{"id":3331,"date":"2016-09-15T23:25:58","date_gmt":"2016-09-16T03:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drivingfordeco.com\/staging\/3617\/?p=3331"},"modified":"2016-09-18T21:29:37","modified_gmt":"2016-09-19T01:29:37","slug":"evolution-design-soda-king-syphon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drivingfordeco.com\/staging\/3617\/evolution-design-soda-king-syphon\/","title":{"rendered":"Evolution of a Design – The Soda King Syphon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Soda<\/a>

Soda King Syphon advertisement. Washington Post – September 9, 1935<\/p><\/div>\n

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The syphon bottle was a must for any home bar in the 1930’s. And Soda King produced the best designed ones. The Walter Kidde Sales Company, originally a construction company, became a pioneer in the fire suppression business. Kidde\u00a0purchased the Rich Company’s\u00a0on-board ship fire extinguishing system in 1918. Changing the method of suppression\u00a0from steam to carbon dioxide proved very successful. As a result of the use of pressurized c02 the company diversified into the syphon bottle business in the mid-1930’s.<\/h4>\n
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The Sparklets Company dominated the soda syphon field in the early 1930’s. This is\u00a0supported by how many of their bottles are available in antique stores today. The Sparklet syphon has a timeless, classic design of a silver\u00a0basket weave\u00a0mesh over a Czech glass bottle topped by a chrome syphon. They were imported from England and sold in finer stores for $5.00 ($92.50 in 2016) in the early 1930’s. A heavy sales campaign began with the Christmas season of 1933 and the repeal of prohibition.<\/h4>\n

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\"Soda<\/a>

Chrome Plated Soda King Syphon Bottle, 1935.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Walter Kidde Sales Company introduced the Soda King in 1935 to get in on the syphon bottle action. The original design only lasted about a year and was the most whimsical of the any of the syphon bottles. The chrome plated casing\u00a0featured an engraved scene of waves and fish swimming along the bottom. The viewing windows along three sides of the bottle look like bubbles rising from the fish. Stamped in red letters near the top is the fill limit mark. None of the subsequent designs would be this elaborate.<\/h4>\n

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\"1936<\/a>

The new Soda King Syphon Bottle. 1936<\/p><\/div>\n

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While the first Soda King bottle had a fun design, it must have been costly to make. By the end of 1936\u00a0a simplified\u00a0version became available to stores. This new syphon weighed significantly less than the first one. Gone also were the fish, the waves and the “bubble” windows. A set of painted black bands of varying widths now encircled the bottom of the bottle.\u00a0 Only two sets of windows in straight lines ran up the sides. A black Bakelite syphon replaced the original chrome one.<\/h4>\n

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Four days after Christmas 1936 Bullock’s department store in Los Angeles ran\u00a0an\u00a0 advertisement (seen below) featuring the new Soda King bottle.\u00a0This ad is the earliest print reference to the new design that I’ve seen.<\/h4>\n

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\"LA<\/a>

Bullock’s Department Store advertisement. December 29, 1936. Los Angeles Times.<\/p><\/div>\n

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While this new design was simpler to produce it too only lasted\u00a0\u00a0a couple of years. It would return in the 1950’s with an aluminum case and minus its stripes. In the works and just in time for the 1939 New York World’s Fair,\u00a0came a completely redesigned Soda King. This new bottle\u00a0can be best described as “the syphon of tomorrow”.\u00a0Co-designed by Worthen Paxton (1905-1977) and famed industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes<\/a><\/span> (1893-1958), this syphon is now part of many museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan and The Dallas Museum of Art.<\/h4>\n

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