I'll Take It

A friend at church had a house fire recently and now she is in need of a lot of things. Another family at the church had an elderly parent die and gave the furniture to the burned house victim. There is no humor in either of these situations, but it is funny how things came together to help someone out.

I was called the other day to help move the furniture from house to the other with some men from church. I happily went and started loading couches and tables. On our last trip we were told to take the "icebox" to her.

I walked to the front porch where it was sitting and saw a wooden box. There was a door on the top that opened to reveal a square chamber lined with a metal. On the front face another door opened to reveal a small chamber with one shelf. This area had some type of enamel coating on it. This was literally an icebox. An antique.


The block of ice would sit in the top opening to cool the insulated box below. A tube went from the bottom of the ice area to the bottom of the refrigerator. The wood piece at the bottom of the front is hinged so you could slide a water pan under the box. As the ice melted, the water would collect in the pan below. If you saw a puddle of water under your refrigerator then you knew it was time to empty the pan. In the photos you can see a small hole drilled in the front panel near the bottom of the ice chamber. Some models had a tap installed to drain the water out. I'd imagine this water could be used for drinking or cooking, and not just a drain.

We took the icebox to her and showed her what she was getting. She told us where to place it and said she was going to use it as storage. I told her to let me know if it ever gets in her way and I would be happy to take it out of her way.

When I got home I did a bit of research on the unit based on the metal name plate on the front. The best I could tell is that it was likely made around 1900 and sold for $10 including shipping.

I saw antique stores online selling similar units between $600 and $1200.

Not only did I get to spend a few hours helping someone that needed (and appreciated) it, but I got to see a cool piece of history. It also allowed me to take a few minutes and imagine life without the massive refrigerators we all now own. Certainly not an easier time to survive.