History of Portable Cold - The Ice Trade | Forgotten History

There was a time when tepid was the only temperature you could order a drink in. When did that change? When could we first enjoy cold ones, ones being beer, butter, or our bedroom? How did we conquer heat and come to survive summer sitting in our personal ice boxes? Let us explore the history of the ice trade, or how humanity learned to move cold from one place to another.
#history #ice #america #icecream #trader #trade #summer
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Media Courtesy of Wikimedia and Commons and KZbin Music Library
Further Reading:
Kistler, Linda H., et al. “PLANNING AND CONTROL IN THE 19th CENTURY ICE TRADE.” The Accounting Historians Journal, vol. 11, no. 1, 1984, pp. 19-30. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40697793. Accessed 3 May 2024.

[@buddyg1408]

The ice was above the food in an icebox

[@kenfenske5002]

True - cold sinks

[@beyondbattleforgottenhistory]

Good catch!

[@brokenrecord3523]

...piece of furniture that housed a literal block of ice. Below, food was stored inside.

[@Bobo-ox7fj]

@@brokenrecord3523 "...below food that was being stored inside."

[@DaisyMae-yn3lz]

I’ll take my ice with cream please!

[@fasx56]

I knew that Ice was harvested and used State side, had no idea that it was such an export commodity. Thank you for such a detailed and informative video. There are hundreds of these historical Jems on KZbin, such a valuable source of information.

[@beyondbattleforgottenhistory]

Thank you! Learning how distributors got their product from point A to B in more or less one piece truely was the most fascinating part for me as well.

[@paulmaxwell8851]

A fascinating trade whose history is, by and large, forgotten. And yet it was an enormous, highly important industry!

[@jameslovelady7751]

As a kid in the 1940s saw Union Ice Company trucks delivering to homes. Sometimes the driver would give you a chip to suck on. In 1955 I visited the old Ice plant which was driven by 15 foot tal 4 cylinder gas engines.

[@GinaLola]

Tudors home grounds were on the island of Nahant. My family at the time were on Nahant and known as Cod fish Aristocrats. We had begun a lucrative business in Maine Lobsters that were shipped by boat on the Eastern seaboard. Tudors ice was used to keep the lobsters fresh and very much alive. Soon the steamboat would become a major transporter of the seafood, made of metal this style wheel ship and use with the ice extended the distance that Maine lobster could be transported. I was glad to receive such a historical video. Very nicely done!

[@cassiuskoppenhofer5120]

High-quality video! Interesting and informative.

[@beyondbattleforgottenhistory]

Thank you! Glad you like it.

[@MikeH-sg2ue]

We have an ice machine on the kitchen counter. I have ice cold lemonade before me, currently! Thanks for the History lesson! Play carefully, & smile often!

[@QingChina1]

You're alive!!

[@nfrcomputers]

dude how do you only have 400 subs this is awesome.

[@ThugDollXO]

Agree

[@evilxeye]

I love this content, please keep making vids! You should have more subscribers 👏👏

[@beyondbattleforgottenhistory]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@bigsmiler5101]

It's fascinating how there were major industries in old times that no one talks about. The LOGISTICS (supply) of items that made a culture succeed should be taught. How many Western movies even mention the Ice Supply? {I think only "A Million Ways to Die in the West"} None of the train robberies in the movies mention the villains grabbing some ice out of the Ice Car--BUT I bet it Did happen.

[@beyondbattleforgottenhistory]

Truely, I think the most interesting part of researching this was the logistics, especially with the calculations businesses had to do in order to make shipping ice across the world profitable when your profits are literally melting away!

[@HandyMan657]

Well that was, cool. Thanks

[@beyondbattleforgottenhistory]

Glad you could come chill

[@davidmeeks2405]

Still waiting to win the Lottery so that I can simply have the Captain sail my Yacht northward until I can retrieve some ice from a Glacier which can then be chipped to chill my Bourbon.

[@beyondbattleforgottenhistory]

Allegedly, something like this caused the Titanic to sink...

[@alecfromminnenowhere2089]

If you continue this topic maybe a story on how they preserved the vegetables from the southwest to the northeastern states. About the ice production along the way that replenished the railcars.

[@beyondbattleforgottenhistory]

Good idea! It is interesting how in many instances with refrigeration distant growers were able to outcompete local farmers due to how economical transport had become.

[@Doodlebug-lk7nw]

Ice Cream!

[@R290s_biggest_fan]

Please do a video on early refrigeration

[@herzogsbuick]

i had read about this a while back, but i enjoyed how you put it all together. subscribed!

[@beyondbattleforgottenhistory]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@DaniTheDeer]

Near my town is a cave that continuously produces ice (somehow, could be magic for all I know) and it was used until the 1950s to provide fresh ice for the region. Now since its no longer mined for ice, the cave is completely sealed by ice and theres a lot of historical items trapped inside the cave.

[@jussikankinen9409]

Pyramids were ice houses

[@petercarlisle2927]

Great video.

[@QingChina1]

Ice cream on top! I hope that the next video will be about the history of fire. ;)

[@beyondbattleforgottenhistory]

You know someone will have made a fire cartel.

[@MooreRetro]

Oh! If you enjoyed the research on this, there were 18th century ice cream recipes for the summer. A great video on this is Jas Townsend & Son's Orange Fool cooking video titled "A Dessert Fit For The Washingtons". Also, what's the background music to this?

[@russellschumacher3409]

This is a great video on ice!

[@CrackaChin]

👍

[@chibiscuit7614]

I like my ice creamy! Other than that, I prefer my water without ice cubes personally. I can't say I ever considered its history but that was interesting! And wow, ice cartels. Have they made a film about that yet?

[@beyondbattleforgottenhistory]

We had a cold war but no cold film? For shame!

[@chibiscuit7614]

@@beyondbattleforgottenhistory Time for the newest Ice Age film! Ps: I love the title. All HAIL indeed, hah! :D

[@michaelsadventures4261]

Great upload.

[@beyondbattleforgottenhistory]

Great comment.

[@sagar360]

The ice house built my tudor in my city madras(chennai) - india still exists. Its called vivekananthar illam now.

[@meemo32086]

100 years ago, Florida had high death rates from hurricanes. The bodies were brought to the ice houses to prevent as much decay as possible. They needed to get the bodies ID'd and returned to family.

[@mayamachine]

my family made a lot of money shipping ice from Maine back in the day.

[@allmightygreat1892]

Cool beer🙂

[@jussikankinen9409]

Cold milk better

[@jussikankinen9409]

Old days there was 4 seasons in greek, last ice age when sahara was green, in greek stories they talk about winter

[@ralphmcmahan2139]

Just don't use the Stooges as your delivery guys.

[@beyondbattleforgottenhistory]

Or you may need a new ice box!

[@birddog3130]

Kill the Loud, Weird ,Strange music.....good by.

[@geese5170]

The intro made me thirsty

[@beyondbattleforgottenhistory]

Mission accomplished!

[@josh656]

We lost the recipe.

[@beyondbattleforgottenhistory]

Start with water, add cold

[@daleolson3506]

Kill the music