In the early 1900s you could not just go to a pop machine and get a soda, instead you would go to the soda shop. When you sat down the soda jerk would mix you up a soda for you to enjoy. Now do you know where the inventor of the iceless soda fountain was from...well, he was from Terre Haute. In 1888, the Liquid Carbonics Manufacturing Company was founded by Jacob Baur a pharmacist from Terre Haute. This was the first liquid carbon dioxide producer in the Midwest. Jacob's company started testing its iceless soda fountain in 1903. It was obviously a hit, John Somerset said “the soda fountain is the most valuable, most useful, most profitable, and altogether most beneficial business building feature assimilated by the drugstore." The soda fountain's golden age continued until the 1950's when it developed a reputation of being "habit forming" or "intoxicating."

Have you ever asked the question, "Where does Wile E. Coyote get all of his explosives he uses to try and catch that darn Roadrunner?" Well, Terre Haute, Indiana was the home of the ACME Explosives Company. This was surprising to learn, because like most people I believed the company to just be a made up cartoon company. When you watch cartoons you can now know that Terre Haute, Indiana is the place where all of those explosives, anvils, and other traps come from that are used for the cartoons.

During my readings in the book An American Hometown, I came across the story of Ernestine Myers. She was born in 1900 and was considered to be one of the "12 Outstanding Women of the American Stage" by the age of 21. Her dancing was an exotic mix of acrobatic toe dancing with classical ballet, Creole and Oriental dancing styles. Not everyone enjoyed her dancing styles, she received many mixed reviews due to her unique style of dance. In 1922, she had planned to start a European tour, but her manager suddenly died resulting in her canceling the tour and returning to Terre Haute. After returning she opened a dance studio on Wabash Avenue where she passed on her love of dancing. She passed away in June of 1991. In Ernestine's memory Teresa Miles is continuing the dancing traditions at Teresa's School of Dance on Ohio Street. Before this blog entry you might have thought that no one in Terre Haute could dance, but at least now you know one famous dancer from Terre Haute.

Built in 1915, the Hippodrome is the oldest standing Vaudeville theater in America today. The acoustics of the building allowed the audience to listen to the acts without microphones or speakers. The floorboard was also built to resonate vibrations after the curtain fell. The Vaudeville theater began to ebb in the late 1920s and in 1949 became the Wabash Theater for motion pictures. In 1955, the Scottish Rite acquired the theater and opened its cathedral and museum in 1957.