тому +21

    Man, I miss the 50s! ...and I was born in 1974. :'(

    • @JR-zm2yu
      @JR-zm2yu 4 роки тому +1

      Nakidz Excellent😂🙏

    • @grace7701
      @grace7701 4 роки тому

      Same here!

    • @doyourownresearch3402
      @doyourownresearch3402 4 роки тому

      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

    • @JR-zm2yu
      @JR-zm2yu 4 роки тому

      sssss Compared to now?

    • @belstar1128
      @belstar1128 3 роки тому

      @Blackpilled Saint Corporations existed back then unless you mean corporations promoting feminism.

  • @SueProv
    @SueProv 4 роки тому +11

    I remember the tail end of Howard Johsons. Thanks David.

    • @robertl.fallin7062
      @robertl.fallin7062 4 роки тому

      Most people today know the Blazing Saddle version of Howard Johnsons but alas, not the real thing.

  • @donnazoll
    @donnazoll 4 роки тому +3

    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!

  • @mrmike2119
    @mrmike2119 4 роки тому +3

    Wow. Yes. Going to Howard Johnson's for ice cream was a true treat. I'm impressed with your contribution.

  • @CrashWeezerman
    @CrashWeezerman 4 роки тому +10

    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.

  • @markegerpetersen8731
    @markegerpetersen8731 4 роки тому +4

    A classier time.

  • @JSL-ym6nv
    @JSL-ym6nv 4 роки тому +104

    Interesting, you’d think that’s its unique flavors and environment would make it prosper, could be an untapped market.

    • @km-di7vv
      @km-di7vv 4 роки тому +5

      It morphed into Starbucks, unfortunately.

    • @454aubrey
      @454aubrey 4 роки тому +2

      In Utah, we have sit in shops that only sale sodas and milkshakes. Those places are popular with the teens.

    • @bokunogentoo4420
      @bokunogentoo4420 4 роки тому

      we still have things like Sonic and Steak 'n Shake, I guess what happened is that they had to optimize the experience to be faster to stay competitive with drive-thru places

    • @notbot8830
      @notbot8830 4 роки тому

      Sonic is a remnant from the 1950s, although it took the experience outdoors. In terms of soda, there’s some really good artisanal natural sugar soda with lots of flavors in these trucks downtown Austin. Comes out the tap like beer or like the old soda fountains. Very rich and creamy.

  • @svetcovladich9996
    @svetcovladich9996 4 роки тому +1

    Fascinating piece...and with your masterful narrative style, it is must-see UA-cam. Thank you, David!

  • @Crushenator500
    @Crushenator500 4 роки тому +2

    You just made me feel so nostalgic for a time and place that I never even got to experience.

  • @johnnypatrickhaus890
    @johnnypatrickhaus890 4 роки тому +6

    Yes!
    I've always wanted to go to one.
    I loved a coke float when I was a kid. We made them at home.

  • @argyleeuphoria6200
    @argyleeuphoria6200 4 роки тому +3

    Beautiful storytelling

  • @suem6004
    @suem6004 4 роки тому +11

    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

  • @peternicholson2504
    @peternicholson2504 4 роки тому +1

    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.

  • @npscholes
    @npscholes 4 роки тому +3

    I feel like I lived in the wrong era very time I watch your videos.

  • @THE_DOC_RAD
    @THE_DOC_RAD 4 роки тому +1

    Thank you Mr. Hoffman for once again providing a nice narrative escape to a simpler time during a time of worldwide crisis.

  • @liliencalvel6151
    @liliencalvel6151 4 роки тому

    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.

  • @ajisstillright
    @ajisstillright 4 роки тому +2

    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👏🏽📽🎥💫

  • @viktorreznov4718
    @viktorreznov4718 4 роки тому +2

    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.

  • @nadanada5698
    @nadanada5698 4 роки тому +5

    Same here i grew up in a small town that had,a soda fountain, and yes we had a Soda Jerk LoL

  • @bemyneighbor1919
    @bemyneighbor1919 4 роки тому +1

    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!

