In 1921, an enterprising truck dealer named the Richardson Company designed a concession truck to serve “Liberty” root beer. Until this invention, Liberty root beer was available for sale only from stationary fountains.
The dealer’s outfit had two tanks for storing the water and syrup and another two barrels to cool the liquid. An auxiliary power plant provided ample electricity for two mixers, the vehicle’s headlamps and electronic cash registers. The truck could make up to 500 gallons of root beer per filling.
The dealer placed the truck with a traveling circus. When the circus show was finished and the concession stands closed, the weary Liberty root beer staff could climb through a porthole over the driver’s seat into a compartment with a mattress that provided “a very comfortable sleeping quarter for three.”
