Here is an early DIY advice directed, to farmers and homeowners, on how
to build an "ice bin" in the corner of one's cellar, that I transcribed
from a footnote in an 1823 edition of the New England Farmer (Vol I, p
114):
p114 ... "For, with very little trouble or expense, ice may be kept in a
common cellar the whole season.*
* In the middle or one corner of the cellar may be built a bin. Throw
down some boards, and cover the bottom with straw; or, what is better,
the spent bark of tanneries, generally known by the name of tan, in
sufficient quantity to leave it a foot in thickness under the necessary
pressure. In the month of February or March, go to the most convenient
pond of fresh water, and obtain a sufficient quantity of ice, cutting or
sawing it up in blocks as large as can be conveniently handled, and pile
it up as compactly as possible in the bin, leaving a space of one foot
or more all around it; fill this space, and cover the whole with tan or
straw, and the ice, unless the cellar be uncommonly open, will keep the
ice the whole summer. Two men, and one pair of oxen, will perform all
the labour necessary to lay in such a store of ice in one day. Around
this ice let the pans of milk be set, and place the pots of cream and
butter upon it. Place two or three pounds of ice in each box when the
butter is conveyed to market."
Regards,
Bob Skiles
On 11/3/2014 10:39 PM, Martin C. Perdue wrote:
> IIRC, Megan Springate did an archaeology related bibliography on ice houses a while back . . . ah, here it is:
>
> <http://www.digitalpresence.com/histarch/ice.html>
>
> I also started an annotated bibliography of ice houses when I first began researching the topic for my dissertation, back in 1993. In many respects, although keeping ice dates back to antiquity and beyond, the ice house was a 'new' building type to many Americans in the early 19thC., in particular the above-ground version. I have perhaps several hundred primary references, most dating from the 1830s to the 1930s, with complete transcriptions for some of the smaller entries. As I recall, there was a lot of discussion about the importance of drainage and ventilation, as well as the merits of the above-ground type versus the dug-pit type. My (qualified) impression was that the above-ground, super-insulated type was more popular/accepted in northern states and the midwest. There was also a lot of talk about freezing ice for ice houses outdoors during cold weather in large trays made of galvanized tin (esp. in Iowa & the west, early 20thC). I was struck that several correspondents to agricultural journals said they had given up keeping ice as it was: more trouble than it was worth, drinking ice water in warm weather was 'unhealthy', and/or neighbors expecting ice-cream became a nuisance. ;)
>
> My focus was on the non-commercial ice house for the home & farm, though I culled a few entries that might be of overlapping interest (I didn't check to see if this is duplicated in Megan's work). The primary sources are in chronological order; I did this to better spot trends & historical development, etc. This may format oddly, as it was cut-and-paste from a Word doc. Good luck!
>
>
> Knickerbocker Ice Company. Wholesale and Retail Dealers in and Shippers of Ice: Builders of Ice Wagons, Cars, Elevators, and Machinery for Filling Ice Houses, and Manufacturers of Ice Tools. Philadelphia, PA: Knickerbocker Ice Company, 1883. [OCLC# 11116282]
>
> Barre, S. M. Cream Raising by the Centrifugal and Other Systems Compared and Explained: With a Full Description of the Plant Required and How to Use It, and a Chapter on the Construction of Ice Houses, Rooms, and Cellars for Cold Storage. Montreal: Senecal, 1884. [OCLC# 7784136]
>
> Hiles, Theron L. The Ice Crop: How to Harvest, Store, Ship and Use Ice, a Complete Practical Treatise for . . . All Interested in Ice Houses, Cold Storage and the Handling or Use of Ice in Any Way, Including Many Recipes for Iced Dishes and Beverages. New York, NY: O. Judd Company, 1893. [OCLC# 1828565; 122p. OCLC# 28031618 has date 1901.]
