A pipe for melted water ran from the ice tray to a drip tray underneath the icebox. The placement of the ice was also not standardised, though by the end of the nineteenth century it was generally placed in a tray at the top of the unit. 168) The means of insulation described above was not standardised fur pelt, hair, cork, wool, felt, ash and later asbestos were all used as insulating materials. and thus, by very simple contrivance, joints of meat are kept good for several days, wine is cooled, butter hardened, milk saved from 'turning', and a supply of ice kept on hand for the more direct use of the table.' (Quote in Ierley 1999, p. The interior of the refrigerator is provided with shelves for the reception of dishes, bottles, pitchers, etc. Of course while it is closed the air contained within it, being in contact with the ice, is reduced to nearly the same temperature and meat is preserved perfectly sweet and good, the same as in winter. By filling this space with finely powdered charcoal, well packed together, the box is rendered almost heat-proof, so that a lump of ice weighing five or six pounds may be kept twenty-four to thirty-six hours, even more, if the box is not opened too often, so as to admit the hot air from without. (Coleman The-real-keneth-williams-story Narrative 708)Īn article in the New York Mirror from 1838 provides a clear definition of the standard icebox: it 'is a double box, the outside of mahogany or other wood, and the inside of sheet-zinc, the space between being three or four inches. ![]() These figures are supported by recorded oral histories, which demonstrate that in Australia many families were still using iceboxes in the late 1940s and 1950s. By 1964, it was estimated that 94% of all Australian households owned a refrigerator (Dingle 1998, p. 124). (Iereley 1999, p.246) Figures for Australia are less comprehensive: a survey of appliance purchases in 1923 does not include refrigerators.īy 1955, refrigerators were recorded: 77% of all homes in Brisbane, 83% in Sydney, and 67% in Melbourne owned refrigerators. ![]() Figures from the United States show that in 1923 iceboxes outsold mechanical refrigerators but that by 1944 refrigerators were outselling iceboxes by more than two to one. ![]() Iceboxes continued to be used as the primary source of refrigeration for many families into the mid 20th century. In the United States and Australia non-mechanical refrigerators, known as iceboxes or icechests, were used to keep perishable food fresh. Ice was the principle means of refrigeration until the late 19th century.
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