The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-07-25

washington, d. C., July 2S.-l Ne
ice cream soda and nut sundae
business is very uncertain these
days. Small boys in New YORK
have staged a soda water buyers
strike to force the return OF the
fve-cent soda. Chicago Is con-
Quoting a campaign to find out the
fair rate fo- concocttng and snow
ing across the counter one choco-
late soda. Providence has already
demanded and obtained reductions
On certain fountain beverages. And
If other cities are not following SUIT
with militant warfare, they are
economizing on drinks to an ex-
tent that is being noticed by rhe
fountain operators.
People are said to be much less
reckless this summer in consum-
ing ice cream That is, they are
passing up the elaborate concoc-
lions with ailuring names which a
year ago were in great demand,
ard are turning to the cheap eT
drinks New York dealers who
have been ladling out 50-cent fouu-
tain dishes regularly have had to
reduce the price of their specials"
But even at fountains where Is and
20 cents is not disGained by the
clerks, trade is said to have drop
ped from 10 to 80 per cent this sum
mer as compared with the same
months last year.
Druggists and confectioners ev-
erywhere are pOnde-ing what to do
about fountain prices. The 10-cent
soda is not considered a possibility
by most of them new 1t is ap-
pear1ng here and there among the
dealers who feel that circumstances
warrant its return and where pres
sure is being applied The major
1ty of druggists, however, so far as
the sentiment can Do measured, in
sist that there is no profit in a
10-cent soda or 1s-cent sundae.
The public is naturally asking
why this is SO. A couple of sum-
mers ago when the cost of an ice
cream soda with no fiourishes shot
up to II cents or even % cents, the
reason for The increase was laid by
fountain proprietors to the high
cost of sugar. Sugar was certain
ly skyrocketing when it reached
four times its normal price and
the consumer accepted the explain
alton.
Sugar Costs Normal Again.
But now, sugar is back to near
Iy where it was in the days when
ice cream soda sold for a nickel
and the closest observer is unable
tC detect any move on the part Of
most fountain owners to return to
even 10-cent drinks.
Druggists admit they made a mis-
take in attributing the rise in soda
prices primarily to the high cost
of sugar. They now say that 9TH
er factors contributed equally to
the rise. However, milk is back to
almost pre-war prices; eggs are
cheap. These are the ingredients
which presumably increased The
cost of ice cream. Why doesn't
the finished product follow the trend
OF prices on raw materials?
To this druggists-e1cept the few
who have lowered fountain prices
say that still other factors must be
considered in fixing costs and prof
its. They contend that labor all
along the line, from the handling
of ice and the making of ice cream,
to the dispensing of drinks at the
fountain is not back to the level
OF five cent, or even 10 cent soda
days. Some large concerns haze
cut down the number of employees
rather than lower the wages Of
fountain clerks Only undesirable,
inexperienced employees can be had,
they say, at lower pay.
The druggist goes on to mention
the high express rates, the rising
cost of advertising, the still soaring
price of fruit syrups, and nuts, and
the cost of ice cream. Ice cream,
supposedly the barometer of foun-
tain prices, has dropped to vary
ing extents in different parts Of
tie country. A QUESTIONABLE sent
out by THE Bulletin of Pharmacy
brought in 344 answers showing ice
cream costs in As states. A resume
of the answers indicated that 1.-The
most noticeable drop in price is in
certain sections of Nnew England
where bulk cream tumbled from
$1.60 a gallon in 1920 to s1.25 in
1921. Other scattered sections re-