BLAME IT ON PROHIBITION
If you’ve ever found yourself arguing with a kid who wants a soda, you can “thank” the Temperance Movement. The reformers who pushed through Prohibition also helped spark the creation of a slew of soft drinks, which led directly to our modern sodas. Not, as it turned out, that the ladies approved of them!
Lemonade (as we learned last week) has been around for a long time. So have a variety of other punches, nogs, and cups. Those were usually special-occasion drinks. Day to day, for most of human history, people drank a lot of low-alcohol ales and beer, or sometimes diluted wine. It only made sense, with water quality often uncertain.
In between discovering oxygen and advancing political and religious thought, British chemist Joseph Priestley invented a way to carbonate water, and there were “artificial mineral water” factories by the late 18th century.
Still, it’s not really until the late 19th century that we start to see recognizable “soft drinks.” The term itself is a Temperance reference, an easily understandable one that we still use today: alcoholic drinks are “the hard stuff.”
Most of our sodas didn’t start off as fun drinks. They started as “tonics,” patent medicines sold over the counter at the pharmacy. That’s why many early formulas included things we’d never associate with an innocent treat – including the now-infamous fact that cocaine put the “Coca” in Coca-Cola. Less famous ones had other interesting plant extracts, including gentian, burdock, and even dandelion!
Ginger, too, was a popular favorite. It’s known as a safe soother for an upset stomach. Even today, it’s known as a mild and reliable remedy for pregnancy nausea. (Yep, used it!) It has something else in common with the drinks that have survived until now, too: it’s tasty.
That became important as the drugstore counter evolved toward the soda fountain. Most of the really bitter and nasty things stayed on the pharmacy side – and the sweeter and friendlier concoctions gained favor. Then, as the Temperance movement gained momentum, people needed a place to gather for non-alcoholic drinks, and the drugstore soda fountain began to fill that need.
Surprisingly, though, while Temperance ladies were quite fond of lemonade, they were NOT fans of soda (or pop – a dispute for another day!) It’s understandable why they didn’t like Canada Dry Gingerale: it became extremely popular as a mixer during Prohibition because it killed the taste of bathtub gin.
But Coke? By 1929 there was no coca in the Cola but the Women’s Christian Temperance Union of Arkansas still launched a campaign against the “hydra-headed menace.” Even at the time, almost nobody could figure out why.
By the time folks could get legal – and decent – alcohol again, soda was here to stay, in many of the flavors and forms that we know today. (Though there would be lithium in 7-UP until 1948!) And many folks had a taste for the soft, but very sweet, stuff.
The Temperance ladies, of course, had no idea that soda would become a problem of its own, with high-fructose corn syrup sweeteners and massive marketing to kids. They were just trying to get people off the hard stuff and onto something else.
Not a bad example – next time the kid asks for a soda, see if you can sell a gentian tonic.
Yeah, right!
Got a #ThrowbackThursday idea? Drop it in the comments!
Lemonade (as we learned last week) has been around for a long time. So have a variety of other punches, nogs, and cups. Those were usually special-occasion drinks. Day to day, for most of human history, people drank a lot of low-alcohol ales and beer, or sometimes diluted wine. It only made sense, with water quality often uncertain.
In between discovering oxygen and advancing political and religious thought, British chemist Joseph Priestley invented a way to carbonate water, and there were “artificial mineral water” factories by the late 18th century.
Still, it’s not really until the late 19th century that we start to see recognizable “soft drinks.” The term itself is a Temperance reference, an easily understandable one that we still use today: alcoholic drinks are “the hard stuff.”
Most of our sodas didn’t start off as fun drinks. They started as “tonics,” patent medicines sold over the counter at the pharmacy. That’s why many early formulas included things we’d never associate with an innocent treat – including the now-infamous fact that cocaine put the “Coca” in Coca-Cola. Less famous ones had other interesting plant extracts, including gentian, burdock, and even dandelion!
Ginger, too, was a popular favorite. It’s known as a safe soother for an upset stomach. Even today, it’s known as a mild and reliable remedy for pregnancy nausea. (Yep, used it!) It has something else in common with the drinks that have survived until now, too: it’s tasty.
That became important as the drugstore counter evolved toward the soda fountain. Most of the really bitter and nasty things stayed on the pharmacy side – and the sweeter and friendlier concoctions gained favor. Then, as the Temperance movement gained momentum, people needed a place to gather for non-alcoholic drinks, and the drugstore soda fountain began to fill that need.
Surprisingly, though, while Temperance ladies were quite fond of lemonade, they were NOT fans of soda (or pop – a dispute for another day!) It’s understandable why they didn’t like Canada Dry Gingerale: it became extremely popular as a mixer during Prohibition because it killed the taste of bathtub gin.
But Coke? By 1929 there was no coca in the Cola but the Women’s Christian Temperance Union of Arkansas still launched a campaign against the “hydra-headed menace.” Even at the time, almost nobody could figure out why.
By the time folks could get legal – and decent – alcohol again, soda was here to stay, in many of the flavors and forms that we know today. (Though there would be lithium in 7-UP until 1948!) And many folks had a taste for the soft, but very sweet, stuff.
The Temperance ladies, of course, had no idea that soda would become a problem of its own, with high-fructose corn syrup sweeteners and massive marketing to kids. They were just trying to get people off the hard stuff and onto something else.
Not a bad example – next time the kid asks for a soda, see if you can sell a gentian tonic.
Yeah, right!
Got a #ThrowbackThursday idea? Drop it in the comments!
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James wrote: "Thank you, Kathleen, for a fascinating, informative, and well-crafted article on another one of everyday life's elements we take for granted.The inclusion of lithium in 7-Up and cocaine in Coke is..."
Thank YOU! You're right -- it IS a whole discussion of its own!
The inclusion of lithium in 7-Up and cocaine in Coke is interesting and could be a topic in and of itself. Lithium-based drugs are useful as mood stabilizers and antidepressants in the treatment of mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder.