Soda jerk

Soda jerk

A soda jerk (or soda jerker [cite book | last = Allen | first = Irving | title = The City in Slang | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford Oxfordshire | year = 1993 | isbn = 0195092651 ] ) was a person — typically a youth — who worked the soda fountain in a drugstore. [cite book | last = Partridge | first = Eric | title = The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English | publisher = Routledge | location = New York | year = 2006 | isbn = 0415212588 ] The term refers to the person who made an ice cream soda. This was made by putting flavored syrup into a specially designed tall glass, adding carbonated water and, finally one or two scoops of ice cream. The result was served with a long handled "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. [citeweb |last=McCafferty |first=Kevin |title=Soda Jerks History |work=San Gabriel Valley Menus |url=http://www.sangabrielvalleymenus.com/sodajerks/index.htm| |accessdate=2006-11-03]

The position was highly coveted, and awarded only after several months or years of menial labour in the store.cite book | last = Witzel | first = Michael |chapter=Splendour of the Soda Fountains | title = The American Drive-in Restaurant | publisher = Motorbooks International | location = Osceola | year = 2002 | isbn = 0760313504 ] Some modern theme diners are styled after establishments from the 1950s and include an actual soda jerk, along with standard jukeboxes and booth seating. Michael Witzel, writing in "The American Drive-In Restaurant" (2002) describes the archetypal soda jerk as being " [a] consummate showman, innovator and freelance linguist...the pop culture star of the Gilded Age".

Very few drugstores still serve ice cream and soda, which reached its peak in the 1940s. However, some drug stores, usually in small rural towns, still do. The proliferation of ice cream parlors declined as drive-ins and walk-up fast food stands grew in popularity, replacing the soda jerk with grill men and fry cooks. The McDonaldization of American society, and its drive to ever-increasing efficiency in particular, led to fast food restaurants requiring customers to fill their own drinks at the soda fountain, hastening the redundancy of the soda jerk. [cite book |chapter=Weberian Theory and McDonaldization | last = Kivisto | first = Peter | title = Illuminating Social Life | publisher = Pine Forge Press | location = Thousand Oaks | year = 2001 | isbn = 0761987177 |pages=44]

Fred Derry, the character played by Dana Andrews in the film "The Best Years of Our Lives", is a soda jerk before going off to fight in World War II. When he returns to civilian life, he is determined to find a better job. In Robert Heinlein's science fiction novel "Have Space Suit—Will Travel", the hero is a soda jerk as well (at least at the beginning).

References

External links

*Albright, Andrea. " [http://www.cjonline.com/stories/070900/kan_fountainclosing.shtml Longtime soda jerk closes up shop] ", "The Topeka Capital-Journal", July 9, 2000.


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  • soda\ jerk — • soda jerk • soda jerker noun informal A person who serves soda and ice cream to customers, usually in a drug store or ice cream parlor. Bob worked as a soda jerk at the drug store all summer. He is just a soda jerker with no future …   Словарь американских идиом

  • Soda jerk — So da jerk, n. a person who serves soda, ice cream, similar foods from behind a {soda fountain}. [PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • soda jerk — ☆ soda jerk n. [Old Slang] a person who works at a soda fountain: also soda jerker …   English World dictionary

  • soda jerk — or[soda jerker] {n.}, {informal} A person who serves soda and ice cream to customers, usually in a drug store or ice cream parlor. * /Bob worked as a soda jerk at the drug store all summer./ * /He is just a soda jerker with no future./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • soda jerk — or[soda jerker] {n.}, {informal} A person who serves soda and ice cream to customers, usually in a drug store or ice cream parlor. * /Bob worked as a soda jerk at the drug store all summer./ * /He is just a soda jerker with no future./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • soda jerk — so′da jerk (or jerk er) n. inf a person who prepares and serves sodas and ice cream at a soda fountain • Etymology: 1920–25 …   From formal English to slang

  • soda jerk — Informal. a person who prepares and serves sodas and ice cream at a soda fountain. Also, soda jerker. [1910 15, Amer.; shortened form of soda jerker] * * * …   Universalium

  • soda jerk — noun someone who works at a soda fountain • Syn: ↑soda jerker • Hypernyms: ↑counterperson, ↑counterwoman, ↑counterman * * * noun, pl ⋯ jerks [count] US old fashioned : a person who prepares and serves drinks and ice cream at a soda fountain …   Useful english dictionary

  • soda jerk — noun Date: 1922 a person who dispenses carbonated drinks and ice cream at a soda fountain called also soda jerker …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • soda jerk — noun A person who works at a soda fountain. Syn: soda jerker …   Wiktionary

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