Soda shops were popular in the early to mid-20th century in the US, offering soft drinks, ice cream, and a safe place for socializing. While most have closed, some remain open with nostalgic decor and are often featured in films set in the past.
A soda shop, sometimes called a soda fountain, is a restaurant that specializes in soft drinks and other treats, such as milkshakes and ice cream. Soda fountains were popular gathering places in the early and mid 20th century, particularly in the Midwestern United States. While most have since disappeared, a few remain open to this day, usually capitalizing on their nostalgic value. They were often associated with teenagers and youth culture. As a result, the soda shop often appears as a youth hangout in comic books, TV shows, and movies set in the past.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, travel was still an inconvenience for many Americans. Small to medium-sized cities often had a few central stores that provided both commercial and social interaction. Many of these stores, such as grocery stores or drugstores, capitalized on their status as central gathering places by installing soda fountains, machines that dispensed soft drinks. In the 20th century, a few specialized companies were established around these popular devices. This was the origin of the soda shop.
The store was a popular place for young people to congregate in many American communities. In addition to sodas, many offered ice cream and related beverages, such as floats, malts, and milkshakes. They were considered safe places for dating and other social activities. The advent of soda vending machines spelled the end of these businesses, many of which had closed in the 1970s. Some have stayed open well into the 21st century, often with retro decor and authentic soda fountains to create a nostalgic appeal.
These venues provide major filming locations in classic films like It’s a Wonderful Life, set in the 1940s, and American Graffiti, set in the 1960s. In an episode of the original Twilight Zone TV series, a character is enchanted upon discovering an old-fashioned soda fountain, not realizing that he has traveled to his past. Archie, the famous children’s cartoon, used a soda shop as a hangout for his teenage protagonists long after soda fountains had all but disappeared.
The soda shop has become an iconic symbol of small town America and teen culture. Modern films set in the past often feature these shops to quickly create this kind of atmosphere. Such a store plays a crucial role in the 1998 film Pleasantville, about modern teenagers entering a 1950s fantasy world. In the 2005 film Reefer Madness, teenagers gather at a soda shop for a rousing musical number. The central character of the 1985 hit film Back to the Future crashes in a soda shop, as do the heroes of 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; both films are set in the 1950s.
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