Just for Old Times' Sake

When you walk into the Auburn Drug Company, downtown Auburn, you might think you have fallen into the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" with a young Jimmy Stewart behind the soda fountain and Donna Reed sipping a soda. But you really are still in 2003, just lucky enough to have found a soda fountain left over from the "good old day."

The scale behind the counter says: "Drink Coca Cola," and promises "honest weight, no springs." Vintage milk bottles sit on a shelf above the glass ice cream bowls and tall malt glasses.

Up on the second floor, memorabilia line shelves: an old red Folgers coffee can, books, pharmacy bottles, a leather doctor's bag and a typewriter that looks like it might have been one of the very first ever.

Founded in 1896, the Auburn Drug Company has been a pharmacy and soda fountain, passed down to different owners through the years. Today, it is still a busy pharmacy, but the soda fountain attracts many locals who come for the treats served across the 107-year-old marble counter.

At the counter, 10 oak-topped swivel stools beckon for you to sit down and indulge yourself. Recently, I did just that, and watched the world pass in and out on a Monday afternoon as I sipped on my "Irish Soda," a house original, a green fizzy concoction with a secret recipe. At one point, eight out of the 10 stools were occupied.

Ashley, a high-school senior who works afternoons at the soda fountain, filled me in on all the important facts. For example, their ice cream sodas are famous, made the old fashioned way with syrup and soda. The root beer floats are also made with soda water and syrup, not canned root beer, and then rich ice cream is added. They make their own lemonade, from fresh-squeezed lemons, syrup and water.

They even have "phosphates," something I remember from my childhood soda fountain. It turns out that drinking the real phosphates wasn't such a good idea, but now they have a modern version that is healthier and tastes the same.

What is the most popular treat? "The customers really like our milkshakes. We make 'em thick," Ashely said.

Ashley chatted with me as she served people ice cream in glass dishes. She whipped up a strawberry shake and bagged some popcorn for an elderly customer who has her prescription delivered each week and they include the shake and popcorn for her, with the delivery.

The after-school crowd came in-a dad with his teenage daughter, a mom with two kids. Two teens, who knew Ashley, had enormous hot fudge sundaes, complete with whipped cream and cherries on top.

Another teen sat next to me while she ate her chocolate ice cream out of one of the glass cups. Ashley washed dishes between customers.

An elderly gentleman on my right sat sipping, slurping and genuinely enjoying a strawberry soda. When I asked him how often he come in for a soda, he said "Quite often, especially when I come into town for a haircut." He also liked the milkshakes. "They make them with real ice cream in any flavors you want," he said.

When I asked Ashley her favorite part of her job, she laughed. "I like the cool elderly customers. We know them by name and have a lot of `regulars' who come in for their prescriptions and something at the counter, too," she said.

In the back of the store, the pharmacy counter was busy with people picking up prescriptions. The aisles in between were filled with a combination of the old and new, the fanciful and the practical: old-fashioned soaps, candles, stationery, journals, diapers, books, CDs and jewelry.

These days it is hard to find something or somewhere that hasn't changed. It can feel like time travel to be able to go back to the '50s or earlier. The Auburn Drug Company can give you such a treat, just walking in the door and sitting down at the counter. Don't forget to spin around a few times on the swivel stools and slurp your soda real loud when you reach the bottom. Just for old times' sake.



___

Auburn Drug Company

815 Lincoln Way

Auburn, CA  (530) 885-6524

M-F 9-6  Sat 9-5

Sunday Closed