HISTORY · HISTORICAL MARKER
Where Can You Get an Iron Port, Phosphate, or Suicide?
History
11
In 1946, people in Vernal could order unusual soda fountain drinks such as Iron Port, phosphate, and a suicide at Vernal Drug, whose soda fountain became the town's most popular one. At its marble counter, soda jerks mixed soft drinks and ice cream treats including cherry phosphate, cherry or vanilla Coke, and Iron Port, while local terms included a dip of mud for chocolate ice cream, a black stick for a chocolate cone, and a houseboat for a banana split. The soda fountain first served customers in 1900 when Vernal Drug opened, became a focal point for young people in the 1950s, found a permanent home in 1917 after several moves, expanded into the Vogue Theater building in 1960, and closed in 1991 after 91 years of service as discount store pharmacies and changing youth tastes took its place.
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