Ice before freezers?

[divegirl]

Hi, sad I know, but due to sleeping on the sofa at the momment [hand rearing a puppy!!!] I have been watching some really bad tv...including a programme about Mrs Beaton and a picnic recipe she devised....Anyway it says to take some ice, if available. My question is then, How did they make ice before they had freezers?

Many thanks in advance from a very tired and bored person...lol

Lisa x

[Shire]

Some big houses had ice houses in their grounds. These were basically big brick-lined chambers, which helped to keep the ice throughout the year.

[Ethel]

Following on, these big houses got the ice from their ornamental lakes during winter, and used snow and icicles to help keep the ice house cool.

The average person would not have access to ice, expcept in winter, of course.

[Clanad]

At least here in the U.S., I can remember, as a small child, the Ice Man delivering big blocks of ice once each week. Seems like my grandfather paid about 50 cents for a block that must have weighed about 30 to maybe 50 pounds. The Ice Man had a pair of large tongs to grasp the block and a leather lined apron he put over his shoulder to rest the block on as he carried into the house. He then placed it in the ice box, which was a metal lined oak box which would keep the ice for several days. On occasion, my grandfather and I would go to town and pickup our own ice. By that time it was made artificially, but my grandfather showed me the pond out back that he said was used to produce ice before the new fangled way. He said the pond froze about a foot or two deep in the winter and men with large saws would cut large blocks, drag them to the ice house with a team of horses and after stacking them, would cover them with burlap and straw.. he said they would last all summer... I remember the ice was clear blue and a chip off the corner provided by my grandfather, was a wonderful treat for a small boy in the South...

[divegirl]

Many thanks....excellent answers.

Lisa x

[Ethel]

Clanad - I have seen the iceman in old American movies and it has always fascinated me.

We certainly didn't have anything like that in the Midlands, not for domestic use anyway.

Thank you for sharing - and thanks for such an interesting question, divegirl.