Elixir of Emigration: Soda Water and the Making of Irish Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City

Abstract

Archaeologists at a few sites in the United States have uncovered numerous soda-water bottles in features associated with the dwellings of 19th-century Irish immigrants. This study focuses particularly on findings from the Five Points, New York City’s most notorious 19th-century working-class neighborhood, and offers explanations for what may potentially be a more widespread pattern of soda-water usage among Irish immigrants. Based on information gathered from historical and folkloric archives and attention to the materiality of soda water, it is argued that soda water resonated with Irish immigrants, evoking varied Irish traditional understandings of water, and offering new possibilities to address new Irish concerns in the U.S. By purchasing, selling, and consuming soda water, Irish immigrants managed issues including health, nostalgia, temperance, Irish nationalism, status, and identity. Soda water acted as a fluid substance providing relief for sickness and homesickness, and facilitated the creation of new Irish American identities.