sodas of yore: strange drinkables from new york in 1915

weather: ☀️ goodbye clouds critters: my cat (i stayed inside all day) today i flipped through the dispenser's formulary, an american tome of recipes and knuckle-swatting advice for an aspiring soda jerk. notes the authors want to be absolutely clear with you that bad hygiene and slovenly habits and cheaping out on ingredients are unforgivable at the soda fountain. i've noticed that how-to manuals from this period can be pretty bossy, but maybe we need some of that when it comes to health hazards. some of the "luncheonette" offerings (p196) would go fantastically on my low-effort sandwiches page. there is a brief discussion and a couple of recipes on p86 for what they call "kumyss." i was like, gee, i've never heard of that, must be another extinct drink type. then i read "prepared by the tartars from the milk of mares" and realized i totally had heard of it--i just knew it by the mongolian name airag. i would never have imagined seeing airag in this context, but it seems it was…