Olson’s Drug & Soda Fountain

When I was in Conrad the other day I took some time before I left to stop in to Olson’s Drug Store.

My goal – see the oldest, continually operating soda fountain in the state of Montana.

Olson’s is easy to find in Conrad.

When you get to the stoplight (the one and only stoplight) on Main Street in the middle of town, look south. It’s right next door to Conrad’s beautifully restored Orpheum Theater.

As I walked in to the store I was transported back in time. On my left was the old time soda fountain with a marble topped counter and a marble and glass back bar.

Old time Coke memorabilia accented the marble soda fountain and the bright red Coke color was a pretty contrast to the white marble. There was also a green (I think it’s called seafoam green) milkshake mixer that could make multiple shakes at one time…and I bet it has!

The pharmacy is located at the back of Olson’s Drug Store and while I was there several people came in to fill prescriptions.

You could spend a lot of time looking at all of the giftware, cards and decorations at Olson’s but I had one thing in mind – check out the soda fountain.

Now, to really experience a soda fountain you have to have an ice cream soda. There was one gal working in the front part of the store and she came over to help me. She was camera-shy but said I could take any photos I wanted of the fountain.

I ended up with about a dozen photos of that beautiful marble soda fountain!

My ice cream soda was being created with care…stay tuned and I’ll walk you through each of the steps to create the masterpiece!