  • @user-pc8dl4cy3i
    @user-pc8dl4cy3i 4 роки тому

    Absolutely brilliant. Mr. Hoffman, you are an absolute treasure. Thank you so very much for the memories. 👍❤️

  • @LazyIRanch
    @LazyIRanch 4 роки тому +4

    I have one of those old citrus juicers from the 50's that would have been used to make fresh lemon/limeade fresh by the glass like I remember they did at the Woolworth's lunch counter. I make mine with sparkling water.
    I found packets of "ginger drink" from Thailand at our local tiny Asian food store that's real ginger and honey crystals (no sugar or high fructose corn syrup). One packet of that, with the juice of one lemon or lime, mixed with seltzer is SO good, like lemon ginger ale!
    I found some really old glasses at a thrift store that are small but really heavy. They are all scratched up in the bottom inside of the glass from the machine used to mix sodas, and I recognized them immediately as the kind used at Woolworth's. They were marked down to 10 cents because they were scratched up and no one wanted them. I was beside myself, finding such a treasure! The cashier thought I was nuts, "Why would you want those things?"
    "Memories!"

    • @jxhank
      @jxhank 4 роки тому

      Why do you not use simple syrup? As a soda jerk back in the early 50s, I made all my flavors with simple syrup. I used to make lime and lemon lime rickeys for the kids when they were young.

  • @garyhoffman1
    @garyhoffman1 4 роки тому +1

    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.

  • @Aisha-ix6qz
    @Aisha-ix6qz 4 роки тому +1

    I wish I could have visited one!

  • @evsanger
    @evsanger 2 роки тому +1

    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

  • @batman5224
    @batman5224 4 роки тому +8

    Franchise restaurants always kill small businesses, which is one of the reasons that most small towns look exactly the same. When I travel across the country, there is only one question that I need to ask: is Dairy Queen on the left side or right side of town?

  • @JR-zm2yu
    @JR-zm2yu 4 роки тому +1

    Oh my goodness - PLEASE reprint your book - it's marvelous! I remember going into an A&W etc diners & loved their ice cream shakes (especially choc) ... Don't recall the soda fountains; however: Howard Johnson's was VERY popular (even when it became known as HoJo's back in the 70's ... And on vacations from MI to FL, my parents sought them out... I especially loved their liver & onions w/peas, potatoes & gravy (sorry if you don't care for liver😂)... And it was the 1st place that i heard of & tried (their) blueberry icecream! Thank you for the memories .. Please let me know about the book👍👍 - be well🙏

  • @VictrolaJazz
    @VictrolaJazz 4 роки тому +1

    There were several around Waco that served delicious sodas then! One of the main ones was the Palace of Sweets at 15th & Washington Ave. Opened in 1938 by the Karahoff family, it was a Greek pastry business that also had a wonderful soda fountain. My mother would go play bridge with her friends on Columbus Ave. a block north and I would walk over to my friend John Rack's house, built in 1910 by one of the early president's of Dr Pepper. We'd cross the street and order the most delicious floats made with Coke syrup and fizz, topped with real whipped cream, nuts and a cherry. Sometimes we'd get a little loud, look over and see Mr. Karahoff standing in the door to the kitchen, looking at us with a flyswatter in his hand and we would shape up. The Circle Drug on LaSalle, founded in the late 20's, had them up through the 70's, all the Williams Drug Stores had them and of course The Health Camp at the Circle, opened in 1948. Of them all, The Health Camp is the only one still in business, serving frozen custard floats and the Super Healthburger: www.health-camp-waco.com/

  • @katieclas6444
    @katieclas6444 4 роки тому +1

    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

  • @ysrdan
    @ysrdan 3 роки тому

    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.

  • @retrofuture1989
    @retrofuture1989 4 роки тому +2

    Sounds like quite the experience, I hope someone revives the soda fountain someday.

