When Ken Rush talks about the world of the seltzer man, he often talks about the communities they connected, one household at a time, across generations. Well, it took a comm...
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Barry Joseph
3 days ago
3 days left! And... magnets!
With 3 days left, we’re within reach—just ten more supporters would make the campaign a success.
That would allow us to bring Ken Rush's 1990s picture book back into print fo...
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Barry Joseph
7 days ago
Only 8 days left. Can you help us Bring Back the Seltzer Man?
We currently have 8 days left to meet our goals for bringing The Seltzer Man back into publication. But to be honest, we don't know if we can make it. We are nearly at 50% fu...
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Barry Joseph
12 days ago
Project Update: 12 Days Left! 50% funded & MUGS!
Thank you so much for supporting this project. We currently have 12 days left to meet your goal and, with your help, I think we can make it. We are nearly at 50% fulfilled - ...
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Barry Joseph
14 days ago
The Seltzer Man Add-ons Spotlight: Posters
One of the wonderful and unique aspects about this campaign is that Ken Rush has provided us the original art to The Seltzer Man so we can make related merchandise to extend ...
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Barry Joseph
17 days ago
The Seltzer Man Add-ons Spotlight: Jigsaw Puzzles
One of the wonderful and unique aspects about this campaign is that Ken Rush has provided us the original art to The Seltzer Man so we can make related merchandise to extend ...
When Ken Rush talks about the world of the seltzer man, he often talks about the communities they connected, one household at a time, across generations. Well, it took a community and today we hit our goals and fully-funded the campaign to bring back The Seltzer Man.
We can't thank you enough.
There is still a few hours left to get additional copies of this limited edition reprint, as well as related seltzer merch.
And soon, when the campaign closes, we'll be back in touch about the next steps.
Until then, thank you all once again for help to keep the effervescent story of seltzer from going flat.
With 3 days left, we’re within reach—just ten more supporters would make the campaign a success.
That would allow us to bring Ken Rush's 1990s picture book back into print for a limited time, sharing the story of Brooklyn seltzer delivery man Eli Miller with new readers.
Here is an excerpt from Eli's New York Time's obituary from 2020:
Long before sparkling water with brand names like Polar, Perrier and La Croix crowded bodega refrigerators and apartment dwellers used household carbonators to bottle bubbling beverages themselves, New Yorkers relied on seltzer men to deliver refreshment in clanking glass bottles.
Eli Miller, one of the last of the old-fashioned seltzer men, covered a route in Brooklyn from 1960 until he retired in 2017. Mr. Miller died on March 12 at his home in Brooklyn. He was 86.
When Mr. Miller started his business, hundreds of seltzer men plied the streets; when he retired, there were only a handful. Through all of the intervening decades, he appeared at his customers’ homes bearing a wooden box of pewter-topped bottles filled with authentic seltzer.
“It’s not the stuff you buy in the plastic bottles in the store, which has about five pounds of pressure,” Mr. Miller said in a video that accompanied an article about him in The New York Times in 2013.
What Mr. Miller brought customers, he said, was triple-filtered New York City water, without salt, sugar or other additives, pressurized to about 60 to 80 pounds per square inch — perfect for enjoying plain or spritzing into an egg cream.
Gregarious, well read and engaging, Mr. Miller was welcomed by his customers as enthusiastically as the seltzer, and he enjoyed close friendships with many of them.
“I’m the product,” Mr. Miller was quoted as saying in Seltzertopia: The Extraordinary Story of an Ordinary Drink (2018), by Barry Joseph. “It’s not the seltzer. It’s all about Eli.”
Mr. Miller’s longevity in a disappearing business lent him a splash of fame. He was profiled by numerous publications and websites and became the subject of a children’s book, The Seltzer Man (1993), by Ken Rush, a longtime customer.
In addition to the book, we also have a range of add-ons that take Ken Rush's beautiful watercolor art and apply them to other mediums. One are fridge magnets! An excellent way to remind you of the refreshing treats kept chilled inside. Get 1 or get the whole set. Makes a unique gift.
Please consider forwarding this to your friends.
And thank you for helping to keep the 2,400 year story of seltzer from going flat.
We currently have 8 days left to meet our goals for bringing The Seltzer Man back into publication. But to be honest, we don't know if we can make it. We are nearly at 50% fulfilled, but have yet to get us over the middle hump. We need only one person to do that. Might that person be you?
As you know, one of the unique aspects about this campaign is that Ken Rush has provided us the original art to The Seltzer Man so we can make related merchandise to extend his vision and the story of seltzer beyond the bookshelf.
This update will highlight the amazing new t-shirts. Ken created for us line art inspired by his cover which we have transferred to this shirt. We hope you like it! Eli's truck is brimming with seltzer siphons while the truck says "Eli Miller", "Seltzer", "Soda", and "U-Bet syrup". Eli is pointing up, at both his truck and title of the book as if to say, "Well, would you look at all that!"
Thank you so much for supporting this project. We currently have 12 days left to meet your goal and, with your help, I think we can make it. We are nearly at 50% fulfilled - can you help us get over the middle hump?
One of the wonderful and unique aspects about this campaign is that Ken Rush has provided us the original art to The Seltzer Man so we can make related merchandise to extend his vision and the story of seltzer beyond the bookshelf.
This update will focus on the mugs. We have taken three of the most evocative scenes from the book and wrapped them around a mug you can use for your daily coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.
This first mug captures the quiet poetry of New York at dawn—the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges stretching across a soft, glowing skyline, with the Statue of Liberty just visible in the distance. At the center of it all, a classic seltzer delivery truck makes its way along the waterfront, part of a daily ritual that once defined the city. It’s a moment suspended between past and present: industry, movement, and memory. A perfect mug for anyone who loves New York not just for what it is, but for what it has been.
The second mug option is bright, lively, and full of motion, this scene places the seltzer truck in the middle of a bustling summer day at Coney Island—complete with carnival rides, food stands, and families enjoying the moment. It’s a reminder that seltzer wasn’t just delivered—it was part of the rhythm of everyday joy. There’s a warmth here that feels almost cinematic: a snapshot of a city alive with possibility, where something as simple as a bottle of seltzer could be part of a perfect day.
The third mug option is fantastical take on the seltzer man’s daily journey, the familiar delivery truck lifts off the streets and sails through the sky, trailing a constellation of siphon bottles in its wake. Below, the city fades into the distance—while above, the clouds themselves seem to hold a secret: the faint, watchful presence of Eli, his face emerging softly from the sky. This design transforms a routine delivery route into something mythic. It’s a tribute not just to the work, but to the legend—where memory, imagination, and history blend into something larger than life.
Add on a mug when you reserve your copy of The Seltzer Man. Or add all three!
One of the wonderful and unique aspects about this campaign is that Ken Rush has provided us the original art to The Seltzer Man so we can make related merchandise to extend his vision and the story of seltzer beyond the bookshelf.
This update will focus on the posters.
Each limited edition poster is based on one of a number of pages from the book.
When you go to your add-ons you can select one or more of any of the following 8 images:
