An ice house is a building for strong ice throughout the year to perishable goods from decay and damage. In another word, it is called cold storage. Before the invention of the refrigerator, people stored ice all year round in unique buildings called ice houses. It is mostly seen in a wooden box full of ice insulated with sawdust and metallic materials. So that people can carry it anywhere like a refrigerator.
History tells us that the ice house was first found in Italy.
The concept for ice houses was brought to Britain by travelers who had seen similar arrangements in Italy.
People had been stocking ice in caves and holes since Roman times. The Oldest written articles in the form of a cuneiform notepad that dates from 1780BC record the structure of an ice house. It was found in the northern Mesopotamian town of Tera. It was built under the order of Zimri-Lim, the King of Mari. Archaeologists have established in China remains of ice pits from the 7th century. But there is also written proof that the Chinese used them before 1100 BC. Alexander the Great used them around 300BC. While it is known that Romans manipulated them in the 3rd century.
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The travelers saw the peasants of Italy collect ice from the mountains to keep food fresh and protect it from perishing. It is usually found partly underground. It would stay frozen for many months.
Icehouses are a basic form of a refrigerator of the modern age. There are many more names of Ice Houses – Ice Wells, Ice pits, Ice Mounds. These ice houses were made of cork, even seaweed lining with zinc, tin, or another metal. Ice Houses were built near natural sources of ice- lakes, and rivers in winter. In the winter, ice and snow would be taken into the ice house. It was stored for insulation to make it work like a refrigerator. It was also used for cooling the drinks and making cold desserts. Different categories and structures of ice houses exist. British ice houses were normally brick-lined, domed structures. Ice houses differed in design relying on the date and builder. They usually had a pit to take away the melt-water.
Ice Houses were in use widely until the refrigerator came. Only richer houses had built ice houses. Around 1660 they were introduced to Britain. Ice houses generally disappeared when the refrigerator became more common in commercial use.
Ice sellers also sold groceries and cold beer. They worked at early convenience stores and local gathering areas in Texas. In that period, they modified into full convenience stores. For instance: the famous US 7-Eleven convenience store chain was remodeled from ice houses that were maintained by the Southland ice manufacturing company in Dallas and San Antonio in the 1930s. They were first recognized as Tote’m stored. Today, some Texas ice houses work as open-air bars. It was often imported into the UK from Scandinavia until the 1920s. However, the import of ice declined sharply due to owing to the advancement of factories in the UK in 1900. Generally, large mansions had the purpose of built buildings to reserve ice. Some examples of ice houses exist in the UK. Ice houses permitted trade-in ice. That was a leading part of the early economy of the New England region of the United States. The biggest existing ice house in the UK is the Tugnet Ice House in Spey Bay. It was invented in 1830. It was utilized to store ice for stocking salmon caught in the River Spey.
Ice is necessary for many of us during the long hot summer. As winter creeps, the ponds start to freeze. Suddenly, it is time to play and ice makes a wonderful place for skating. In the past, it was time to cultivate ponds and lakes. In the modern world, ice gathering no longer exists. Ice can be made now with electric refrigerators. Food is easily kept intact with cold storage. But not so long ago it was a profitable crop. Well-known people stored the ice to consume in the summer. It was a desire for those who could afford it. It was only the wealthy people who could afford to buy or keep the ice.
Around 1806 Thomas Jefferson had a problem with his self-designed ice house. Later, it was imperative to catch the water that was in the ice house. Jefferson filled the ice house with snow to cover the ice and keep it from melting. That was not his first ice house. He also built an ice house at the President’s house in Philadelphia. Till then he did without ice in the country and bought a weekly supply in the city. In 1792, In Philadelphia, he subscribed to a summer ice service.
It has been uncovered in recent years and is on display. For Jefferson, there was no other strategy to nicely conserve his butter and meat.
Benjamin Franklin is attributed with cooling off the palates of the delegates of the constitutional convention while idle one evening. He secured cream from a neighbor’s cow. Then consumed his ice from the storehouse.
The scale of commercial Ice Houses was later utilized to supply businesses and hospitals. Specialists believe that this became common in London, from the late 18th century onward. Ice harvesting became famous. With a few tweaks in transferring it and conserving it, people began to ask for it. The competition began to sprout up in Maine along the rivers. Othe ice companies developed as the demand grew. Ice harvesting improved how Americans ate. Instantly after Mr. Tudor recommended ice in drinks, it became more and more necessary to have it. Ice harvests were either fruitful or hardly there at all many newspapers would report that.
It was an effortless way to keep meat and dairy products longer. It sure beats the time it took to keep with canning or salting. The tastes were reportedly fresher. While the ice business exploded, so too did inventors who strove to build ice. During the early 1900s, the Ice Trade was a very useful factor in the economy of the East Coast of the USA. It was most profitable in the New England region. Ice traders made large amounts of money by shipping ice.
In 1842, American Scientist, John Gorrie established a system capable of refrigerating water to produce ice. Whilst, it was a commercial failure, it inspired many others. Ferdinand Carre created an easy and relatively small ice-making machine.
During the civil war, the ice trade was disrupted in parts of America. Carre’s machine became famous. In the 19th Century equivalent of Moore’s law, these machines got smaller and cheaper. It became possible to provide refrigeration at home.
Without the necessity for big chunks of ice, In 1911 General Electric published a household refrigerator unit powered by gas.
In the 1920s, ice buyers bought ice boxes lined with zinc to protect their foods. There were magical, icebox cookies, cakes, and pies. The iceman was soon an important person in most American cities. He would drive in on a horse-drawn ice cart. Simply remove a nicely squared-off piece with ice hooks, push it into a person’s home. Then lift it into the icebox.
In 2001, the Icehouse was founded in recognition of the significance of this sector to the New Zealand economy.
Ice was transported in straw-packed ships to the southern states of the United States and throughout the Caribbean Sea.
There are many explanations that an ice house works surprisingly well. The ice blocks out the chilling wind. It is good at catching up with the heat. We can say that it is a good insulator. Life would have been meaningless without the concept of an ice house.
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