J. Schweppe & Co. served as the primary beverage caterer for the Great Exhibition and sponsored the Crystal Fountain located at the central meeting point of the Crystal Palace. Standing 8.25 meters tall and designed by F & C Osler—the leading British glass manufacturer of the 19th century—the fountain was crafted from four tons of pure crystal glass. From May 1 to October 11, the World’s Fair attracted a total of 6,039,205 visitors from around the globe. This amounted to a daily average of approximately 40,000 visitors, who refreshed themselves with non-alcoholic beverages from J. Schweppe & Co. and carried the memory of Osler’s Crystal Fountain with them. Recognizing the marketing potential, J. Schweppe & Co. adopted the Crystal Fountain as its visual trademark—a symbol that remains in use to this day. This advertising plaque (57 cm x 45 cm) features an allegory of the Fountain of Youth in an early Art Nouveau style dating to around 1900 (notably still retaining the apostrophe in “Schweppes’ “), marking the first instance in which the fountain motif was depicted as a brand emblem. The accompanying text reads: BY ROYAL WARRANTS OF APPOINTMENT; “SCHWEPPE’S TRADE MARK IS A FOUNTAIN”; ALWAYS ORDER SCHWEPPES’; SCHWEPPES’ MINERAL WATERS.

Incidentally: Queen Victoria almost certainly refreshed herself from a torpedo bottle—complete with that legendary “Champagne Blop.” Whether she made use of a Sodaspot glass to do so, however, remains undocumented—and an AI mystery. #spiritschweppes250

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