The choices are better than going to a picnic. Besides the usual colas, the flavors that attract our attention are all fruity: grape, strawberry, orange, and the delicious renegade, root beer. Mmmm. Not only do their flavors explode in our mouths, they are excruciatingly cold, sitting in the chest filled with ice and water. The art of the whole cooling process is not just the immersion in ice; the water melt-off is also a key element. As the ice slowly melts it surrounds the sodas and keeps the temperature frigid and delightful. Reaching in, my hand is transported from Iowa to Alaska. I smile.
The bottles are upright, hanging on a slit which causes them to dangle in the cold solution below. After making my selection, I slide the bottle down the line toward the end of the row where the opening enlarges. Lifting it up and out I find the bottle opener cavity in the side of the chest, pushing down on my bottle to release the cap. Vapor rises from inside, cold frosty air, appearing like a genie. This is going to be good . . . and it is.
This mid-century gas station does NOT contain glass-doored refrigerated cabinets holding cans and plastic bottles of internationally distributed sodas. No, these sodas are made and distributed regionally, for the most part. There are hundreds of companies, some giving their local brew corny names like Kickapoo Joy Juice, Yoo Hoo, Jic Jac and Nehi. The Kickapoo didn’t last long. I hear it was because it contained alcohol. Of course, the kids loved it.
The old-time sodas of the first half of the 20th century were several steps up from what we drink today. It might be compared to the difference between a gourmet hamburger and one from McDonald's, or the difference between a glass of Welch’s 100% Grape Juice and mere grape Kool-Aid. That’s the contrast. Back then, many of the fruity sodas contained juice. I worked with a girl who’s grandfather had owned the Orange Crush company. She told me the soda did indeed contain orange juice in earlier years.
Somewhere in the 70s or 80s soda companies switched from sugar syrup and a generous squirt of juice to high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavorings. When they did that, the carbonated fruity kick was lost. Gone was the intoxicating, addictive nectar which was so hard to stop guzzling. To let that sweetness slide past my happy taste buds, down the throat was difficult to stop.
Resting the bottle on my knee, a smile comes across my face. This is my childhood and this is heaven.
