Whew, prices have gone up a lot recently. Every time I go to the supermarket, I’m shocked how high my grocery bill is. But cooks a hundred years ago had some expenses that I don’t have, such as the purchase of ice. Here’s what it said in the April, 1925 issue of American Cookery magazine:
Keeping the Ice Bill Down
Exit the coalman; enter the iceman! That is how a well-known cartoonist typifies the coming of summer and the end of winter. And he means, of course, that no sooner is the item of fuel expense cancelled than the cost of ice begins boring a hole in the budget. Truly, a philosophical way of expressing a common truth.
The lengthy article contained advice for both icebox and refrigerator owners. Tips for icebox owners included:
- Keep your ice chamber filled. It saves the ice and preserves the food.
- A small piece of ice may seem more economical, but is it? When it melts, the food spoils and the walls of the ice chamber grow warm.
- Remove or place all the food at one time, as quickly as possible, opening and shutting the door but once.
The article also addressed electric refrigerators:
With the rapid development of electricity, ice machines are being installed in the most modern refrigerators. . . Mechanical ice refrigeration has come and is here to stay.
And aren’t we glad we don’t have to deal with this particular task!
What a fun article!
A lot to think about. Life is definitely easier now.
Years ago, my cousin (like a sister to me) inherited the estate of an aunt and uncle of ours who were childless. Out in a shed on the property was an old oak ‘icebox’. I bought it from my cousin, cleaned it up, and it’s now in our kitchen. We tend to take our modern conveniences for granted.
I always longed fir one of those.
We used one at my uncle’s summer cottage for several years before he got an electric refrigerator.
Sometimes we forget how easy we have it!
Thanks for sharing a ‘cool’ place in history!