The New Icebox

The next step toward increasing the variety of food for the common American in all seasons was the coming of refrigeration to the ordinary household.  Before the 1830s ice was used mainly for frozen luxuries like ice cream and summertime drinks in the homes of the wealthy.  By the time of the Civil War, the term "icebox" was beginning to be part of our language, but ice was a long way from affecting the daily diet in America.

With the growth of the cities, the ice trade in America grew.  It was used in hotels, taverns, and hospitals and by forward-thinking city dwellers with fresh meats, fresh fish and butter.  Ice came from frozen lakes, rivers and in small amounts by private icemen.  After the Civil War, Swift's and Armour's meats were refrigerated by ice in their railroad cars.  Before the 1880s half the ice sold in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore and one-third sold in Boston and Chicago went to private household in a new invention, the "icebox."

Efficient design of the icebox was not easy.  Thomas Moore, a Maryland farmer, used a box he designed to hold ice and butter to deliver it to the market where he discovered that the public was willing to pay premium price for his cold, fresh butter over the competitor's warm butter. 

Moore described his "icebox" as a tin vessel within an slightly larger cedar oval tub.  Between the two tubs insert pieces of ice, cover the whole with a hinged wooden lid, lined with coarse cloth and rabbit skins hanging down to cover the joint when shut."  The cost was about $4 and it allowed farmers to transport their product to market by day rather than only at night. 

Moore received a patent and allowed farmers to transport their own butter in small similar boxes without paying royalties, but for larger sizes, permits could be obtained from Moore in writing for a fee of from $2.50 - $10.  He didn't sell many, but he did popularize the idea of an "icebox" in any size.

Next time...The Ice Man Cometh
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Today in Pioneer History: "On November 11, 1921, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia during the Armistice Day ceremony presided over by President Warren G. Harding. It is considered the most hallowed grave in Arlington and is the tomb of an unknown soldier who had died two days before somewhere in the battlefields of WW1.  Today we honor all those who have served in the military for our freedom.