Dearest Fountaineers,
Don’t get too burned up by the searing heat of this July month! As always, we haven those who patron our palace of sweets from the treachery of summer-time scorchers. As you may have anticipated, we have a new assortment of goodies for you to experience, and a host of familiar ones that you may reconvene with. Coolness and contentment can always be found through our parlor doorways.
First up, we have been wowed by the extensive coverage we received in the latest issue of “Imbibe: Liquid Culture” magazine, a periodical that deals exclusively in gourmet beverages. Their article, “Fizzy Business” (story by Sarah Karnasiewicz, Photography by Ryan Donnell and Carolyn Fog) details the history of the American soda fountain, and the small soda shops across the nation that are keeping the tradition alive. We are featured prominently in the exquisite write-up, and a number of our menu items are featured– namely The Japanese Thirst Killer and our homemade Root Beer Float. The article even includes a section detailing the long-lost lexicon of soda jerk lingo (for example, “Adam’s Ale” is a glass of water, 
“Cow Juice” is milk, “13” ‘Watch your back the boss is looking!’, and “Hen Fruit” is an egg.) The photography in the article is just as colorful and outstanding as the prose. See if your local bookstore or newsstand carries the article, and be sure to check out Imbibe’s website!
In flavor news, we will once again be selling our homemade Blueberry Ice Cream. The bounty of the Garden State’s midsummer harvest provides us with a luscious crop of juice-plump blueberries. We have crafted this seasonal gem with especial attention, improved scientific precision, and from-the-heart care. With honesty and hard work, we do believe that 
we have outdone ourselves, and we ask that you purchase a scoop or more for yourselves to test the merits of our claim by your own tongue’s inspection. The creamy sapphire stuff will bring your summer-scorched soul to the blueberry fields that patch and quilt the ribboney roadways of New Jersey.
When you have placed your order for a delicious ice cream or soda novelty and are waiting for your 
order, we hope that you will notice on the cabinetry in the back of our store the racks of period-authentic postcards which we now have available for purchase. We have arrayed over 60 unique images that you may choose from, many of which detail in true-to-life photographs the landmark scenery of our Quaker City. We carry postcards for any of your needs, whether it be for an upcoming holiday, a birthday of a loved one, an impending graduation, or just some blank space which affords you the acreage to jot down your own thoughts and feelings. We hope to keep alive the tradition of sentiments-by-mail, and also to reacquaint both native and tourist to the elegant look and charming arrangement of postcards of generations since past. Pick up a few on your next visit!
If you haven’t already taken notice, in recent months we have gone through considerable lengths to increase our stock of novelty bottled sodas. We have an incredibly varied inventory of sodas from every nook and hillside of our great nation, and we will continue to introduce new items to our loyal patrons as soon as we are able. This month, we would like to highlight a new wind– “Cheerwine” cherry soda. This soda is a favorite for much of the American Southland– it has been bottled in North Carolina since 1917 by the Carolina Beverage Corporation continuously by the same family. Its color is a ravishing burgundy, and it is bounds more fizzy than your average soda, giving the red sweetness a rather playful quality. You would do well to accompany yourself to its frothy cheer, which out-bubbles the most frolicsome Carolina creeks.
Next up, we have installed near the entrance of our shop a handsome and superbly decorated antique “MOXIE Nerve Tonic” ice cooler. We will be using it to contain iced bottles of spring water and specialty sodas in a way that is handy, effective, and space-efficient. “Moxie” soda is of monumental importance to soda history. For years, Moxie was the dominant soda on the market, out-selling the likes of Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola. We are proud to make use of this soda history artifact.
Well, Fountaineers, that just about wraps it up for now. We hope that this season’s frolicsome breezes lighten your steps, and that the heights of your happiness may continue to grow (hopefully, with some help from us.)
Always,
The Franklin Fountain