Ice... how did they make it in the 19th Century.... Maybe I am just being thick, but they didn't have freezers or compressors (I think) and whilst we take frozen food / ice for granted, I was wondering how they actually created ice in the first place, or did they ?
2006-10-22 20:58:52 · 9 answers · asked by Andy T 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
They did not create ice. Either they saved it in insulated ice houses (you can see one at Scotney castle in Kent) in the winter, by chucking ice and snow down a great hole in the ground. Or, if they lived near high mountains, they brought great chunks of the stuff down in the summer. It was a luxury and usually only wealthy people could afford it.
2006-10-22 21:07:01 · answer #1 · answered by WISE OWL 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi John,
My understanding is that in pre-freezer days, it was all down to nature. Wait for a lake or pond to freeze over, then hack it into lumps, and store it all in a cellar, or ice-house, in straw.
Should be still OK for use next summer, if enough of the stuff is packed together, although what they did with the mucky weedy bits I dread to think.
Bob.
2006-10-23 00:40:14 · answer #2 · answered by Bob the Boat 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is actually cool (get it :-) Because they couldn't make ice, they would cut ice in the winter and store it in ice boxes, which held it pretty well. Then they'd sell it door to door. Ice was a real treat back then in the summer.
2006-10-22 21:02:41 · answer #3 · answered by rkallaca 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They collected the ice in winter (before global warming) then took it back and stored it in a building with the base below ground level and the ice lasted for months there.
2006-10-22 21:05:52 · answer #4 · answered by Robert B 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There's an old ice store near to where I live. It's an underground chamber where the ice would keep for months after being stored there.
2006-10-22 21:22:18 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
In some places where there was snow/ice they would get carts and bring blocks of ice to the small towns/viallages/settlement and the people could get some
i think this is right sorry if it is not
2006-10-22 21:03:43 · answer #6 · answered by maddie 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
They didnt have the equipment to make ice, so they collected all they could during winter and employed various ways to "preserve" it till summer.
2006-10-22 21:44:02 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
they did collect it during winter but also beilieve it or not they travelled to ice berges in ships and brought it back
2006-10-22 21:08:33 · answer #8 · answered by orfeo_fp 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I only know that they used lots of salt to preserve meat.
2006-10-22 21:01:26 · answer #9 · answered by No-ni-nu 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