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🎩 Just Plain Weird 1905

Boiled Eggs at the Soda Fountain

Western soda fountains boiled eggs to order, between the sundaes.

From
The American Soda Book of Receipts and Suggestions, 1905
Published
1905
Yikes Scale
Odd

Exactly as printed, 1905

Several large dispensers through the West have introduced the novelty of boiling eggs at the soda fountain, to order. They keep eggs, strictly fresh variety, and boil to order, on a gas stove or chafing dish at the soda fountain. They are usually served in a little silver or china egg cup that just holds an egg, which is eaten from the shell.

The American Soda Book of Receipts and Suggestions, 1905, 1905. Public domain; transcription unaltered.

So what happens if I make it?

Completely safe and completely baffling. A boiled egg is a boiled egg; the strangeness is entirely in the setting.

It is also a small piece of real history. The soda fountain was drifting from drugstore counter towards lunch counter, and this is that drift caught in one sentence.

Notes from the 21st century

  • “Dispensers” were the staff. The soda dispenser was a recognised trade with its own manuals, of which this is one.
  • Strictly fresh variety. The book specifies fresh eggs, which in 1906, before reliable refrigeration and candling, was a real distinction rather than marketing.
  • The fountain became the diner. Sandwiches and hot dishes followed the eggs, and by the 1920s the lunch counter was the main event.

Also in this book

  • Ammonia Cocktail — Two dashes of aromatic spirits of ammonia, orange syrup, and a spoonful of bicarbonate. A great bracer.
  • Cherry Ferri — “The greatest nerve tonic of the age,” served hot at the fountain with optional whipped cream.
  • Coca Champagne — Seven pints of champagne syrup cut with a full pint of coca wine, over the counter.

Don't take our word for it. The complete book is online, free and searchable.

Read the original page →

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