Pharmacy Counters · Soda Jerks · Bottlers · Syrup Makers
Take a Stool.
The Fountain Is Open.
Before the drive-through and the convenience store, America met at the soda fountain.
The Soda Fountain brings together bottled soda, fountain syrups and the makers keeping that old counter tradition alive — with stories from pharmacies, luncheonettes and neighborhood fountains where a drink was never just a drink.
The Original American Gathering Place
Part Pharmacy.
Part Lunch Counter.
Part Neighborhood Clubhouse.
The American soda fountain became one of the places where everyday life happened in public.
People stopped for phosphates, sodas, ice cream, coffee and conversation. During Prohibition, the fountain became even more important as Americans looked for new places to gather and new drinks to order. That social history is what gives this department its story.
Choose Your Fountain Story
What Will It Be
From the Fountain?
The Soda Fountain tells three connected stories: the counter itself, the local bottler and the syrups that turned carbonated water into something worth ordering again.
The American Soda Fountain
The Fountain Counter
Pharmacy counters and neighborhood fountains turned fizzy drinks into a social ritual. This is the story of stools, soda jerks, ice cream glasses and the counter everyone knew.
Read the Soda Fountain Story →Pennsylvania · Bottled Soda
The Local Bottler
Local bottlers carried the fountain experience beyond the counter. Reading Soda Works keeps that tradition visible in glass bottles and flavors that feel right at home in an old soda shop.
Meet Reading Soda Works →The Syrup Shelf
The Flavor Behind the Fizz
Before bottled soda became standard, the fountain was built around syrups: fruit, spice, herbs and other flavors mixed with carbonated water one glass at a time.
Meet Portland Syrups →From a Bottle or Two to the Full Fountain
Shop the
Soda Fountain.
Every published gift assigned to the Soda Fountain is pulled here automatically and organized by its Gift Set Level.
03 · Signature Story Gifts
Signature Story Gifts
Several makers brought together around one complete experience — from breakfast and tea to baking, soda fountains and cocktail hour.
05 · Grand Story Crates
Grand Story Crates
The fullest Gift With a Story experience — a grand crate filled with makers, traditions, discoveries and stories.
Sugarfoot’s Sweet Contraband
A generous stash of vintage American candy guided by the fictional keeper of our sweetest stories.
The Grand Contraband Crate
The flagship Gift With a Story experience: a grand tour through American makers, regional traditions and counter culture.
From the Fountain
When America Needed
Somewhere Else to Gather.
The soda fountain was already popular. Prohibition gave it an even bigger role.
With saloons disappearing, soda fountains, lunch counters and ice cream parlors became increasingly important public gathering places. The drinks were different, but the instinct was familiar: meet someone, order something, stay awhile.
Read More Soda Fountain StoriesCarbonated water, syrups and pharmacy counters helped create a new kind of American refreshment stop.
The person working the fountain became part bartender, part cook and part neighborhood personality.
Fountains and luncheonettes offered another place to meet when the traditional saloon was gone.
Bottled soda took fountain flavors onto porches, picnic tables, corner stores and the American road.
Keep the Fountain Open
More Ways to Enjoy
the Soda Fountain Story.
American Soda Fountain Club
A recurring trip to the fountain with American soda, flavor stories and changing discoveries delivered over time.
Explore the Club → FROM THE NEXT COUNTER OVERThe Candy Counter
The soda fountain and candy counter grew up side by side. Continue the trip with vintage sweets and regional candy makers.
Visit the Candy Counter → FROM THE STORY LIBRARYThe American Soda Fountain
Go deeper into the pharmacies, counters, soda jerks and social history behind the fountain.
Read the Story → MEET THE MAKERReading Soda Works
Follow the fountain story into the bottle with a Pennsylvania soda maker carrying the tradition forward.
Meet Reading Soda Works →
Their Fountain.
Your Story.
The bottles and syrups bring back the counter. The personalized story explains why you wanted to pull up a stool for them.
Made Personal
Choose the Fountain.
Tell Us the Reason.
The maker histories explain what is inside. Your personalized story explains the gift.
Choose the gift and any available soda or flavor selections. Then tell us who it is for, who it is from and why you are sending it. We’ll bring the fountain, the makers and the personalized occasion together.
The Fountain Is Open
What Will They
Have From the Counter?
Bottled soda. Fountain syrups. A little pharmacy-counter history. Choose the fountain story that sounds most like them.