  • @Othmarius
    @Othmarius 4 роки тому

    Wonderful, just wonderfully told. What a great story! Put a big smile on my face. Thank you.

  • @NelsonClick
    @NelsonClick 4 роки тому

    I really like your role as emissary or ambassador of the 1950s here. I appreciate how you respectfully understand that we don't understand. The charm and ideal of these former institutions is now much more apparent. I was born in 1963 and didn't come "online" until the late 1980s. Thank you for sharing this. God Bless America.

  • @psychedelicpython
    @psychedelicpython 4 роки тому +1

    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.

  • @andrewbarlow8937
    @andrewbarlow8937 4 роки тому +2

    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 !

  • @rajeswaris7871
    @rajeswaris7871 3 роки тому +1

    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.......

  • @michaelbradshaw8278
    @michaelbradshaw8278 3 роки тому

    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!

  • @karenrn6173
    @karenrn6173 4 роки тому +1

    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.

  • @N.E.U.R.O
    @N.E.U.R.O 4 роки тому +1

    I'm 21 and I love your vids, you capture the vibe of the old days that us young people can't go to

  • @sherylbenkosky5358
    @sherylbenkosky5358 4 роки тому

    Thank you for sharing that glimpse of by gone days. America has lost so much

  • @dalegriggs5392
    @dalegriggs5392 4 роки тому +2

    Ahhh David! You take me back with this one. My small town didn’t have a soda fountain but once a month we traveled to one of two towns and both had a Woolworths drug store and a soda fountain. My tastes were not extreme so I liked the simple offerings. The marshmallow soda, the Green River and the root beer float. In my small town we had Norma’s Restaurant. Norma was a precious lady who served the community with a nice lunch special, the usual hamburger and fries and she did her best to create a soda fountain on her limited space and means. She had the carbonated water spigot, Coca Cola syrup, which, by the way, was the original and best means of creating that Coke flavor everyone craved. Norma was famous for her malted milk shakes which I loved. To this day I keep malt in my cupboard and try to duplicate that shake. I noticed in one of the picture you presented a container marked “Malted Milk”. Norma had an identical jar at her fountain. Actual malted milk is impossible to get these days so we are relegated to using powdered malt. I suppose this is why my malted milkshakes never quite measure up to Norma’s. My wife and I also try to recreate the root beer float of our past but again, it doesn’t quite get there. I do have a question about something I’ve always wondered about. Why were the soda fountain guys called “Jerks”?

    • @JR-zm2yu
      @JR-zm2yu 4 роки тому

      Dale Griggs Ovaltine = malted chocolate👍👍

  • @FlatEarthMath
    @FlatEarthMath 4 роки тому +5

    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.

    • @phillipkulas2302
      @phillipkulas2302 4 роки тому +1

      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.

    • @FlatEarthMath
      @FlatEarthMath 4 роки тому

      @@phillipkulas2302 Delightful story. I was raised by three older sisters. :-)

  • @larrygarrett724
    @larrygarrett724 4 роки тому +1

    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!

  • @GypsyEncounters
    @GypsyEncounters 4 роки тому +1

    I love all your 50's mini series

  • @blaked3619
    @blaked3619 4 роки тому +1

    We have 3 soda fountains/malt shops where I live in Tennessee. I love them so much; definitely my happy place!

  • @janetjoiner9204
    @janetjoiner9204 4 роки тому +13

    I'm from Clifton, New Jersey, so I'm very familiar with the soda shop but in Bloomfield, there is a place called Holsten's. They filmed the last episode of The Sopranos there. It's 75 years old. They still got the swivel seats and old candy like we use to buy as kids. holstens.com/

    • @JR-zm2yu
      @JR-zm2yu 4 роки тому

      Janet Joiner MI?

    • @km-di7vv
      @km-di7vv 4 роки тому

      Thank you for the link!

