ICE

A lively history of ice in America.

Environmental historian Brady, executive director of Orion magazine, takes a wide-ranging, comprehensive tour of places and people associated with our frosty obsession. Frederic Tudor’s idea of shipping blocks of ice from post–Revolutionary War Massachusetts to Martinique and selling them didn’t go well. It went better in Cuba and New Orleans, where ice and liquor paired well, and Tudor’s ice-cutters and icehouses were a big success. Florida doctor John Gorrie’s experiments using ice on yellow fever victims led to his groundbreaking invention of a hand-cranked ice-making machine. Their use in hospitals and shipping was transformative. With the advent of cars, people could stop at their local ice dock, and icemen and their wagons, as popular as milkmen, were popping up all over in popular culture. In the 1930s, General Electric began manufacturing affordable refrigerators. A visit to Mount Vernon taught Brady about Washington’s slaves harvesting ice on the Potomac for his well, which fed his love of ice cream. In 1818, Philadelphia free Black man Augustus Jackson’s ice cream was a sensation. Ice cream peddlers became commonplace, and the sundae, iced tea, and Good Humor ice cream bar were born, as were electric air conditioners and cocktail bars like Manhattan’s influential Milk and Honey. The author also visited Bill Covitz, a master ice sculptor, to watch as a laser cut designs from massive blocks. In 1887, St. Paul, Minnesota, made a big splash with its 14-story ice castle, constructed of 30,000 blocks of ice. “Mechanically created ice could transform ice sports as we know them,” Brady notes, as she uncovers the indoor worlds of ice skating, hockey, speed skating, and curling. In 1949, Frank Zamboni unveiled his eponymous machine, which could resurface an entire rink in 15 minutes. The author also investigates why ice is so slippery, and she concludes her spirited book with a look at the dire effects of cold and making ice on an endangered planet.

Bursting at the seams with icy facts and trivia.