Soda Fountains 1920s

Q: I bought a home with a large complete liquid 1920s soda fountain, dispensers, stools, and the rest. I’m looking to remove it and sell it but having trouble finding what a complete setup with seven seats is worth. It’s made by Liquid.

A: Soda fountains were in almost every corner drugstore from the early 1900s to the late 1950s, but it’s unusual to find one in a home. Soda fountains are sold at auctions, usually sales of advertising. You can contact an auction house. If it is an original old soda fountain, they will sell it for you and even arrange to get it to their auction site. Your Liquid fountain was made by Liquid Carbonics Manufacturing Company in Chicago, Illinois. The company made liquefied carbon dioxide. It test marketed its first soda fountain in 1903 and sold its first “iceless” soda fountain in 1906. The company name became Liquid Carbonic Corporation in 1926, so your fountain was made between 1906 and 1926. The company merged with General Dynamics in 1958.