John Matthews, an English immigrant in New York, is considered the father of the American soda fountain. In 1832, he began manufacturing apparatuses that could mass-produce carbonated water. Before this, 'soda water' was sold in individual bottles, which was expensive and inefficient. Matthews' machines allowed drugstores to mix carbonated water with flavored syrups on the spot. By the late 1800s, the soda fountain had become the social hub of American towns, as it provided a 'respectable' alternative to saloons. This culture eventually led to the invention of the ice cream soda and the banana split. Pharmacists were the original 'soda jerks,' so named because of the jerking motion required to pull the handle of the carbonated water tap.