Always Has Been: Chapter 1: Impact of Electric Refrigerators on Ice Delivery Businesses

In 1934, the advent of electric refrigerators drastically altered the ice delivery industry, which had relied on harvesting natural ice from frozen lakes and rivers. With households adopting electric refrigeration, demand for natural ice plummeted, leading to the closure of many ice delivery companies and affecting numerous workers. This technological shift not only changed food preservation practices but also transformed domestic life, setting the stage for modern refrigeration solutions prevalent today.