The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1919-06-12
PEOPLE PAY s3122
FOR ICE CREAM
IN SEVEN DAYS
Local Dealers Freeze 1910
Quarts First Week in June
SODA BUSINESS GROWING
Popularity Of Fountain Grows AS Time
Approaches for the Closing
of Bars

John Barleycorn is rapidly retiring
in disorder before the forces OF Lady
Ice Cream and Sister Soda.
Time was in Bennington when co.
600 drinks OF beer as weekly aver
age was not a high estimate. Now
adays beer-real beer-is shy and
scarce while ice cream and soda wat
er rule the human hot weather ap-
petite.
Even though the recently imposed
war tax on Injuries procured at the
soda fountains may have driven away
a few Of the regular customers, II all
OF the ice cream that is sold in Ben
nington each week were divided into
five cent dishes, there would be 62.-
440 OF them. That means niue
more than six dishes for every man,
woman. and child in town every
seven days. The fact is, however
that by far the greater amount OF ice
cream Is eaten by women ana chill
dran for men invariably prefer some
thing TO drink at the fountain such
az coca cola lemon and lime, or milk
drinks.
The soda fountain, when 1t first be-
came a fixed part of the drug store,
was not a financial success. Al tnat
time. il was placed there Just for the
convenience of the customers and
was not expected to make money, out
during the last few years, the loun'
| ,ain business has increased marVei-
ously until il has become paying
proposition in each drug store.
II used to be the custom 10 keep
the fountain open only during the
summer months, but now the traoe
during the winter makes II advisaDle
~ serve ice cream and drinks
throughout the entire year. During
he past few months particularly, TINS
fountain trade has grown remarhap a.
lly. a fact which is not only due 10 .ns
warm weather, but to the diminisnins
nutnu, of intoucants. Nov that tns
i daafh kuell of booze has been SOUND
Led n IS natural that the soda 1oun
| tain should absorb some of the trad'
that formerly went to the bars.
Soda clerks are agreed that as
rule, women and children preier io'
cream and men some OF the various
drinks that are offered at the Ioun
tain Mix drinks are especially
popular with men and some business
men drop into a fountain at noon ant
| let their lunch consist OF milk an'
egg drink. In the cities, particular
attention is paid to the serving .
light lunches at the fountain ana u y
a practice that has a growing popu
larity among business men. INT
fayorite drink of men is coca cola
drink that is very rarely ordered 0.
women. or the ice cream SOFAS tnos'
Of chocolate flavor are most IN de
mand. During the war, the SAFE .
milk drinks fell off 80 per cent OWING
10 the absence of so many men.
Adding together the amount oil ic'
cream frozen and sold each week D.
, the local dealers in that commodity
II will be found that at this time o
year, approximately 100 gallons ar
being frozen weekly, the exact ne
nres for the week Of June lst 10 ~
being 1165 gallons or 1860 quarts
is estimated that each quart gives
' ten cent dishes or Sl220 such dishe
r with a value OF $3122OO from the 46b
: quarts. 49,
9 II does not seem possible that IN
t people of Bennington and It's immed
e ate districts are paying over thre
+ thousand dollars a week for ic
o cream, but such was the case durin
s the week mentioned. AT this time .
d year the fountain business Is rapid
4 increasing and the output IN Jul
and August will greatly exceed tina
of this month even though we DO nc
G consider that closing OF the saloon
n the first OF July. During the mont
l. OF August 1918. one local concer
d made and sold 21SO gallons OF cream
Q II Is a debatable question whetht
the government imposed war tax ma
e caused falling off in the fountal
IL trade. The majority Of local Co
Q. Germs say that It has not had an
1t marked effect except for little !
II convenience both to the clerk and u
d customer, but in few cases, II
l. renorted that the trade has dropp'
m off to some slight extent 1t Is sa
n to say, however. that 1t will not hu
le the ice cream and fountain busine
materially. From all indications
lie seems that the present summer w
le be the busiest one that soda lou
a. tains have ever experienced