By Monty Siekerman
Folks at Vancrest Ada enjoyed sodas on Tuesday to celebrate National Ice Cream Soda Day.

Here, Jane Coburn (left) and Colleen and Howard Schick share a soda, like kids did in the old days when there were drive-ins and you ordered through a speaker, then the food was brought to you by servers on roller skates. Who invented the soda?

There are many claims to the invention of this delicious treat.  One such claim was made by a Mr. Robert McCay Green. 

According to Green, he created the beverage in 1874 in Philadelphia when he ran out of ice for his shaved ice treats.  Substituting ice cream, he had a hit on his hands. Green even put in his will that his gravestone read “Here lies the originator of the ice cream soda.”

Philip Mohr of Elizabeth, N.J., would mix soda water with ice cream to make the drink colder.  This practice took place as earlier as 1862 beating out Mr. Green’s claim.

Advertisements in an 1862 Newport Daily News for Sheld’s Celebrated Ice Cream Soda encourages customers to “Try It, Try It, Try It, It.”  By the looks of it, it was something new at the time.

Whenever the ice cream soda was invented, it was certainly a winning combination.  For generations, people have enjoyed these creamy carbonated desserts at pharmacies and soda fountains across the country.

And, it was no exception at Vancrest this week. Slurp! Slurp!

(Monty Siekerman photo)