A cold business. The man who sold ice to the tropics.

On March 7, 1806, a Boston newspaper informed its readers that the brig Favorite, departed from the city port, had landed on the island of Martinique after a twenty-day voyage. It was not unusual news except that the ship was carrying 130 tons of ice, and refrigerators did not exist.

The expedition was organized by Frederic Tudor, a scowling Massachusetts entrepreneur who founded his first company at thirteen. He was a determined, financially strong man, but he probably had a poor sense of humour. When a friend jokingly suggested that he trade ice with the tropics, he took it seriously. He wrote the same evening in the margin of his ledger (it seems it was also a sort of diary for him): “He who gives up at the first failure is not and will never be a hero”.

From local business to multinational enterprise

Since ancient times, the use and storage of ice and snow were known activities. Underground rooms for ice storage existed in China in 1100 BC. Ancient Greeks chilled wine and beverages during the hottest months, and water in frigidariums of Roman baths was cooled using stored snow. In the Ottoman empire, ice was sold in the streets, and some European travellers of the sixteenth century reported that ice was widely used in Persia. But no one before Tudor had thought of making it an international trade.

It was no longer a matter of transporting limited quantities of ice by mule or wagon, taking advantage of the winter cold, and storing them in holes dug in the ground (which already was a challenging task). It was necessary to organize shipments by sea, reach tropical countries, agree with local governments on taxes and duties, and obtain permits to build storage points in the places of destination (Tudor called them Ice Houses). Above all, it was required to find customers.

Cold, too cold, almost deadly

Although chilled drinks were so popular, there were all sorts of prejudice about their consumption. As early as the 5th century BC, Greek physician Hippocrates wondered, “Why would anyone drink ice water during the summer?” The temperature difference between the body and the water could have produced numerous adverse effects. Some were convinced (probably forgetting that physiological act known as urination) that adding ice to water was harmful because it brought more liquids than the body needed. Among the ailments that doctors attributed to the consumption of chilled drinks were paralysis, heart attacks, apoplexy and convulsions. Tudor had to convince people to believe that these were just superstitions. Ice had to become a necessity.

A slippery business

However, the main problem of that first voyage to Martinique was not the lack of consumers. By the time he reached his destination, more than 80% of the ice had melted. Tudor reported a loss of $4500 (over $100,000 today). But he was not discouraged and spent months experimenting with new methods of storing ice during the voyage. He tried using straw (as the ancient Romans did), wrapping the blocks in wool blankets, and submerging them in rice grains. Finally, he determined the ice had to be packed with sawdust and remain under the shipping line, the coolest part of the ship. The following year he shipped a new cargo of ice to Cuba, and this time 50% of it arrived at its destination. The financial losses were still too significant, but Tudor saw this other failure as a way to improve future shipping. In just a few years, “The Ice King” (as the newspapers now called him) started a profitable trade with several areas of South America, Madagascar and India. The first ice cream ever eaten in Calcutta was produced with ice coming from Massachusetts. Because of the hot climate, ice was considered a luxury good in these countries and was sold at a high price, which covered the losses, now counted as “calculated risk”.

Walden, or life in the woods

To meet the growing demand, Tudor also invented new methods of extracting the ice. But the production process remained the same as two thousand years before. The sheets were made by cutting the surface from lakes that froze during the winter, of which New England was rich. As American writer and poet Henry David Thoreau noticed, it was a bustling business. While living in his cabin on the banks of Walden Pond, he was awakened by “hundred men of Hyperborean extraction swoop down on to our pond one morning, with many car-loads of ungainly-looking farming tools, sleds, ploughs, drill-barrows, turf-knives, spades, saws, rakes”. After taking refuge in the woods to escape the hustle and bustle of cities stifled by industrialization, Thoreau was now facing a new kind of industry.

So pure, so clear

Tudor’s success cleared the way for several competitors, including the Wenham Lake Ice Company. While the Boston entrepreneur had managed to secure monopoly agreements with many tropical countries, Wenham Lake Ice was most famous in Great Britain. Every morning, dozens of curious people gathered in front of the American company’s branch at 125 Strand to admire the enormous block of ice displayed in the window. No one had ever seen one so large, at least not in central London. It was said to be so transparent that, looking through it, one could easily read a newspaper. This was due to the exceptionally pure waters of Lake Wenham. But the real success of the Wenham Lake Ice Company was because it supplied the British royal family. As a result, their ice was popular in London’s upscale establishments and at the parties of royalty who wanted to wow their guests by offering them chilled drinks like Queen Victoria did. Later, to maximize profits, the company began selling ice extracted from Lake Oppegård, Norway, under the brand name Wenham Lake, and it seems no one ever noticed the difference.

The cold chain

Tudor had hoped to increase profits from the beginning of his business venture by making ice a mainstream product. However, the costs of extraction, transportation and storage remained too high. To amortize expenses, Tudor transported other goods, such as ink, tobacco, clothing, apples, salmon, and lobsters, along with the ice. Perishable goods, previously consumed only at the point of production, were becoming available internationally through refrigeration.

In 1856, Massachusetts ice experienced its best year. More than 146,000 tons were exported around the world. But by the 1860s, the economic activity invented by Tudor had already declined. In 1876, the brig Le frigorifique transported a cargo of meat from Argentina to France for the first time. It was now the era of artificial refrigeration.

To know more:

• Philip Chadwick Foster Smith. «Crystal Blocks of Yankee Coldness», 1894.
• Linda H. Kistler, Clairmont P. Carter, e Brackston Hinchey. «Planning and Control in the 19th Century Ice Trade». The Accounting Historians Journal 11, n. 1 (1984): 19–30.
• Jonathan Rees. Refrigeration Nation: A History of Ice, Appliances, and Enterprise in America. Studies in Industry and Society. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013.

Pictures: Flickr (Creative Commons, Wikipedia (Public domain), Pycryl.com (Public domain), Ballou Pictorial Newspaper (public domain).