# Did your family have an ice pick when you were little? Kept in a junk drawer in the kitchen? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 27, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635 "2010-08-27T05:06:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/41 "2010-08-27T19:06:31Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > šŸ˜• hasnā€™t the OP ever bought a block of ice for a ice chest? You need a ice pick to break it into pieces. šŸ˜• If you need pieces of ice, why wouldnā€™t you just buy a bag of ice cubes or chips, rather than buying a block and processing it yourself? Not to mention that Iā€™ve never actually seen blocks for sale, just cubes, chips, etc. And that Iā€™ve never been in the situation where I needed a big block of ice. And that when friends have frozen their own water in big blocks, they simply put it in a bag and drop it on the ground, effectively breaking it into pieces without the use of a pick. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/42 "2010-08-27T19:10:46Z")
ice pick - then & now (Iā€™m sure it still resides in a drawer at my folkā€™s house) junk drawer - then & now (ourā€™s is pick free) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/43 "2010-08-28T02:21:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Itā€™s just one of those objects I NEVER think about buying until the moment I need it. OK, right now, start a new list in Notepad. Put icepick and potato masher on it. Seriously. I keep a ā€œdry goodsā€ shopping list on my computer, and also a grocery list, plus my master grocery list of things that we buy fairly often. > [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > We have several junk drawers, thanks to IKEA! > > We also have an ice pick and a potato masher. God knows when the power goes out the taters may rise up and need to be mashed! What do you use to mash your potatoes with, if not a potato masher? When our daughter moved out and took our tater masher with her, it was a royal PITA to make mashed taters without the masher. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/44 "2010-08-28T03:41:27Z")
Finally having googled ā€œice pickā€, Iā€™m really none the wiser. Apparently they were for breaking up ice back before refrigerators were invented. Do you people own spinning wheels and scrubbing boards too? ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/45 "2010-08-28T06:37:16Z")
My mother has her auntā€™s Singer sewing machine; itā€™s the kind that flips out of a wooden base, and is driven by a big treadle. It still works. šŸ™‚ I forgot to mention upthread ā€“ both of my ice picks have wooden handles with no signs of paint or other markings. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/46 "2010-08-28T06:50:11Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > What do you use to mash your potatoes with, if not a potato masher? When our daughter moved out and took our tater masher with her, it was a royal PITA to make mashed taters without the masher. A hand-press ricer, of course. šŸ˜› > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Do you people own spinning wheels and scrubbing boards too? I know people with both - And that use them. When I was younger, scrubbing boards were rare, but not so rare as to be remarkable. But then I knew people with outhouses, too. And spinning is now seen as a high-value craft art. Hell, the HBIC at the Boarder Collie rescue where I volunteer has an entire flock of sheep _specifically_ for their wool, so she can sell it to the hand-spinning market. It pays well enough to support the flock, and more. Hell, come to think of itā€¦ _She_ has a scrubbing board. But no outhouse. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/47 "2010-08-28T06:52:05Z")
Yep, I had an ice pick and washboard. We also had a bottle opener and corkscrew, although I never, ever saw a container that needed either one (we liked our cans.) One thing I havenā€™t seen in forever is a [jar opener](http://homedecormadeeasy.com/images/JarOpener.jpg). I swear, that was my favorite thing in the house. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/48 "2010-08-28T06:54:07Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > One thing I havenā€™t seen in forever is a [jar opener](http://homedecormadeeasy.com/images/JarOpener.jpg). I swear, that was my favorite thing in the house. Not that style, but my mother has one. We kids are all eyeing each other to see who will make the first grab for it when she passes on. ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/49 "2010-08-28T07:35:26Z")
Yes, we had an ice pick. And a junk drawer. But the ice pick was in the ā€œbig utensilā€ drawer, not the junk drawer. Batteries, 3x5 cards, old keys, and broken stuff lived in the junk drawer. I mostly used it for opening locked doors - the little hole for non-keyed locked doors is perfect for an ice pick. I have the ice pick, now. It has a wooden handle, and advertises some California ice company, with a phone number that starts with letters. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/50 "2010-08-28T16:16:02Z")
