I’m curious about the really old ice boxes, but I was really wondering about the ones from the 1800s that relied on coolant and some form of evaporation.
I can’t really picture how old is physics work without electricity.
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There were cool boxes that used evaporation of water sometimes called a pot in pot cooler. They were made of two pots; an inner metal or glazed ceramic pot which held the food and an outer pot made of porous unglazed pottery. The outer pot is wetted, or damp material like sand is placed between the two pots. As water evaporates from the outer surface of the outermost pot, it pulls heat from the pot, cooling the contents, it will keep things relatively cool until the water all evaporates. It’s the same principle how sweating keeps you cool.
The original iceboxes were literally well-insulated boxes with a drawer at the top in which a large chunk of ice was stored. It cooled the air in the box and kept the food chilled. You’d have to empty a drip tray every day or so. As for the ice – there’s a good chance it was shipped all the way from New Hampshire and the people who handled that trade became incredibly rich.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_trade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_trade)
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