Backwoods Blog

THOMAS DRUGS SODA FOUNTAIN

Backwoods Blog;

in the woods and on the road…

While our trip to Tennessee included the usual stops in Nashville, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, we also looked for the little out of the way places that travel guides often overlook. One such place is Thomas Drugs, a small drug store and pharmacy with a fully operational 1930s soda fountain in Cross Plains, Tennessee. My brother-in law knew about this place and thought it qualified as a rural roadside stop on our back-country tour. Thomas Drugs was originally owned by Dr. James Thomas established in 1928 and located in a 1915 structure that served as a general merchandise store. Dr. Thomas added a small attached building that housed a doctor’s office, beauty parlor and barber shop. The doctor’s office gradually expanded which is still currently occupied. In 1974 Daniel Green began working as a young pharmacist and two years later he and his wife, Debbie (who was a nurse), bought the business and are still running it today. The story goes that Dan asked Debbie out on their first date for a cherry Coke at a local soda fountain, to which she said “no” at first. Little did they know they would own their own drug store and soda fountain in the near future.

The Thomas Drugs menu is nostalgic and enticing (especially on a hot Tennessee day), so here are just a few of the numerous offerings: salty lemonade, phosphate sodas, egg creme (chocolate syrup, milk, carbonated water), old-fashion milkshakes, chocolate malts, hobo float (ice water with a plastic colored toothpick, which is free…) and they have yummy burgers on the grill and even a fried peanut butter sandwich special. Since we had already stopped at several cafes and ice cream shoppes along the way we decided to just “take a look at the ice cream” and keep the calories down. In my travels I’ve come across retro ice cream fountains that try to look like they might be 70 years old and I’ve seen old pharmacies that have roped-off the soda fountain section like a museum so you can see what it used to look like when it was operational, but I have never experienced an actual soda fountain doing it the same way now that they did it then. We stopped late in the afternoon and the counter was filled with young and old alike dreaming away the day with scoops of ice cream in glass with whipped cream, topping of choice and a cherry on top. Only in America in a place like Thomas Drugs can you find a prescription of Lipitor and an ice cream soda in the same stop. Our travels continue…

On the road,

Dave

June 24, 2022