Soft drinks can trace their history back to the mineral water found in natural springs. Bathing in natural springs has long been considered a healthy thing to do, mineral water was said to have curative powers. Scientists soon discovered that gas carbonium or carbon dioxide was behind the bubbles in natural mineral water.
In 1767, the first drinkable, man made glass of carbonated water was created by Englishmen, Dr. Joseph Priestley. Three years later, the Swedish chemist, Torbern Bergman, invented a generating apparatus that made carbonated water from chalk by the use of sulfuric acid. Bergman's apparatus allowed imitation mineral water to be produced in large amounts.
In 1810, the first U.S. patent was issued for the "means of mass manufacture of imitation mineral waters" to Simons and Rundell, of Charleston, South Carolina. Carbonated beverages did not achieve great popularity in America until 1832, when John Mathews invented his apparatus for the making carbonated water. Mathews mass manufactured his apparatus for sale to others.
Over 1,500 U.S. patents were filed for either a cork, cap or lid for the carbonated drink bottle tops. The bottles were under a lot of pressure from the gas. Inventors were trying to find the best way to prevent the carbon dioxide (bubbles) from escaping. In 1892, the "Crown Cork Bottle Seal" was patented by William Painter, a Baltimore machine shop operator. It was the first very successful method of keeping the bubbles in the bottle.
Sometime in the 1920's, the first "Hom-Paks" were invented. "Hom-Paks" are the familiar six-pack carrying cartons. Automatic vending machines also began to appear in the 1920's. The soft drink had become an American mainstay.