I was reading a book earlier on Shiseido cosmetics and learned that the founder installed an ice cream soda fountain in the original Shiseido pharmacy. He was inspired by the drug stores that he saw in America.
Reading up on this, I read that soda fountains and ice cream were popularized around the turn of the century and pharmacies were one of the more common places to install them. And sure enough, I can still remember the local drug store selling ice cream in my childhood in the early 80s.
But...why? I can understand a little parlour, candy shop, department stores, or train stations but...it seems odd to go to the local drug store to get your novelty ice cream soda. Was there some special relationship between the two industries?
Soda water had been considered as a medicinal aid from the early 19th century onwards. The addition of syrups to the cold fizzy soda water made soda fountains very popular and a central fixture in pharmacies.
Walgreens was founded in 1901 in Chicago and began distributing drugs as well as operating a soda fountain. By 1922 they had nearly 20 stores, they claim to have popularized the malted milkshake in 1922, and opened several ice cream manufacturing plants because of this. The onset of prohibition allowed doctors to write prescriptions for whiskey which allowed pharmacies to distribute it to patients. The boost in business allowed Walgreens to expand. The association of soda fountains and ice cram with pharmacies became more widespread because of this.