A taste of the past

An old fashioned soda fountain lets visitors “step back in another time”

By Ellen Spitaleri

The Clackamas Review, Apr 23, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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The historic building on Main Street began life as a pharmacy, Davis and Merris said, and the soda fountain was a popular feature through the years.

The most recent edition of the City of Milwaukie newsletter states that William Perry opened Perry Pharmacy in 1914, and the spot “became famous for its soda fountain.”

At some point it became a Rexall drug store, and the fountain continued to be open “off and on,” Davis said.

“[Previous owners] Tom and Carol bought [the mall] in 1997 and the soda fountain wasn’t open full time, but I can remember their son was in high school and it was his after-school job,” Davis said.

The soda fountain was not operating when she and her daughter bought the place last November, so they opened it back up just before Christmas, and the reaction has been positive.

“Almost everyone who walks in here has a story [about the soda fountain],” Davis said.

She added, “The steady customers are overjoyed and our vendors are overjoyed.”

Her daughter agreed, saying that customers “remember another time when things weren’t so franchised” when they come to the soda fountain.

Merris added, “We’re looking forward to summer coming and meeting new people — this is perfect, this is what I want to do.”

Fast Facts

The Perry Pharmacy opened in 1914, and the owner was William Perry.

Arlie Brown, who came to the Perry Pharmacy in 1959, said he was the part owner of the business in 1974, and then took over as full owner in 1984.

He left the pharmacy in 1998, when new owners took over and turned the site into a collectors mall, he said.

In 1960, John F. Kennedy visited the soda fountain “when he was on the campaign trail. He sat down and ordered a coke – I shook hands with him,” Brown said.

Brown, who is known as Brownie, currently works as a pharmacist at the Safeway at 42nd and King Road.

He recently took a look at the newly opened soda fountain at Main Street Collectors Mall, and said it “looked pretty close” to the original.

A soda fountain, he added, “is one of those things everyone thinks is wonderful.”

LOCATION:

Main Street Collectors Mall and Main Street Soda Fountain; 10909 SE Main, Milwaukie 97222

Hours of operation: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily

Call 503-659-SODA (7632)

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