Siphons in the Wall Street Journal 2003
Siphons in the Wall Street Journal: 2003
Message sent to Barry Newman, copy to Carl Schultz , for additional details about the first uses of siphons in America, since his family was intimately involved!
(Ian Lubek, E-mail response, to request for information on the history of the siphon bottle for the Article by Barry Newman, that appeared in the:
Wall Street Journal , Dec 17, 2003 : The Spritz Mystique: Cool old bottles, service with attitude. By Barry Newman
_____________________________________________________________________
Like all inventions, the siphon evolved through a series of stages… and the story varies according to whether its told by French, British, or American authors. For example, the official history of “Schweppe’s: the first 200 years” credits Jacob Schweppe with following up on the discoveries of Priestley in 1772 about “impregnating water with fixed air” and Lavoisier in 1773, and then experimenting with carbonation in Geneva. He seems to have begun bottling about 1780 , at first giving these artificial waters to doctors to give to their poorest patients– by 1783 he was commercially selling aerated waters .. by 1790, in partnership with Paul and Gosse, the Geneva System for producing aerated waters was now available for commercial production. Schweppes moved to London and began selling his waters in 1792, a more potently carbonated beverage than that locally available there since 1780. Originally, aerated waters were sold in corked earthenware vessels, with “egg-shaped” small glass bottles appearing around 1809. Schweppe’s company adopted the siphon bottle in the 1880s, and by 1888, they patented a porcelain-lined siphon head, so there was no contact of the waters with the tin top. Concern about lead poisoning meant that all lead had to be removed from “tin” siphon heads in France, and elsewhere.
A number of containers were also produced after 1775 to create seltzer, soda or other carbonated water in the hospital, pharmacy and at the table home. These involved mixing various pharmacy “powders” with water . By the 1870s, glass siphons be professionally filled and refilled at a factory, which permitted higher pressures and a better taste ( more acidic bubbles). The popular use of a home glass apparatus began in the 1830s, and two that lasted into the 1920s were the Briet gazogene (after 1840) and the Fevre Seltzagen. Both had two globes, opened to separately add powder and water, and had a glass siphon tube which transported the aerated water to a spigot for the former, and eventually a metal pump head for the latter. While waters were available in single serving, corked glass bottles or earthenware at this time, the refillable siphon bottle may have begun with patents around 1837 by Savaresse, for example, who produced glass bottles with metal pump-like heads. During the 1840s to 1890s, an ovoid shape (like a modern Perrier bottle), and more recognizable cylinder bottles were available in various sizes, and, after the 1870s, various colours. Most of the bottles were made in Bohemian glassworks, and imported, and assembled with their heads in Europe and America.
By about 1866, Carl H. Schultz was exclusively producing and selling mineral waters in Central Park, New York, and was the first manufacturer to introduce the siphon bottle in America in a large, commercial operation, using imported bottles made to specification, and adding the metal heads. By 1888, a trade journal described Schultz as the largest filler of siphons in America. A current family member, Carl Schultz, has more details on the exact dates of usage of siphons by this pioneering American aerated water company.
Best wishes, Ian Lubek