>
> “Buildings of the Murphy Power Co., Detroit, Michigan.” American Architect and Building News 92, No. 1659 (October 12, 1907): 128, plates.
>
> Corbett, L. C. Ice Houses. U.S. Department of Agriculture Farmers’ Bulletin 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1911. [20pp. Issued December 13, 1911. OCLC# 11633344 has date 1917.]
>
> Bowen, John T., and Guy M. Lambert. Ice Houses and the Use of Ice on the Dairy Farm. U.S. Department of Agriculture Farmers’ Bulletin 623. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1915. [24pp. Issued January 16, 1915.]
> Murdock, H. E. Ice Houses. Circular 59. University of Montana & State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (Montana), Agricultural Experiment Station. Bozeman, MT: University of Montana, Agricultural Experiment Station, 1916. [OCLC# 24168130]
>
> Cooper, W. H. “Co-operative Ice Houses.” American Co-operative Journal 11, no. 5 (January, 1916): 520.
>
> http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89047263504;view=1up;seq=538
>
> Ruddick, J. A., and J. Burgess. Small Cold Storages and Dairy Buildings. N.p.: Canada Ag, 1917.
>
> Ice Harvest. Washington, DC: U.S. Food Administration, 1918.
>
> Bowen, John T. Harvesting and Storing Ice on the Farm. U.S. Department of Agriculture Farmers’ Bulletin 1078. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1920. [31pp. Issued January, 1920. A revision of Farmers’ Bulletin 623.]
>
> Hopkins, Alfred. Modern Farm Buildings. c1913. Rev., ed. New York, NY: Robert M. McBride & Co., 1920.
>
> “Ice Houses Become Mushroom Farms.” Current Opinion 78 (April, 1925): 473-474.
>
> “Cambridge Plant of the Boston Ice Company, Cambridge, Mass., Charles Weir, Arch.” Architect 11 (1928-1929): 681-685.
>
> Weir, C. Leslie. “Ice Storage Buildings.” American Architect 136, No. 2574 (August 5, 1929): 173-181.
>
> Dawson, J. R., and A. L. Watt. The Ice Well for the Dairy Farm. U.S. Department of Agriculture Circular No. 155. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1931. [12pp. Issued January, 1931.]
>
> Grimes, J. C., W. E. Sewell, and G. J. Cottier. The Use of Ice in Curing Pork on the Farm. Circular 62. Auburn, AL: Agricultural Experiment Station of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, 1932.
>
> Baker, Clarence E., and I. D. Mayer. The Value of Ice in Reducing Fall Temperatures in an Air-Cooled Apple Storage in Southern Indiana. Bulletin No. 379. Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Station, 1933. [16pp.]
>
> Bowen, John T. Harvesting and Storing Ice on the Farm. U.S. Department of Agriculture Farmers’ Bulletin 1078. Rev. ed. Washington, DC: U.S. Printing Office, 1933. [25pp. Revised August, 1933. Supersedes Farmers’ Bulletin 623.]
>
> Dawson, J. R., and A. L. Watt. The Ice Well for the Dairy Farm. U.S. Department of Agriculture Circular No. 155. Rev. ed. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1938. [16pp. Issued November, 1938.]
>
> McColly, H. F. The Ice Well Refrigerator. Agricultural Experiment Station, North Dakota Agricultural College, Circular No. 65. Fargo, ND: North Dakota Agricultural College, 1939. [11pp., 23 cm. Full name Howard Franklin McColly, (1902-). North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station Bimonthly B v. 1 (September, 1938):6.] Abstract:
>
> This 11 page bulletin was based in part on work done by C. F. Kelly, a graduate assistant in agricultural engineering. Kelly began the work on this project and assembled his findings in his thesis, “A Study of Farm Refrigeration by Means of the Ice Well,” 1933 [see]. The author provides a design for a pit icehouse consisting of a square pit with the minimum dimensions of eight feet square and eight feet deep. The pit is covered with a small frame structure with low side walls (head room only along the ridge) and a loose board floor. The pit is filled directly with water to a depth of one to two inches daily during optimal winter weather (around 15 degrees Fahrenheit). McColly claims that a cake of ice six feet deep will last about five months and that the temperature in the pit will remain cool for up to three weeks after the ice has completely melted. He suggests lining the pit with shiplap or slabs to reduce crumbling of the walls due to the effects of moisture and expansion of the ice. For drainage of melt water in heavier, non-porous soils McColly recommended digging the pit one to two feet deeper and covering the bottom with coarse stones and gravel. He noted that in some conditions, “such as the rising of the water table, a sump arrangement should be provided from which the water may be pumped.”
