How did they make ice in the olden days (before refrideration)?

Question

I was watching a show on Masterpiece Theater set in the 1800s England. Someone was sick and they sent for a big pile of ice. Where did they get that ice from?

Answer 1

Those who didn't have the means or the wherewithal to store ice—which was most people—kept their food and drinks as cool as possible by storing them in window boxes, in spring houses where small streams ran through cool dark building, or even sometimes tied to lines under water in a lake or pond. As you can imagine, this wasn't terribly effective and many people died from eating spoiled food and/or dairy, most famously President Zachary Taylor who was said to have been brought down by a snack of cherries and cream eaten at an Independence Day celebration.

It wasn't until the latter part of the 19th century that refrigerated train cars came about as a means of shipping produce. The first of these were cooled by blocks of ice housed in insulating material (patented in 1867, I believe). Before that, all of the produce you could buy had to be grown locally. The invention of refrigerated train cars helped establish Chicago as the "hog butcher to the world" (because meat no longer had to be butchered on site and sold immediately) and California as a mass producer of "luxury" perishables (citrus fruits, peaches, avocados, etc.). The invention of refrigerated train cars made such an impact on society, that it is actually part of the U.S. History curriculum I teach to my 11th graders!

Answer 2

Ice was a valuable commodity before the advent of refrigeration and was only available year round to the rich. Ice cut in winter from frozen lakes and ponds was stored in bulk in large,usually underground ice-houses which were heavily insulated. By such means ice was kept frozen for summer use.

Answer 3

They didn't make it; they harvested it.  In the USA, most household ice came from the Great Lakes region, where it was sawed out of the ice covering streams, rivers, and lakes.  This provided some off-season income for farmers in those areas.

In England, the winters were colder and longer, and ice could be harvested almost anywhere in the islands during the colder months.

Harvested ice was shipped by wagon at first, and then later by rail, and each town had an Ice Dealer, who had built an Ice House.  Most buildings in those days were not very well insulated, but the Ice House had double walls with a couple of feet of sawdust, straw, or hay between them to serve as insulation.  The Ice House was usually at least partly built under ground.

A large quantity of ice stacked in there solidly would remain frozen throughout the summer, and there was some available right up until the rivers froze over in the late autumn.

The ice dealer also did business in other commodities that were shipped and stored in similar ways.  The ice dealer was usually an Ice and Coal Dealer, and often sold related products like whale oil for lamps, glue, tallow, and the like.

Households had insulated boxes called Ice Boxes that were used to store foods that needed to be kept cool.  The ice dealer had a driver that delivered ice to homes on a regular schedule.

It worked for Jane Austen, but I like my energy efficient refrigerator freezer better.

Answer 4

was it WINTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...

Answer 5

Ice was cut  from ponds and rivers in the winter and stored in ice houses. These were insulated. They used saw dust between the chunks. An ice man (like the old milkman) used to deliver ice to the homes to go into the old ice boxes that were used to keep food cool. Many older persons still call a refrigerator an ice box.