2007-07-22 11:44:08 · 9 answers · asked by Nick F 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
I think they had ice delivery men. Ice could be produced by endothermic chemical reactions. No need for electricity.
2007-07-22 11:49:17 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Imported it.
New York has some pretty cold mountains so New York City could get fresh ice and when the TV was first invented many people had an Ice Box, with daily delivery by the Ice Man. They didn't have a refrigerator like we do now days. You can see exactly such an icebox on most episodes of the Honeymooners. A TV series that was one of the earliest made that is still broadcast today.
If you collect a lot of ice and move it quickly to market then you can save enough of the cargo from melting to sell the ice. For a long time this was done, but it depended on the area.
In a famous incident in a battle of the Crusades King Richard was sick. Back then flu could be life threatening. The Arab commander on the opposing side heard of this and used runners to bring King Richard a snow cone to make him feel better. In today's dollars that Arab would have spent the equivalent of thousands of dollars just to get that snow cone, and it was as rare as diamonds in the area where the battle was being fought.
2007-07-22 11:52:18 · answer #2 · answered by Dan S 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In the prairie regions of N.America rural farmers use to cut ice blocks from frozen ponds/lakes then store them in ice houses. These were sheds built over a hole in the ground that could be 10-15 ft deep. Ice was put in layers with a good covering of sawdust between to insulate the ice and it would last during the whole summer until freeze-up in the fall.
2007-07-22 15:59:17 · answer #3 · answered by dmey1967 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It was chopped from the ice in the mountains and brought down and kept in an insulated container in an ice house.
2007-07-22 11:47:11 · answer #4 · answered by Joseph F 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They cut it from iced over ponds.
2007-07-22 16:04:18 · answer #5 · answered by producer_vortex 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ice blocks were cut from ponds in the winter and stored in insulated warehouses.
2007-07-22 11:51:39 · answer #6 · answered by mechnginear 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
ice makers, they brought it every day. ask the guys from car talk on npr, that was her Dad's job, they described the work.
2007-07-22 11:47:06 · answer #7 · answered by innocentANDpc 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
they used to cut it from frozen lakes
2007-07-22 11:48:56 · answer #8 · answered by JF 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Same way they do it now, they have it shipped in from Antarctica.
2007-07-22 11:47:31 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