photo #6073739

In 1928, an Ice Man in Houston, Texas, pictured delivering a 25-pound ice block. Selling ice was a big business during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Ice was taken from ponds and rivers and transported worldwide by train or boat. It was then distributed locally by ice wagons. Frederic Tudor, the “Ice King,” started the ice trade in 1806. He began by shipping ice from New England to his rich customers in the Caribbean. As the years went by, he started shipping ice to Cuba, the southern U.S., and eventually to places as far as India, Australia, China, and South America. The ice trade was a big employer at its peak, with 90,000 workers and 25,000 horses in the U.S. alone. The demand for ice increased during World War 1, but once the war was over, the trade declined due to new refrigeration systems. By the 1930s, more households had modern fridges; by the 1950s, they were almost everywhere in the U.S. and Europe.