    • @Nonduality
      @Nonduality 4 роки тому

      Last time I was there the "soda jerk" wore all white and a black bow tie. Excellent sodas, malts, and food. And homemade candy.

  • @sueannjefferds9247
    @sueannjefferds9247 4 роки тому

    My grandmother was a Soda Jerk back in the hey day of soda fountains. She would make me ice cream and soda deserts and they were incredible. Thank you David for the video.

  • @wilfordbrimley1506
    @wilfordbrimley1506 2 роки тому +1

    David, you've inspired me to purchase an old fashioned soda siphon and your recipe book. Looking forward to the delicious nostalgia of a time I unfortunately missed out on

  • @Devo13
    @Devo13 4 роки тому +3

    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?

  • @jamesfazica3603
    @jamesfazica3603 Рік тому

    I love it! Everything about it. It's everything we are lacking today... class!

  • @moosefactory133
    @moosefactory133 4 роки тому

    I wish there was something around like this today. I would love this kind of experience.

  • @1805movie
    @1805movie 3 роки тому +1

    We have a soda fountain at the Pike Place Market in Seattle called "Shug's Soda Fountain". It opened a few years ago, and it's still going strong.

  • @matthewatwood8641
    @matthewatwood8641 Рік тому +1

    My Dad would most likely say the same. He was a soda jerk. He was also a fan of New England & used book stores. You & him would've gotten along. He passed in 2008.

  • @HufflepuffShortie
    @HufflepuffShortie 4 роки тому +1

    I'm just hitting my 20s and I honestly never knew how decadent these places were, honestly thought soda fountains were kind of slang for a diner. This was so fascinating

  • @nickames3808
    @nickames3808 4 роки тому +4

    Oh NO! I just read that the Farrell's Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlour in Brea in my county is permanently Closed! Used to love going there. It was like a Special Event!

    • @moniquemosley2122
      @moniquemosley2122 4 роки тому +1

      😔

    • @km-di7vv
      @km-di7vv 4 роки тому +1

      As Lemonis told the Orange County Register in January 2019, “Everybody loved Farrell’s but nobody wanted to go back there. There’s a nostalgia customers love, but to survive, they had to patronize it.” So it turned out that fond memories alone were not enough to revive the failing business.

  • @fayfay961
    @fayfay961 4 роки тому

    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!

  • @rustycan69
    @rustycan69 4 роки тому +1

    When I was 5 year old boy, after church, my sister, a Junior in High School, would stop by the drug store and set on a swivel round seat in front of the counter, when the pharmacist would come out of the back room and hand make a cherry phosphate soda and cherry coke for us. I remember one occasion, an oversize lady was setting next to me, wanting to give me a big hug and kiss, while I squirmed closer to my sister to protect me, without letting her know, this poor lady had bad body odor. Thanks for sharing Mr. Hoffman. Brings back great memories living in the 50's

    • @JR-zm2yu
      @JR-zm2yu 4 роки тому

      Russ Canter the original bar stools😂👍👍🙏

  • @macmanplus
    @macmanplus 4 роки тому +14

    dime cherry lime...best hamburgers in town...his name was Pete..Gordon and Moore Drug Store
    Hamburger 35 cents French Fries 15 cents and a Dime Cherry Lime

    • @JR-zm2yu
      @JR-zm2yu 4 роки тому +1

      billybob oh & the french fries w/lots of ketchup & salt (and vinegar)👍👍

    • @JoJo-ic1th
      @JoJo-ic1th 4 роки тому +1

      Oh wow!!! You all are making me hungry. Hungry for the good old days and hungry for the burger and all. I lived back then and at times i wish that i had a time machine just so i could go back there to those good old days even for just a day or two. Lol. What memories.

  • @Bart-Did-it
    @Bart-Did-it 4 роки тому

    I was born in South Africa in 1981 the song we sang was “I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream “ had no idea till now where it came from. I’m now 40 living in the U.K. and still did not know were it came from . History can poke you in so many ways and this was one for me today . Howard Johnson well done Dude
    🍦 😋

  • @Bill-cv1xu
    @Bill-cv1xu 4 роки тому +1

    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..

