We take ice for granted. It can be purchased at stores, easily made in the fridge and restaurants offer ice included with cold beverages if desired. However, ice has not always been so easily obtainable. Prior to the early 1800’s, ice was something that either fell from the sky in an ice storm or that accumulated on the ponds and rivers in the winter. That is, of course until a man called Frederic Tudor, also called “The Ice King” could see the massive potential of harvesting ice off the ponds and shipping it to warmer places so that they could enjoy chilled refreshments.

In 1806, Frederic Tudor shipped his first load of ice to the Caribbean. On February 10, 1806, The Boston Gazette reported, "No joke. A vessel with a cargo of 80 tons of ice has cleared out from this port for Martinique. We hope this will not prove to be a slippery speculation."

While Tudor encountered many struggles along the way to realizing his aspiration, not the least of which was convincing people they needed ice in the first place, he did eventually become successful. After finally realizing a profit in 1810, he had a difficult time staying in the black thanks to war, weather, and family needing bailouts. Between 1809 and 1813, when not in debtors prison, he spent his time hiding from the sheriff.

Tudor employed many marketing strategies to convince people of their desire for ice including a "first one's free" pitch. People failed to realize how much they needed ice until they tried it. Once these people tried it, they couldn't live without it.

By 1821, Tudor's business had been growing strong. Demand for his product grew in Savannah, Charleston, New Orleans, as well as Havana. Nathaniel Wyeth, Tudor's associate, industrialized ice harvesting using a horse-drawn plow to cut the ice into large grids, which was a much quicker harvesting method. As Tudor’s foreman, he put an assembly process into place. Laborers sawed the blocks apart and put them into canals and floated them downstream. A conveyor belt would then hoist the blocks from the water and carry them up to icehouses, where they'd be stacked up to 80 feet high.

The availability of ice changed the food and beverage industry and ushered in the invention of iceboxes which, by the turn of the 20th century, could be seen in nearly every home, market and bar. The ability to maintain foods cool allowed the transportation of fresh food over longer distances along with the storing of perishable foods for longer periods of time. America’s dependence on ice eventually led to the demise of the ice harvesting industry with the invention of refrigerators. Household ownership of refrigerators in the US went from 10% in 1930 to 56% in 1940 and by 1960 was up to 80%. (Strasser 1982: 265-267; Cowan 1983: 196)

Homes, restaurants and stores equipped with freezers and ice makers have significantly reduced the marketplace for ice. However, there is a remnant of the ice industry selling bagged ice for use in portable coolers and for party needs. There is a small market for specialized ice such as ice sculptures and artist ice. We will take a closer look at artisan ice inside our next post.

Next time that you are enjoying your cool drink, remember the man with a vision that saw the potential for everyone to enjoy the benefits of ice in their home along with the innovation that made it possible.