Friday, January 08, 2016
Nothing new, as usual
I've been building this Cave Gas set, partly as an escapist way of 'living' in a summery scene.
After building the machine and bottle for the national Nesbitt pop, decided to include a real local product. I remembered seeing an old bottle of Blasing Mineral Water, which had come from a small 'spa' or resort east of Manhattan. Looked it up for more detail, found that Blasing Springs was active from 1880 to 1943 when the resort was smashed by a tornado. This placed it within the period I'm aiming for, though just barely.
Found this 1902 report on Kansas mineral water by the Kansas Geological Society. Along with the location of various spas and chemical analysis of their waters, [Blasing p179 of PDF] the report included a chapter on artificial waters. [p128] Lots of info about how carbonation works, how to make an artificial spring water, and how to brew up a sweet soda pop. One surprise:
Wait! Saccharin was well established in commercial pop by 1902?
Then how come all the usual sources say that the first artificially sweetened drink was developed in 1952?
Off by at least 50 years.
After building the machine and bottle for the national Nesbitt pop, decided to include a real local product. I remembered seeing an old bottle of Blasing Mineral Water, which had come from a small 'spa' or resort east of Manhattan. Looked it up for more detail, found that Blasing Springs was active from 1880 to 1943 when the resort was smashed by a tornado. This placed it within the period I'm aiming for, though just barely.
Found this 1902 report on Kansas mineral water by the Kansas Geological Society. Along with the location of various spas and chemical analysis of their waters, [Blasing p179 of PDF] the report included a chapter on artificial waters. [p128] Lots of info about how carbonation works, how to make an artificial spring water, and how to brew up a sweet soda pop. One surprise:
Wait! Saccharin was well established in commercial pop by 1902?
Then how come all the usual sources say that the first artificially sweetened drink was developed in 1952?
Off by at least 50 years.
Labels: Alternate universe
¶ 1:35 AM
