Old Time Soda Fountain, Allerton, Iowa

We invite you to drive by and view our beautiful Christmas windows for 2020. Our Christmas window displays are usually a reflection of years gone by. From all of us at the soda fountain our Christmas wishes for you and yours are the same as years gone by, today and for the future; we wish you a Merry Christmas, good health for you and those you hold dear, prosperity for you and your community and peace.

What made the drug store in Allerton, Iowa unique? It was that the pharmacist was a woman, which in the early 1900s was very unusual. Beulah Duncan Meyers began working at the drug store , then the R.W. Ayers Drug Store, as a clerk upon her graduation from high school. She became interested in becoming a pharmacist and enrolled in the Babcock School of Pharmacy in Des Moines, graduating in 1926, after completing a two year course. She was one of the first women pharmacist...s in Iowa. She became a confidante of her customers and came to know the aches and pains of most Allerton residents. She developed her own lotion, which was popular with many Allerton residents. She met Chris Meyers in 1920 when he and Dr. Fred Bracewell purchased the store from Ayers. There was a charisma between the two and they later married. They retired in 1959. Photos were shared with the soda fountain by the Meyers grandchildren. See more

Look where Bernie turned up looking for a chocolate malt. Seems like he should have been looking for hot chocolate!

In October 2020 the Old Time Soda Fountain was contacted by Andrew McCrea for an interview about the soda fountain. McCrea is the host of the daily syndicated American Countryside radio broadcast, which is heard on radio stations across the US and XM satellite radio. His broadcasts have taken him to small towns and rural areas in all 50 states. He learned about the Old Time Soda FountIn from an article in the October 2020 issue of Today’s Farmer. The following video is part of that interview and this clip aired on US Farm Report on WHO TV on January 10, 2021. Our thanks to Andrew for providing us with the clip.

All of us here at the soda fountain and Bill and the Whiners are missing you. We will see you again. Stay well. Stay home if you are sick. Better yet just stay home. Wash your hands. And last but not least wear a MASK.