  • @ForgivenbyGod-t7p
    @ForgivenbyGod-t7p 4 роки тому

    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.

  • @rebelrelicguitars
    @rebelrelicguitars 4 роки тому

    An amazing piece of recent history. I still remember seeing them as a kid in 1965 and it was amazing what you could get for ten cents!

  • @godsnotdead6973
    @godsnotdead6973 4 роки тому

    Awesome video Mr. Hoffman. The Ice Cream song put a smile on my face. the 1950s are such a glorious time.

  • @theacmemovement9677
    @theacmemovement9677 4 роки тому +2

    In st John's Michigan. Their is a soda shop that the owners left the way it was the day it closed. Their is recently an effort to restore it. Google the sugar bowl st.johns Mich. It is being turned into a chocolate store. It is actually in the register of historic places.

    • @JR-zm2yu
      @JR-zm2yu 4 роки тому

      John Schomisch awesome👍👍

    • @theacmemovement9677
      @theacmemovement9677 4 роки тому +1

      @@JR-zm2yu if you knew the hell I went through in that town. You would think it pretty damn spectacular I would even mention the place....

    • @JR-zm2yu
      @JR-zm2yu 4 роки тому

      John Schomisch 🙏

  • @Bloodbain88
    @Bloodbain88 4 роки тому

    I was born in 1988 so I never got to experience this. But every person I've talked to who was around for these soda fountains has always talked about how great they were.

  • @BrittanyLaurenWhalen
    @BrittanyLaurenWhalen 4 роки тому +1

    We had a 100 year old soda fountain close in 2018 here in Dallas. Sad day!

  • @curtisgrupe5730
    @curtisgrupe5730 Рік тому

    Hi Mr hoffman another wonderful video of times gone by the good old soda fountain been fortunate enough to have been to a few of these they were absolutely awesome a true piece of Americana

  • @RaeAnne232
    @RaeAnne232 2 роки тому

    I loved walking up town to the drugstore soda fountain after school!

  • @robbchastain3036
    @robbchastain3036 4 роки тому +43

    You could give that beer spokesman a run for his money as the Most Interesting Man in the World, Mr. Hoffman--all your stories, all your experiences, and this one is cool, pun intended, this book of recipes for that iconic motor lodge, too cool. And as a kid in California way back when, the closest I came to a local ice cream parlor was Thrifty Drugs for two-or-three-scoop cones at just five cents a scoop in the early Seventies. But 7-Eleven had its Slurpee, and for frosty deliciousness on a hot day, that was hard to beat. And these days, at Wendy's, they have that mix-master soda dispenser where you fill your cup with any of a number of sodas or fizzy waters. And seniors get a free cup, all you have to do is ask for a Senior Soda and it is free, no charge. And you can get a free child-size Frosty all year if you donate two dollars to their adoption efforts in November or December, another deal. So when I go to Wendy's--and hopefully soon, again--I order a small burger or two and the free Senior Soda and the free little Frosty with their key fob. And then I scoop the vanilla Frosty into the soda cup and dispense a soda at the mix-master for a free make-my-own float.

    • @JR-zm2yu
      @JR-zm2yu 4 роки тому +1

      Robb Chastain Very cool👍👍

    • @abigdongo3065
      @abigdongo3065 4 роки тому +2

      I miss America being white

  • @lasseyt4284
    @lasseyt4284 4 роки тому

    All good things will return. Being born in the 80s I have never enjoyed a soda fountain - but I'd love to! Thanks for the video!

  • @helenwilks4304
    @helenwilks4304 4 роки тому

    David I cannot wait to watch more of your videos about the old books! This touches my heart! There was a soda fountain in the little town I grew up in. 1970’s. Great memories.