Seltzer Siphons?

Friends,
a chum of mine just switched me on to seltzer water (at a grand old age of 35 I seem to finally be liking new things). Now, the iconography from vintage movies of a gent making a whiskey and soda from a decanter and soda siphon is irresistible. Do any of you use these? How do they work? I know the modern ones use cartridges similar to "soda stream" machines, how did the vintage ones operate? I'm looking to be persuaded to add one of these to my home

David

I couldn't tell you all the answers, but I can tell ou that in Brooklyn, NY there is STILL a small truck that drives all over the boro, with a huge rack of seltzer bottles arrayed at its back. They are of all styles, sizes and colors. The truck goes all over Brooklyn, picking up empties and dropping off newly recharged bottles. I believe that each bottle has an owner who gives it to the truck guy to take in to his premises to be refilled over night. The next day (or whatever) the bottle is returned to its owner, refilled, on the the driver's daily rounds. It's one of the OOOOLDE Brooklyn things that make Brooklyn the wonder that it is.

If you are shopping for a siphon, check that the rubber seals haven't perished. Mine dates from 1934 (according to the hallmarks) and uses ordinary CO2 cartridges.

If you are shopping for a siphon, check that the rubber seals haven't perished. Mine dates from 1934 (according to the hallmarks) and uses ordinary CO2 cartridges. Excellent reproductions are available from Prairie Moon (www.prairiemoon.biz) for around a hundred bucks.

So the vintage ones carbonated the water? That's interesting.

My wife loves seltzer, so I got her a seltzer siphon a couple of years ago. She makes up soda water in it a couple times a week and has been very happy with the results. Although it not vintage, it still looks good and there is something special about hitting the lever and having soda water come rushing out. Here is to one I got for the wife... http://www.creamright.com/product/SODA2248-ISI.html

Yes, they use CO2 cartridges that carbonate the water and power it out in a stream under pressure. You can use it for adult beverages and or Three Stooges reenactments. The new fangled ones are just reinventions of the old idea. You can usually buy your favorite soda pop flavorings (syrup) from the distributor of said beverage in your area. Thats how the soda fountains work. You can then make it as strong or weak as you like.
I have a small collection of seltzer bottles.
I also enjoy making flavored and alcoholic whipped cream with a whip creamer. That uses nitrous oxide cartridges.
Restoring old ones can be a challenge as finding parts or replacement gaskets may be hard, however many of the seals are simply O-rings.