Icebox

An icebox (also called a cold closet) is a compact, non-mechanical refrigerator which was a common early-twentieth-century kitchen appliance before the development of safely powered refrigeration devices. They were insulated cabinets, to which large chunks of ice would need to be added every several days to maintain refrigeration.

Before the development of electric refrigerators, iceboxes were referred to by the public as "refrigerators". Only after the invention of the modern electric refrigerator did early non-electric refrigerators become known as iceboxes. The terms ice box and refrigerator were used interchangeably in advertising as long ago as 1848.

Origin

The first recorded use of refrigeration technology dates back to 1775 BC in the Sumerian city of Terqa. It was there that the region's King, Zimri-lim, began the construction of an elaborate ice house fitted with a sophisticated drainage system and shallow pools to freeze water in the night. Using ice for cooling and preservation was not new at that time; the ice house was an introductory model for the modern icebox. The traditional kitchen icebox dates back to the days of ice harvesting, which was commonly used from the mid-19th century until the introduction of the refrigerator for home use in the 1930s. Most municipally consumed ice was harvested in winter from snow-packed areas or frozen lakes, stored in ice houses, and delivered domestically.