Ice cubes have been keeping our drinks cold forever, or have they? Ice cubes may seem like a necessity in life, however, we didn’t always have easy access to ice. In this article, we are going to look at the history of ice.
Francis Sun explains, that in the Mediterranean during the 1700s ice was collected from the alps. When this ice was collected it was put in “ice houses” which stored ice through the winter that would be used in the summertime.
This is one of the first instances of society collecting and storing ice.
Moving forward in time we see that in the 1850s special tools were being manufactured to obtain ice. As ice became a more popular commodity technology needed to advance.
Ice houses would become very popular in the ice trade. These buildings would hold large amounts of ice. Figuring out ways to keep the ice cool quickly became an important focus. This is where we see the introduction of refrigerators.
It’s hard to imagine what life would be like today if we didn’t have easy access to ice. Most people use it every day to keep their drinks cool, but it’s also important in keeping certain food cool as well. Next time you add ice to your drink, think about the history of how it was made.
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