You don’t see or hear about orange soda stands or ginger ale stands, let alone cola stands. And root beer doesn’t seem like a particularly popular flavor.
Probably from A&W, which set up early fast food restaurants to promote their root beer.
I think McDonald’s is basically a cola stand.
This might be the right answer. But growing up in Wisconsin, we had Dog ‘N’ Suds drive-ups (with carhops!) and some one-offs. But always Root Beer. Or “Orange Drink” for that one friend’s little sister who had to tag along and didn’t like Root Beer.
The other answer is that Root Beer rocks
…unless you were trying to drink it out of those gallon-sized A&W “cones” (think Root Beer-filled megaphone) and splashing it all over your face.
Ahh, where exactly are these root beer stands?
They used to be more popular than they are now:
I’m not sure that there are any stand-alone root beer stands these days.
They started in the teens, and they at first served just root beer. Pretty much you didn’t see the early root beer stands offering food until at least the mid-1920’s
AS to popularity, it was all the rage in the second and third decades of the 20th century.
I see things like this at state and regional fairs. But, they usually sell a variety of things. I think Root Beer, along with funnel cakes, roasted corn, things like that, are just expected at these fairs. As tho they are here simply for the special event and that makes the item more special somehow.
Would I look twice at a vendor sign that said “Beverages” ? But seeing “Root Beer” or “Cherry Lemonade” seems to garner attention.
At the fairs there are just root beer stands. A big barrel on a cart and several taps, all root beer, no food or any other sort of drink.
I want one now, maybe I should go get one later.
Cool, I’ll look for one. We have a state fair in a couple of weeks.
I’m jealous – ours are all over, I was gone and missed Root Beer Floats, Funnel Cakes, and Deep-Fried ANYTHING Including Oreos or a Stick of Butter ON A STICK.
The Great State Fair of Oklahoma
I’m looking forward to deep fried lard fried in lard. And deep fried root beer. 
Is this a Northern thing? I’ve never even heard of a root beer stand. Never seen one at any fair either.
Doesn’t Orange Juliuscount as an “orange soda stand?”
An Orange Julius was made with orange juice (and other things) and not carbonated.
IIRC, root beer was once much more popular than it is today, before Pepsi and Coke went national and cola took its place. Many breweries turned to making root beer during Prohibition in order to stay in business, and as the automobile culture was just starting to take off, selling it on the roadside was a natural next step.
The shift to selling food didn’t come until later on, when soda pop became more readily available in cans and bottles, and a new revenue source was needed. A&W and Sonic both started as root beer stands.
According tothis page, in 1919 Roy Allen (the guy who put the “A” in A&W root beer) set up a root beer stand for a parade in Lodi, California. It was a big success so he opened two permanent stands, went into partnership with Mr. W of A&W and the rest is history. It wasn’t until 1971 that A&W root beer could be purchased in a store. It was available only at authorized franchises which eventually began selling food and other drinks as well.
According to them they were the first permanent root beer stands, the first drive-up restaurants with curbside service, and the first ever restaurant franchise.
When I lived in Monterey, they always had stands selling Sparky’s Root Beer at the Farmers’ Markets. Also, Compagnios, a sandwich shop just off post, sold about ten different local brands of root beer. So evidently it’s kind of a big deal in the Monterey Bay area.
Also, not directly related to the topic, but Root Beer in the glass bottles (such as IBC) is the best thing ever to drink at the desk, just for the O_o faces it inspires in passersby.
Great link. I was just at a Dog n Suds 2 weeks ago in Muskegon, MI. It was a lot of fun and for fast food it wasn’t too shabby. Theres also one down in Richmond, Il just across the boarder from Genoa City, WI where one of my sons live.