A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The device combines flavored syrup or syrup concentrate and carbon dioxide with chilled and purified water to make soft drinks, either manually, or in a vending machine which is essentially an automated soda fountain that is operated using a soda gun. Today, the syrup often is pumped from a special container called a bag-in-box (BiB). Fountain coke is an often confused term normally referring to a handheld dispenser behind a bar or counter that are used in many countries, including Spain, France and the United Kingdom. The term ‘fountain’ helps differentiate from, ‘machine’ cola as the fountain is more easily controlled and offers more flavours. A soda fountain is also referred to as a postmix machine in some markets. Any brand of soft drink that is available as postmix syrup may be dispensed by a fountain. The term may also refer to a small eating establishment, soda shop or luncheonette, common from the late 19th century until the mid-20th century, often inside a drugstore, candy store or other business, where a soda jerk served carbonated beverages, ice cream, and sometimes light meals. The soda jerk's fountain generally dispensed only unflavored carbonated water, to which various syrups were added by hand only. History The soda fountain was an attempt to replicate mineral waters that bubbled up from the Earth. Many civilizations believed that drinking, and bathing, in these mineral waters cured diseases. Large industries often sprang up around hot springs, such as Bath in England (CE 43) or the many onsen of Japan. Although vessels to bottle and transport water were part of the earliest human civilizations, bottling water began in the United Kingdom with the first water bottling at the Holy Well in 1621. The demand for bottled water was fueled in large part by the resurgence in spa-going and water therapy among Europeans and American colonists in the 17th and 18th centuries. The first commercially distributed water in America was bottled and sold by Jackson's Spa in Boston in 1767. Early drinkers of bottled spa waters believed that the water at these mineral springs had therapeutic properties, and that bathing in, or drinking, the water could help treat many common ailments. Many types of mineral water are sparkling, and thus