bubbler

[Herbert Stahlke]

Someone from another list I'm on looked at one of Bert Vaux's online dialect
survey instruments and found the following question.

    "What do you call a device in a park or playground where you can get a
sip of water? If
    you're like most people in the United States, you call it a drinking
fountain or water
    fountain. If, however, you live in Boston or Milwaukee, Vaux's survey
shows, you likely call
    it a "bubbler."

He posted the following:

Ummmm ... Actually, I believe, the "bubbler"  (type of water fountain) was
first created and publically installed in Portland by a man named Benson ...
(of Benson Hotel fame - one of the best I've bunked in
http://www.bensonhotel.com/) ... and it had/still has the distinctive
Northwest moniker of , "The Benson Bubbler" ... see -

http://www.vanderwal.net/photos/pdx0303/Pages/34.html

So then, why does Vaux think that it's only to be found in Boston or
Milwaukee?

forwarded by Herb Stahlke