Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[imchongjun]

Hello, teachers.
Let me first express my gratitude for helping me (us) with English study. I (we) don't know how to thank you.
My question is very simple. What sort of food is "syrup and cream"? I came across this expression in a novel written about 100 years ago, but is it still available at a soda-water bar in the U.S.?

==========
About the soda-water bar in the drug store near the Hotel Cecil many American tourists found solace in the sirups and creams of home. (Agony Column by E. D. Biggers)

[CP]

Well, since no one has answered yet, I'll give it a try, but I invite anyone else to correct or supplement what I have to say.

A hundred years ago -- even today in some towns -- in the U.S., drugstores (pharmacies) had soda fountains / soda counters. These were like bars where customers could buy ice cream and other cold refreshments.

On the menu were dishes of ice cream; ice cream sundaes (ice cream with fruit syrup, nuts, and whipped cream); banana splits (a sundae built on a banana cut lengthwise, in an oval dish); sodas (soda water with flavorings); and floats (root beer or cola with ice cream in it).

Coca-Cola is just soda water flavored with a syrup made of extract of coca beans and cola nuts, and lots of sugar. Root beer is similar, but the syrup is extract of roots.

So I am guessing that the syrups and (ice) creams of home sold at the Hotel Cecil (which must be in Europe or Asia) are all these soda fountain treats of small-town America.

By the way, the fellow who dispensed the treats was a soda jerk, so named because he had to pull on or jerk the levers to dispense the soda, not because he was an unpleasant oaf.

Soda fountains also jumped out of the drugstores and into the hamburger joints and malt shops of America in the 1940s and 1950s to meet the social and caloric needs of the teenagers of the time.

Oh, and sundaes got their name because they could be sold on Sunday, in the drugstore, when most other businesses were closed.
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Philo Kevetch]

Well done CP!

I believe there is a "Cream Soda" available from one of the bottlers in the U.S. (Barques sp??) ....if you are wondering about the
flavo(u)r.

Also, "egg-cream sodas" were a treat in little "mom and pop" stores (esp. New York City). Philo