# How Ice Houses worked before Refrigeration. A Linked reply from the suits thread **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 16, 2024, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941 "2024-06-16T13:10:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/21 "2024-06-17T05:37:56Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > The book’s called “[The Frozen Water Trade](https://www.amazon.com/Frozen-Water-Trade-Gavin-Weightman/dp/0007102860/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Y6DAE3YP5UGP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.13p3X4UKpLJMdWj3c_YDBxIgi2KIZipSWbsgIBBEZomiYz1m_qUbq6iTrC4hIoS7TB9W-GNw-JrnSSSPM7nEWiVLpPu7ftadMXKR6U20-Nm8CZRjs6ud9S8_tKaYgX-6FHbeoF763I8tFhy5hYrSn3dI2CF8dUimUlOBdbkoC3i3G5fuYagDvfUKGfnTZsKAFnGKYevh0q76HkeDxHt1zNhCG8Sba2_MCZxzeXqkLv3ilIIXe717wKv-8Li2AdT72TXc8O55I9jzngHJc5KgNWikSlHv0-wbYuN2IZzESFQ.QocHF02f3Jd3se3yNDUH1YJNX1Y9QZK1thI9eg8t7jI&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+frozen+water+trade&qid=1718573606&sprefix=The+Frozen+Wat%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-1).” Beat me to it, I came in here specifically to recommend this book. I have it on the shelf and have read it twice. Nifty little piece of history, and well written besides. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/22 "2024-06-17T08:41:46Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Both of our hands were covered with horse blood, saliva, etc. > [@kayaker](#): > > an equine dental specialist Tell me this dude was at least wearing gloves. Is this the 18th century? ---
**Author:** ![GailForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/23 "2024-06-17T10:12:44Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Where I grew up Colorado? I think I’ll take a nice refreshing glass of horseshit on the rocks. Reading this thread is thirsty work. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/24 "2024-06-17T10:14:03Z")
Worth mentioning a slight variation on the ice storage where blocks are cut from lakes - in southern Spain, where the lakes rarely freeze, ice was made by collecting and compressing snow, then storing this in large half-underground ‘[snowhouses](https://murciatoday.com/pozos-de-nieve-the-snowhouses-totana-sierra-espu%C3%B1a_5152-a.html)’, way up in the mountains. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/25 "2024-06-17T10:48:01Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Tell me this dude was at least wearing gloves. Is this the 18th century? What purpose would gloves serve? Protect him from infectious disease? Protect the horse? The horses mouth was repeatedly rinsed with Chlorhexadine solution, but is still a contaminated site. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/26 "2024-06-17T13:22:09Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > The book’s called “[The Frozen Water Trade](https://www.amazon.com/Frozen-Water-Trade-Gavin-Weightman/dp/0007102860/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Y6DAE3YP5UGP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.13p3X4UKpLJMdWj3c_YDBxIgi2KIZipSWbsgIBBEZomiYz1m_qUbq6iTrC4hIoS7TB9W-GNw-JrnSSSPM7nEWiVLpPu7ftadMXKR6U20-Nm8CZRjs6ud9S8_tKaYgX-6FHbeoF763I8tFhy5hYrSn3dI2CF8dUimUlOBdbkoC3i3G5fuYagDvfUKGfnTZsKAFnGKYevh0q76HkeDxHt1zNhCG8Sba2_MCZxzeXqkLv3ilIIXe717wKv-8Li2AdT72TXc8O55I9jzngHJc5KgNWikSlHv0-wbYuN2IZzESFQ.QocHF02f3Jd3se3yNDUH1YJNX1Y9QZK1thI9eg8t7jI&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+frozen+water+trade&qid=1718573606&sprefix=The+Frozen+Wat%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-1).” I read this quite a while ago, and also recommend it. Although ice houses go back a long way, that book points out that it was mainly a private affectation of some wealthy folks. Ice Houses as a business open to public purchase was pretty much the invention of Frederic Tudor in the 19th century, who had to spend years persuading people that this was a good and profitable business. Hard to believe today, but people actually had to be _sold_ on the notion of buying ice and refrigeration in the 1800s. Tudor’s efforts paid off, and he because wealthy. He built a sort of amusement park called **Maolis Gardens** near his home in Nahant, Massachusetts. One of the eccentric buildings is still there, on now private grounds. Here’s an old image of it: > **[File:Rock temple, Maolis Garden, Nahant, Mass, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rock_temple,_Maolis_Garden,_Nahant,_Mass,_from_Robert_N._Dennis_collection_of_stereoscopic_views.jpg)** ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/27 "2024-06-17T15:18:55Z")
