A soda jerk was a person — typically a youth

Youth

Youth is the time of life between childhood and adulthood . Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals could exist at all ages.-Usage:Around the world, the terms "youth",...

 — who operated the soda fountain

Soda fountain

A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores...

 in a drugstore

Drugstore

Drugstore is a common American term for a type of store centrally featuring a pharmacy. Drugstores sell not only medicines, but also miscellaneous items such as candy, cosmetics, and magazines, as well as light refreshments....

, often for the purpose of preparing and serving ice cream soda

Ice cream soda

An ice cream soda or float , coke float , or spider , is a beverage that consists of one or more scoops of ice cream in either a soft drink or in a mixture of flavored syrup and carbonated water.-Origins:The ice cream soda was invented by Robert M...

. This was made by putting flavored syrup

Flavored syrup

Flavored Syrups can be used in coffee, pancakes, waffles, tea, and other foods. There are hundreds of flavors ranging from vanilla to coconut to gingerbread to toasted marshmallow.-In coffee and espresso drinks:...

 into a specially designed tall glass, adding carbonated water

Carbonated water

Carbonated water is water into which carbon dioxide gas under pressure has been dissolved, a process that causes the water to become effervescent....

 and, finally, one or two scoops of ice cream

Ice cream

Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...

. The result was served with a long-handled spoon, most commonly known as a "soda spoon", and straws.

The name soda jerk came from the jerking action the server would use on the soda fountain handle when adding the soda water.

The position was highly coveted, and awarded only after several months or years of menial labour in the store. Some modern theme diner

Theme restaurant

Theme restaurants are restaurants in which the concept of the restaurant takes priority over everything else, influencing the architecture, food, music, and overall 'feel' of the restaurant...

s are styled after establishments from the 1950s and include an actual soda jerk, along with standard jukebox

Jukebox

A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...

es and booth seating.

Michael Karl Witzel, writing in The American Drive-In Restaurant (2002) describes the archetypal

Archetype

An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...

 soda jerk as being "[a] consummate showman, innovator and freelance linguist...the pop culture star of the Gilded Age

Gilded Age

In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...

".

The practice of operating a soda fountain in a drugstore reached its peak popularity in the 1940s, and a few drugstores in small rural towns still do. The proliferation of ice cream parlor

Ice cream parlor

Ice cream parlors are places that sell ice cream and frozen yogurt to consumers. Ice cream is normally sold in two varieties in these stores: soft-serve ice cream , and hard-packed, which has an assortment of flavors, as well as frozen yogurt, which is a low-fat alternative and tastes slightly...

s declined as drive-in

Drive-in

A drive-in is a facility such as a bank, restaurant, or movie theater where one can literally drive in with an automobile for service. It is usually distinguished from a drive-through. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk out...

s and walk-up fast food

Fast food

Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...

 stands grew in popularity, replacing the soda jerk with grill men and fry cooks.

External links

• Albright, Andrea. "Longtime soda jerk closes up shop", The Topeka Capital-Journal
  The Topeka Capital-Journal
  The Topeka Capital-Journal is a daily newspaper in Topeka, Kansas owned by Morris Communications. It has won one Pulitzer Prize.-History:...
  
  , July 9, 2000.