>
> “CZC Treated Lumber in Modern Ice House.” Wood Preserving News 28, No. 8 (August, 1950): 101, 104. [Commercial ice houses]
>
> Secondary Sources:
>
> Anderson, Oscar Edward, Jr. Refrigeration in America: A History of a New Technology and itsImpact. Princeton, NJ: PrincetonUniversity Press for the University of Cincinnati, 1953.
>
> Cummings, Richard O. The American Ice Harvests: A Historical Study in Technology, 1800-1918. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1949.
>
> Cummings, Richard Osborn. The American and His Food: A History of Food Habits in the UnitedStates. Rev. ed. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1970.
>
> Denyer, Tom. “Folk Culture and Urban Political Economy: The Ice Houses of San Antonio.” Social Science Journal 28, No. 4 (1991): 425-450. [?]
>
> Dickason, David G. “The Nineteenth-Century Indo-American Ice Trade: An Hyperborean Epic.” Modern Asian Studies 25, No. 1 (February, 1991): 53-89.
>
> “The Ice Trade: Before Fridges.” The Economist [London] 321, Nos. 7738, 7739 (12/21/1991-01/03/1992): 47-48.
>
> Irvine, Kathleen Doe. “Of Ice and Men.” Americana 14 (January/February, 1987): 15-16, 19, 84.
>
> Jones, Joseph C., Jr. America’s Icemen: An Illustrative History of the United States Natural Ice Industry, 1665-1925. Humble, TX: Jobeco Books, 1984.
>
> Leschak, Peter M. “Harvesting Ice.” Country Journal 16 (November/December, 1989): 54-58.
>
> Newton, Beulah S. “Ice Harvesting – The Way it Was.” The Conservationist 43 (January/February, 1989): 24-25.
>
> O’Neill, Carla Jane Taylor. “The Ice Houses in San Antonio, Texas: A Photograph Essay of a Significant Social Institution.” Thesis. University of Texas at Austin, 1989.
>
> Posen, I. Sheldon. You Hear the Ice Talking: The Ways of People and Ice on Lake Champlain. Plattsburgh: Clinton-Essex-Franklin Library System, 1986.
>
> Rowe, Alan R. A Diver’s Guide to Historic Wisconsin Lakes. Milwaukee, WI: Rowe Publications, 1980. [OCLC# 6352489, Ice Houses, Resorts, Logging Camps]
>
> Scully, Margaret Eileen. “Miles Selden of Flowerdew Hundred, Virginia: Defrosting the Ice House and Tidying Up the Cellar. Is His Garbage a `Sign of the Times?’” Diss. University of California, Berkeley, 1986.
>
> Stewart, Don. “Really Cool Collectibles.” Antiques & Collecting Hobbies 96 (April, 1991): 30-32. [Ice Picks, Ice Trade]
>
> Sweetman, Laurence D. “Ice Harvesting on Lakeside Ranch.” Montana 33, No. 4 (1983): 52-56.
>
> Tangires, Helen. “Icehouses in America: The History of a VernacularBuilding Type.” New Jersey Folklife 16 (1991): 33-43.
>
> Woolrich, W. R. The Men Who Created Cold: A History of Refrigeration. New York, NY: Exposition Press, 1967.
>
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