FWIW, but I’ve heard that the strongest motivation for developing artificial refrigeration was the fact that beer could only be brewed in winter, because the brewing process necessitates cold temperatures. In the summer, the beer brewed in the winter before was cooled in ice houses and cellars to keep from spoiling. Refrigeration made brewing beer possible independently from the season and storing cheap, so it was a double boost for the brewing industry. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/28 "2024-06-17T17:11:40Z")
There were other motivators, too. As James Burke pointed out in one of his series, Dr. James Gorie of Appalachicola, Florida invented a refrigerator circa 1844 in order to cool down yellow fever patients. He got his patent in 1851. ["Dr. John Gorrie Marker, Apalachicola, FL" by George Lansing Taylor Jr.](https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/historical_architecture_main/3283/#:~:text=A%2030%2Dyear%2Dold%20physician,and%20artificial%20manufacture%20of%20ice). [https://www.phys.ufl.edu/~ihas/gorrie/fridge.htm](https://www.phys.ufl.edu/~ihas/gorrie/fridge.htm) > **[John Gorrie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gorrie)** > > John B. Gorrie (October 3, 1803 – June 29, 1855) was a Nevisian-born American physician and scientist, credited as the inventor of mechanical refrigeration. > His wife > Born on the Island of Nevis in the Leeward Islands of the West Indies to Scottish parents on October 3, 1803, he spent his childhood in South Carolina. He received his medical education at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western District of New York in Fairfield, New York. > In 1833, he moved to Apalachicola, Florida, ... ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/29 "2024-06-17T17:47:04Z")
The small town where I grew up was on the Mississippi River. There was an ice plant a few hundred feet from the riverbank. I assume that long ago, they cut ice on the Mississippi and stored it in an ice house. After they built the ice plant, they instead drew water from the Mississippi and used mechanical refrigeration pumps to manufacture ice year-round. Around 1980, I had the opportunity to see the inside of the ice plant, which I think had ceased production in the 1970s. At that time, the last member of the family that ran the ice business for several generations was using the the office as a painting studio, and the former cold room was just a big open space. I wish I had been able to see it when it was operational. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/30 "2024-06-17T19:48:54Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I was stuck assisting. He was working and telling me about his hobby, smoking and dehydrating various meats. He asked if I’d like to try his latest and I said yes, figuring he’d give me some before leaving. A veterinarian who dries and smokes meats sounds like a good combination. One way or another, you’re getting your pet back. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/31 "2024-06-17T20:09:29Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > A veterinarian who dries and smokes meats sounds like a good combination. _Not_ a veterinarian. A PhD in exercise physiology and a self-taught equine dentist who splits his time between a home in Virginia and one in Florida. Books appointments both locations. Very high demand, we scheduled him a year ahead. He examines horses solo. If he needs to sedate a horse, the owner (my gf) schedules their veterinarian to be present to administer xylazine sedation. The guy is amazing. He wears an intense headlight and a GoPro camera. State of the art power floating rasps that run off batteries in his vehicle. Really knows horse teeth, the veterinarian was impressed by his work. The day he did our horse, his next appointment was near Erie (a few hours drive). Afterwards, he slept at a motel and saw more horses the next day (Sunday). He works weekends and then has Monday to Friday off. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/32 "2024-06-17T20:35:04Z")
