Phosphates, Egg Creams and Other Fizzy Drinks From the Past Get a Lift

My first experience with a chocolate phosphate happened at the counter of a Baskin-Robbins in Milwaukee. I was 10 years old, and trips to the ice cream shop were a regular thing. We’d arrived armed with orders for the family, but my father’s craving for the old-school soda fountain drink was the trickiest one. There was a particular level of froth, carbonation and syrup-to-seltzer ratio that tested more than a few teens’ soda-making abilities. Some...