Charles’ 
Slide of the Week: January 5th, 2007
Sodas Anywhere, Somewhere, USA, 1957
This is a Formica countertop view of a diner. The satin sheen finish reflects everything. Full trees give way to a bright spring or summer sky. The window decal must say BEST SODAS ANYWHERE. SNACK BAR is hanging below spelled out in yellow neon, framed in white and underlined in turquoise. The philodendron with its stylish heart-shaped leaves is not a house plant here it’s a diner plant.
Cone-shaped Dixie cups resting in aluminum caddies are like thick-stemmed martini glasses. Water is served not vodka and vermouth. They share the line-up with a Kelly green napkin holder. Together they give great depth.
Miss Eyebrows in the middle is pulverizing pie. Her middle fingernail isn’t painted coral like the other two. Miss Brunette looks at Mr. Baseball Cap as he takes a bite of his butterscotch sundae finished with a little waffle cookie. Delicious!
Charles Phoenix
Los Angeles
January 2007
Sets this Slide belongs to:
Food & Recipes
8 Comments on “Sodas Anywhere, Somewhere, USA, 1957”
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January 5th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Charles when explaining your slides you really need to pay more attention to detail ! I am kidding of course ! ! ! Happy New Year my friend. I am sure you know all about our last great soda fountains in good old Temple City! Actually both of those soda fountains still exist in some form as wedding shops sigh. You were in fine form last Friday, and my lovely date and friend totally loved you! I am sure you will meet her again. Your show really made it feel like Christmas and New Years. Hope to see you soon. All the best in 07. I am suddenly craving ice cream for some strange reason !
January 5th, 2007 at 9:43 am
Ahhh. What memories! The feature that really stirs my memories is the Dixie Cup cone in the aluminum caddy! That’s something we’ll never see again. I remember being able to smell the paper whenever I took a sip of water or ginger ale from one of those. The scent wasn’t unpleasant; in fact, it reminded me that I was “eating out”, and that was special in those days!
Incidentally, I color-corrected the picture for myself, getting rid of the greenish cast. “Snack Bar” glows less brightly (sorry to say), and Miss Eyebrows’ middle finger nail now looks as if it’s painted like the others, but is appears to be a bit paler, perhaps due to light reflecting from it.
January 5th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Oh my goodness! What memories you have stirred up! I can remember drinking that nose-tingling Coca Cola from those paper cups! This lunch counter looks like a Woolworth or maybe a WT Grants. Could even be a JJ Newberry, that was my favorite five&dime. Thanks so much and have a great 2007!
January 5th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Thanks for another great 50’s moment Charles. May I say yum! I can remember in those days going to the corner drug store for a phosphate. Back then drug stores had soda fountains! A phosphate was a carbonated drink with weird colors and flavors.Lime was a green river and grape a purple something.Of course, they were served in the dixie cup aluminum caddy.
I sure enjoyed the youtube disneyland tour clip.Just like the one woman commented,you have such a great personality and we all want to be your best friend!
XXXXXX OOOOOOOOO
Lynn the twin
January 5th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Wow! Does this bring back memories of my girlfriend and I going to the corner drugstore on Melrose, near Croft Ave. in Los Angeles. Now this corner is part of a chic art center but back in the fifties it was our drugstore, where we’d sit excitedly at the counter, watching the counterman make us vanilla, chocolate and strawberry phosphates (that’s what sodas, or syrup and soda water were called then). Another treat was watching the man whip up milkshakes and malteds and handing
us glasses of the above accompanied by metal
containers with the remaining shakes (so we
always got two glasses for each order) - and were they good! We spent at least an hour at the counter sipping slowly while we giggled -
sheer delight. Thanks for bringing back these
happy memories.
January 6th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
I think I can remember seeing water cups like this from afar back when I was a kid in Texas. I could never see one up close though, since I was too small to reach one even sitting on the stool.
Sigh. It’s just as far away today.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:40 am
Very idyllic. A neat glimpse back into the 1950s. Almost makes me want to go out and buy a sundae. In the late 90s, the History Channel did a 6-part documentary on the 50s. It was based on the book by David Halberstam. Very interesting if you like that period of history.
February 25th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Hey kids! You want soda out of paper cups with aluminum holders? Head yo’self down to The Apple Pan at Westwood and Pico. They still use them. A bit overpriced for a burger, but it’s one of those time capsule places, so it’s worth eating at at least once if you’ve never been. Enjoy!