> **Summary** > > > [@kayaker](#): > > > > we scheduled him a year ahead. > > I am neither an expert in dentistry or horses, but isn’t a year a long time to wait with a toothache? How does that work? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/33 "2024-06-17T20:43:35Z")
Kankakee, Illinois, still had an ice house on its outskirts in the early Seventies, although it likely had been unused for a long time. It caught fire while being demolished and burned to the ground. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/34 "2024-06-17T20:59:03Z")
Enough with the horse dental work. Way off-topic. **MODERATING** Post hidden. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/35 "2024-06-17T21:54:59Z")
[Nope. Here…](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=Oj2HDEFk&id=00C22184A8E62849C74DAC8BACE73B76CB2D5657&thid=OIP.Oj2HDEFkLlnGbf4aSkDkjgHaFj&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR.3a3d870c41642e59c66dfe1a4a40e48e%3frik%3dV1Yty3Y756yLrA%26riu%3dhttp%253a%252f%252ffarm7.staticflickr.com%252f6205%252f6050349371_933472b260_z.jpg%26ehk%3d87A63UqXb4sdY1hJKcZMYmrcBszBRIlprJ%252fW56FkRmU%253d%26risl%3d%26pid%3dImgRaw%26r%3d0&exph=480&expw=640&q=tallac+cross&simid=608047033509680639&FORM=IRPRST&ck=E2787B2D9C27F1021315B803EA3416C1&selectedIndex=1&itb=0&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/36 "2024-06-17T22:32:36Z")
Is it harder or easier to use a blind link than to simply say where you’re referring to? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/37 "2024-06-18T04:31:34Z")
The Amish in my region still cut their own ice. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/38 "2024-06-18T06:05:25Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > [Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Jarvis_Wyeth), who worked with [Federic Tudor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Tudor), a Bostonian who shipped ice from New England to the Southern states, the Caribbean and even Asia. About two decades ago, someone published a book about him. > [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > The book’s called “[The Frozen Water Trade](https://www.amazon.com/Frozen-Water-Trade-Gavin-Weightman/dp/0007102860/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Y6DAE3YP5UGP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.13p3X4UKpLJMdWj3c_YDBxIgi2KIZipSWbsgIBBEZomiYz1m_qUbq6iTrC4hIoS7TB9W-GNw-JrnSSSPM7nEWiVLpPu7ftadMXKR6U20-Nm8CZRjs6ud9S8_tKaYgX-6FHbeoF763I8tFhy5hYrSn3dI2CF8dUimUlOBdbkoC3i3G5fuYagDvfUKGfnTZsKAFnGKYevh0q76HkeDxHt1zNhCG8Sba2_MCZxzeXqkLv3ilIIXe717wKv-8Li2AdT72TXc8O55I9jzngHJc5KgNWikSlHv0-wbYuN2IZzESFQ.QocHF02f3Jd3se3yNDUH1YJNX1Y9QZK1thI9eg8t7jI&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+frozen+water+trade&qid=1718573606&sprefix=The+Frozen+Wat%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-1).” Does it mention where the ice was harvested from? I ride my bike by Spy Pond in Arlington quite frequently. I remember hearing somewhere that it was a big source of ice, but I haven’t ever confirmed that. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/39 "2024-06-18T06:52:22Z")
The Ice Plant I knew of is now a bar. Called “the Icehouse”. It’s a bad place, on the river. Terrible things happen there. I often wonder if the people know it’s historical reference in there, jukin’ it up. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941/40 "2024-06-18T12:22:34Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Does it mention where the ice was harvested from? I ride my bike by Spy Pond in Arlington quite frequently. I remember hearing somewhere that it was a big source of ice, but I haven’t ever confirmed that. The book does, but I don’t have a copy with me. I know that several ponds northeast of Boston were used for Ice Harvesting, including Fresh Pond in Cambridge and Wenham Lake in Wenham. Boone Lake was in Hudson, MA, and there’s still a Lake Boone Ice Co. (which doesn’t harvest ice from the lake anymore\_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-ice-houses-worked-before-refrigeration-a-linked-reply-from-the-suits-thread/1002941.md?page=3)