The Archeology of the Peel Mansion Ice House

DID YOU KNOW?

A ton of ice occupies about 35 cubic feet
The Peel icehouse could have held around 7 tons of ice
Four or five tons of ice was usually what a single family used in a season (information from Farm Structures, 1914 by K.J.T. Ekblaw, University of Illinois)
Ice could be stored in an icehouse for months, even in the hot summer months.
Sawdust, spent tan, charcoal powder, or what was called "braize," from charcoal pits, and oat, wheat or buckwheat chaff, and hay were used as insulation packed under and around the ice.
Icehouses were specially built insulated structures with ventilated roofs
Ice for the icehouse was best packed in freezing weather and as packed it was best to throw a pail of water over each layer to fill the spaces between the blocks
The inside doorway was covered with slat boards as the ice was packed and when filled bundles of rye or long straw were packed tightly into the space between the boards and the door
A huge industry existed in some northern states where ice was cut from rivers and lakes and shipped all over the country
Ice was big business: when manufactured ice was prevalent city ice plants competed for business. Kansas City had a price war in 1925. One company lowered its price from 60 cents a hundred pounds to 40 cents.
Manufactured ice for the family icebox came in blocks of 25, 50, 75 or 100 lbs
Ice was delivered to the home by individual ice men or companies by horse-drawn wagons and after WWI, motor trucks
Customers were given new ice picks by the ice man with their name on it ¢ The first mechanical refrigerator was invented by Jacob Perkins, U.S. in 1834
The prototype of the modern kitchen refrigerator was created in 1926 in Stockholm, Sweden by Georg Munters and Beltzar Carl von Platen
Electrolux Refrigerator Sales Co., of Evansville, Indiana made and sold the first actual refrigerator based on the Swede's patent
Old ice boxes were replaced almost entirely around the time of WWII by THE FRIG