The Drink that made America Smile

Everyone likes a freshly made, chilled lemonade so cold it makes the glass sweat like crazy on a hot afternoon. But where and how did this timeless, iconic drink originate? Few drinks carry such history and represent American culture at its best. If you think about it, Lemonade represents many things. Some more obvious like steamy summers, car washes, lemonade stands, fairs, and childhood. Some more obscure like the memory of a welcoming home party for a vietnam soldier, the winning of a highschool baseball game, or perhaps a Memorial Day bbq on the lawn and mom coming out through the doors with a tray full of solo cups. Whatever the case may be, we can't deny that lemonade has been aiding our thirst through the decades but has also served up quite a bit of nostalgia.

As far as history goes, lemons were discovered in Egypt and according to scriptures the first documented lemonade was there. Then, as the lemon migrated, there were different types of lemonade all over the world. In western Europe, there is "clear" lemonade (limonade) which is lemon applied to unsweetened water. In America, we have "cloudy" lemonade which is lemon applied to sweetened water (water, sugar, lemon). In France and Italy, there is "fizzy" lemonade which is lemon applied to sweetened carbonated water - my personal favorite.

Lemonade didn't serve just as a thirst quencher, during the Great Depression it helped get meals on the table for families. It was during that time that the first lemonade stand came about. Children set out in their neighborhoods with plywood and cardboard to sell lemonade for 10 cents a cup during the summer. In Europe, children would saddle a tank of lemonade to their backs and sell cups to their commadres on the streets.

Whether you look at lemonade as a sweet and sour thirst quencher or the drink that made children businessmen during the summers, one thing we all agree on is that lemonade is synonymous with main street, the good old days, the honest man, a southern drawl, two-star towns, beauty queens, and worn sports champions. It was the drink that was with us in prosperity and in poverty. When America was at it knees, and when its was at its brightest.

And now, you can find lemonade in many forms - powdered, pink, frozen, or freshly squeezed and the base for many cocktail drinks. In whichever form you consume it, lemonade will always be the drink that made America smile.