In the days when people used ice harvested from lakes, did they put it in drinks? I'd think that natural ice would have some debris in it.
[OP]
Contributor
In the days when people used ice harvested from lakes, did they put it in drinks? I'd think that natural ice would have some debris in it.
Member
Lake Erie ice was used to keep perishables cold in the major cities nearby.
Search "icebox" or "cold closet" to view the appliance.
Refrigeration made this enterprise irrelevant.
http://oldtimeerie.blogspot.com/2013...lake-erie.html
Contributor
My grandparents and great grandparents had a general store in ME and would cut ice and haul it in with teams of horses. Stack it in a barn and cover it with hay to keep it all summer. Sold by the pound. I still have the stillyard scales they used to weight it.
It was sold to put in ice boxes before refrigerators of course. I don't think clear ice in the terms of us sitting around drinking ice tea was ever in their world. Ice was far too valuable to waste in a drink.
I think of it often when people dump half a glass of ice down the sink.
I look lived a fairly remote life for a short time where ice was like this for me. Putting it in a drink was the last think I was thinking of. ;-)
Thinking of how hard those people worked back then makes me feel like a real slug. I look at those very old photos and it always strikes me that you rarely if ever see an overweight person.
Member
Like the others said, I don't think ice cubes were wasted in a drink glass until the advent of powered cooling, for most people. I suppose the wealthy had a different level of luxury, but the ones I knew didn't. If fact, nothing that didn't need cooled to keep was cooled. I guess you make some different priority calls if you have to plan 6 months ahead for an ice cube.
Contributor
At the very northermost tip of Newfoundland is a small town called L'Anse aux Meadows. There is a truly excellent seasonal restaurant there.
Single malt on the rocks - the ice is from icebergs. The collect it, and store it for the bar to use.
FWIW - L'Anse aux Meadows is site of an ancient Norse settlement, dating to about the year 1000, thought to have been founded by Leif Ericson.
When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.
Contributor
Even today most of the world's people don't use much ice in drinks or drink anything right out of the fridge. US and Australia have been cited as exceptions.
Guest
i thought, given the title, that this thread was going to be about beer.
(we had an old refrigeration company where I grew up that had a cold house, but it went out of business once I was old enough to know what's what. It said "ice" on the side, and as a kid - born in the 70s - I always wondered why anyone would go somewhere to get ice. That was, of course, revealed over the years - but not by my parents who only said "that's where people used to go to buy blocks of ice")
Contributor
Many places still have ice houses especially at the large ice making companies that supply bagged ice to stores. I havent looked here locally but in my previous location you could still by any size block of ice you wished though some larger blocks would have to be pre-ordered. They sold massive blocks of crystal clear ice for ice sculptors as well as these large nifty blocks of ice with a hole in the center perfectly sized for 1/4 and 1/2 barrel kegs for your party. Back your pick up to the dock, slide the block on, slide it down a couple boards into the back yard a plunk your keg in the hole.
Never seemed like a great idea to me compared to a trash can where you could refresh your ice all day long but I guess the novelty was there.
I too thought upon reading the title that this was a beer thread but I cant honestly say that I have ever seen natural ice beer but I am sure it exists.... natural light is brutal enough, natural ice would make for a real doozy.
Contributor
during the cold weather [under 32 degrees ] your water would freeze if left outside
Contributor
We had a local ice company that delivered blocks to homes and businesses in a horse (or maybe mule) drawn wagon. Had sides painted orange with black lettering including address, quantities available , "crystal clear",probably "good 'n cold". I guess they wanted to provide light reading while it was double parked for each home delivery. Guess I need to add that it was the only non engine powered delivery truck I saw. An anachronism even 60 years ago. For early uses of winter harvested ice, I know they made ice cream in 18th century Virginia.
Guest
Oh...it exists. I've only had the displeasure of drinking milwaukee's best one time when a keg wasn't marked. Never had any natty or pabst products and was satisfied to rely on others' descriptions.Originally Posted by Mark Bolton
naturalice.jpg
Contributor
George Washington had one of the first ice houses in the country. I think maybe the second one. He built his because he liked ice cream.
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I doubt that George Washington ice house was the first in this county because the Eskimo build ice houses
Moderator
NH had ice houses in the 18th century as did MA, and ME. Cutting lake ice was a huge business in northern New England and ships carried ice around Cape Horn to the California gold rush in the 1840s. New England ice was also sold down in the southern US and throughout the Carribean. Even today there is still one lake ice cutting operation in NH.
Dave Anderson
Chester, NH
Contributor
This thread reminded me of a plane ride I took from Israel to Germany on Lufthansa, the German airline. When the flight attendant was passing out soft drinks, she put a couple tiny ice cubes in my glass. When I asked for more ice, she rolled her eyes, and said "Oh, you Americans and your ice".
My wife and I laughed about 'Brunhilda' for years.
Rick Potter
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