Yeah, we had a wood-handled ice pick that we kept in an overstuffed junk drawer. I have no such pick now. And, until I read the OP, I didnā€™t even realize that I have no Drawer 'O Junk either. mmm ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/51 "2010-08-28T18:05:02Z")
I saw an old-school ice pick at an estate sale today. It even had the name of the ice delivery company and its six digit telephone number on it. It was about the size of a medium-sized screwdriver. It would have made an excellent shiv. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/52 "2010-08-29T17:01:03Z")
Yes! Hadnā€™t thought about it in years. We have a junk drawer, but no ice pick in it. We do have an all metal jar opener in there that isnā€™t at all helpful. The drawer with the pick was in my grandparentsā€™ house. I never saw it used for ice. Gram used it to make a new hole in a belt or purse strap, and to poke/scrape gunk out things like the logo plate on the blender. Iā€™ve used block ice, but only on camping trips. I usually use the hammer I use for tent stakes to chunk it up. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/53 "2010-08-29T17:38:11Z")
We had an ice pick in the metal Colman cooler. It was held in itā€™s bracket on the inside cover with a bottle opener held with the same bracket. There was also a bottle opener as part of the handle bracket. At sometime the ice pick went in the kitchen drawer before we threw out the rusted out cooler. It did get used when we could only get block ice and not cubes. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/54 "2010-08-29T17:54:37Z")
Yeah, there was an ice pick in the house. Iā€™m not sure where it was kept, maybe in a drawer, maybe in the tool box. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/55 "2010-08-29T18:08:57Z")
Can you still buy block ice? 15 years or so ago I lived in central-ish Maine and spent a good chunk of 2 years living in an ancient shortie school bus outfitted as a low-rent RV. It had squashed-caterpillar green shag carpet on the walls and floor LOL. It also had an icebox. Same size and dimensions as a dorm room fridge, but no electricity. I used to buy blocks of ice for it, they melt much slower than the cubed version. It was a serious bummer though when I mis-timed my shopping trips and the last of the milk was curdled when I poured it in my tea. I canā€™t remember the last time I saw ice blocks for sale. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/56 "2010-08-30T13:34:09Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Itā€™s just one of those objects I NEVER think about buying until the moment I need it. > > OK, right now, start a new list in Notepad. Put icepick and potato masher on it. Seriously. I keep a ā€œdry goodsā€ shopping list on my computer, and also a grocery list, plus my master grocery list of things that we buy fairly often. > > > [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > > > We have several junk drawers, thanks to IKEA! > > > > We also have an ice pick and a potato masher. God knows when the power goes out the taters may rise up and need to be mashed! > > What do you use to mash your potatoes with, if not a potato masher? When our daughter moved out and took our tater masher with her, it was a royal PITA to make mashed taters without the masher. Mixer. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/57 "2010-08-30T13:39:38Z")
Iā€™ve had bad luck with making mashed potatoes in the mixer. They seem to get too stiff, the beating action does something to the gluten? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/58 "2010-08-30T13:53:35Z")
Best use of the ice pick we kept in our kitchen stuff drawer when I was growing up was: Poking a hole through the unopened bottle cap of a bottle of coke or other soda of your choice. Drinking Coca-cola through a hole in the bottle cap is a vivid childhood memory of mine. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/59 "2010-08-30T14:07:28Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Iā€™ve had bad luck with making mashed potatoes in the mixer. They seem to get too stiff, the beating action does something to the gluten? Nitpick: there is no gluten in potatoes. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635/60 "2010-08-30T14:16:06Z")
> [@saje](#): > > Can you still buy block ice? > > (snip) > > I canā€™t remember the last time I saw ice blocks for sale. Easy to find around here. Just about every grocery store has it. You might have to ask somebody where they stash it, but itā€™s there. We use it camping all the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-family-have-an-ice-pick-when-you-were-little-kept-in-a-junk-drawer-in-the-kitchen/551635.md?page=4)