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Galen Clarke via MediaStorm
Countless metal racks line the basement, garage, and two tool sheds in the backyard of Walter Backerman's house, holding his collection of more than 7,000 antique seltzer bottles.
From MediaStorm: For Walter Backerman, seltzer is more than a drink. It is the embodiment of his family.
Galen Clarke via MediaStorm
Standing in the kitchen of his Parkside Hills home in New York, Walter Backerman holds a picture of his father and grandfather.
As a third generation seltzer man, he follows parts of the same cobblestone route his grandfather began in 1920s Manhattan.
Walter maintains a collection of more than seven thousand antique bottles that he circulates to his customers. Many bear the family name, a tribute to his father and his grandfather before him.
Now, after 90 years of the Backermans being in the business, Walter knows all too well that he may be the last of the family's seltzer men. Watch the video below to meet Walter and find out more about what his family's seltzer legacy means to him.
We are publishing this story as part of a new partnership with MediaStorm to share some of their award-winning multimedia with our Photoblog audience. Their work is not new to us -- the founder of the company, Brian Storm, was the first director of multimedia for msnbc.com. This story is one of several produced at a recent MediaStorm Storytelling Workshop where they teach character-driven, documentary storytelling.
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Aka "Cadaver Hands"...
even a slug knows when not to raise it's ugly head.
What's seltzer?
Seltzer man
Drives a seltzer truck to a seltzer building
A little song ...
A little dance ...
A little seltzer down your pants!
I have about 50 beautiful seltzer bottles that I have been collecting for years that i would like to sell.Any ideas?
Yes. e-bay.
Maybe you could check the internet for a story about a seltzer water delivery man who collects old seltzer bottles.
On second thought that probably wouldn't be a good idea.
I'd say you are SOL.
I remember when Mr. Backerman used to deliver seltzer & Cornell soda to my parents A"H in Boro Park many years ago. A very touching story that brings back a lot of fond memories...
what an amazing story, so happy people like this are still out there.
My father was a seltzer man for 30 years on the upper west side of Manhattan and in the Bronx. He was a beloved member of the community. I have seltzer bottles from 4 countries including one over a hundred years old from Skagway, Alaska.
Wow...the respect he shows for his father, grandfather and for an honest and fading trade is more than refreshing! Bravo Mr. Backerman!
My father was a seltzer man for 30 years from 1950s to 1980s. His territory was the upper west side of Manhattan and the Bronx. He was a beloved member of the community. He sold Good Health Seltzer, Fox U-Bet Syrup and Hammers soda. I have seltzer bottles from several countries and have one from Skagway, Alaska that is over 100 years old.
Sad, unskilled labor in America is almost dead. Now you have to have a degree and price means everything except to a very few.
I was thinking about that. Not everyone, for a variety of reasons, is able to or wants to get a degree. There used to be ALL KINDS of jobs people could and did do but most are gone. Everytime there's another help-yourself service brought out it's more jobs gone or reduced. Milkmen, shoe repair, travel agents, tellers, elevator operators (had to be a boring job though!) and on and on.
This was a great story. I'd like to see more like this.
Nice article. California has some excellent natural sparkling waters, but they don't come in the heirloom bottles like seltzer, and they are not hand delivered to your door.
What I would do just to have real honest seltzer delivered to my door. Nothing scours the mouth and quenches the throat than ice cold seltzer. Seltzer in cans or plastic bottles ???? Feh!
My Dad and Uncle were Seltzer men from the 70's through the 90's in Southeast Florida. I loved working with them during summer break. My Dad had an old Chevy open shelved Hammer Soda truck that I thought was so cool.
Thank you for the wonderful story....what a nice change from the daily horrors in the news..... and what a pleasant comments section as well..... :)
I would love to see more of these stories.... this man is does honor to his family and our country.
This may be an interesting, nostalgic story...but I'd swear this is the 5th story I've seen on this guy. Every few years some news source trots this guy out. Is he discussed in a journalism school in NY? Seems like every 3 years like clockwork this guy gets trotted out.
What no knife sharpeners, cobblers, boiler repairman, switchboard operators...etc from days gone bye available? He truly seems to have cornered the market on NY old school professions. He is the default, go to guy when someone wants a story like. No disrespect intended...just seems odd this same guys keeps bubbling to the surface.
I spotted a knife sharpener guy with a little trailer/booth set up under the interstate overpass about three miles from my house. If he's there regularly I have some stuff he can sharpen, especially lawnmower blades.
OK - so anyone in here from Brooklyn - back in the day? when they used to deliver seltzer to our doors in the apartment buildings?? then my parents would make the most outstanding egg creams on this planet. if you don't know or don't remember egg creams - then this isn't for you - and you know who you are. DA BEST
One of my friends father delivered U-Bet and my Grandparents owned a luncheonette in Brighton Beach. I remember going over to their house on Avenue J and drinking a little bit of heaven. You can't make an egg cream without the old style seltzer with the pump and Fox's U-Bet.
I really enjoyed this wonderful story, hopefully this old time craft will last again into another generation. I hope so, as so many younger people are finding emptiness in the paper pushing money grind.
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum
I really enjoyed this wonderful story, bravo seltzer man
very cool story.. hope he has time to groom an apprentice.
Is there a difference to how this seltzer tastes? If so it's a shame that generations going forward (including myself) will never experience it!
nice film.
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