Ice on demand? In the U.S. ice is ubiquitous, but it wasn’t always so. With Ice, science writer Amy Brady explores a little-known chapter in American business industry, claiming the nation has an “obsession” with the cold substance. She traces the industry of makng and marketing ice to an erratic, early 19th century entrepreneur, Boston’s Frederic Tudor. The son of wealth had access to a well-stocked icehouse, one of the privileges of upper-class life in northern climes. (The servants gathered ice during winter and stored it in a cold cellar for the warm season.)
Tudor worked out the mechanics of preserving and shipping ice over distances by sea. Before long, the cafes of Charleston and Havana were serving beverages on the rocks. Next stop: ice cream shops. With electricity came refrigeration and ice, formerly an expensive luxury, turned common as water. Ice is a fun read even given the industry’s ironic downside: refrigeration is a major cause of global warming. Will new technology solve that problem, and keep America cool, before it’s too late?
