Neat finds and fun stories, New Stuff

The New Soda Fountain!

Posted on by McArthur Library in Neat finds and fun stories, New Stuff
From the Biddeford Daily Journal, June 5, 1886.

Installed at Dudley’s drug store in the Crystal Arcade, June 1886, it was a glorious marvel in Victorian Biddeford. The website Atlas Obscura has a great article about the history of soda fountains, with illustrations, that will surely spark your imagination as to just how grand a trip to this fountain must have been!

The Crystal Arcade is the terraced building on the left, this view is circa 1930. (Carr.0326)
The Crystal Arcade was nestled right in the mills – this view is early 1890’s. (2409)

Ever wonder why soda fountains became a fixture in drug stores? Here is a short exhibit from the Digital Public Library of America on both drug stores and soda fountains that explains it!

https://dp.la/exhibitions/patent-medicine/drugstores/?item=1356