It Wasn't Hard to be Cool in Bygone Days by Eden Monroe

 

https://books2read.com/When-Shadows-Stir

Apparently it was never hard to be cool in the past.

I’m talking about the time before iceboxes and refrigeration were perfected — and obtainable. In other words, the olden days, which is the temporal setting for When Shadows Stir, book two of The Kavenaghs series, 1870-1879.

Major cities benefited first in terms of electronic innovations, because while the majority of homes in urban settings were having electricity installed in the late 19^th century, that luxury was still not available in many rural areas until the 20^th century. So even if there were refrigerators, there wouldn’t have been any electricity to run them.

Nevertheless, just like the generations before them, people found ways to keep their food safe for eating without the use of the conveniences we know today. We’re all familiar with product labeling that warns us to refrigerate after opening, so how was food kept from spoiling in the distant past? According to vermontpublic.org, before refrigeration, food was stored for safekeeping in a variety of ways. Options included smoking, drying, pickling, salting or fermenting.

The cool interior of a root cellar was also used for foodstuffs with high spoilage rates such as milk and related dairy products, and of course perishable goods like vegetables, fruit, meat and fish.

Those who lived in colder climates had the easy advantage of an icehouse where chunks of ice harvested from rivers or lakes during the winter, were stored. An icehouse, or ice pit, was either cut into the ground, or built in a heavily shaded area out of direct sunlight in order to keep the ice intact. The harvesting of ice, initially by way of a long thin handsaw and eventually horse-drawn cutting machinery, was understandably very dangerous work, but the risk was necessary to meet the ever-growing demand.

As set out in vermontpublic.org one enterprising gentleman, Frederic Tudor from Massachusetts, even began shipping blocks of ice to hot climates around the world in the 1800’s, even as far away as India! To maintain the integrity of the ice, it was insulated with straw and sawdust, and kept in warehouses until it could be transported.

The icebox made its debut in 1802, although it would take several decades before it became a mainstream appliance available for mass consumption. Still, it has a pretty interesting history. According to jaxhistory.org, it was a farmer and cabinetmaker from Philadelphia by the name of Thomas Moore who devised the icebox to transport his butter to market. An oval tub with a lid made from cedar wood, it featured a tin chamber inside the cedar box. For insulation, the exterior box was lined with rabbit fur. A patent was issued to Mr. Moore in 1803 for his ingenious invention, and it was signed by none other than President Thomas Jefferson himself.

Once the icebox was refined and found its way into households nationwide, there was of course an even greater call for ice. Aside from an increase in ice harvesting, another occupation was created in answer to this burgeoning industry. Enter the iceman whose job it was to deliver blocks of ice, in the requested size, for the iceboxes of paying customers. A large block of ice (usually about twenty-five pounds) typically sold for well under a dollar, and business was brisk as these uniformed men with their large metal tongs, leather satchels and ice picks made their rounds. It was known as the ice trade, or frozen water trade.

That all began to change with the invention of the refrigerator, a complex machine that eclipsed all other methods of keeping food cold. Its timeline is set out in whirlpool.com:

·         1748 - William Cullen is the first person to observe and demonstrate artificial refrigeration via evaporative cooling

·         1834 - Jacob Perkins invents the first vapor compression system for refrigerators

·         1876 - Carl von Linde patents a new process for liquefying gases used in artificial refrigeration

·         1913 - Fred W. Wolf invents the first home electric refrigerator

·         1918 - William C. Durant begins mass producing the first home refrigerator with a self-contained compressor

• 1927 - The home refrigerator starts to see widespread popularity across the U.S.

And that convenience didn’t come cheap, again according to whirlpool.com. The first home refrigeration units would have been affordable only for the well-to-do. Prices of those early models ranged from $500 to $1,000, and to make that more relatable, today it would be the equivalent of about $6,575 to $13,150.

My father recalled his family’s method of keeping cool what needed to be kept cool on the family farm back in the day in rural New Brunswick, Canada. During the summer the milk and cream stayed fresh by setting the large metal dairy cans in a bubbling spring, ice-cold water coming up from the ground that provided just the proper depth and temperature for chilling. For everything else, especially storage for winter consumption, it was the unheated root cellar located beneath the house. Since hens tend not to lay during the winter, eggs were stored, pointy end down, after having been dipped in melted wax. They were also pickled in vinegar. Turnips too were dipped in wax to preserve their freshness, carrots and parsnips were buried in a box of sand to maintain crispness, and potatoes did just fine in potato barrels. Squash, pumpkin and cabbage also kept well in that cool dry environment. For beets, the tops were removed and stored loosely in damp sand.

Cupboards in the cellar were lined with pickles and jams and anything else from the garden that could be canned, including garden greens. A large stoneware crock held several pounds of dried fish packed in layers of salt, and sides of beef and pork were smoked and hung outside for the winter.

In the pantry upstairs, metal barrels held a hundred weight of flour and sugar each, and other necessities such as coffee, tea, molasses and spices were all stocked up before the roads became snowbound and impassable. In early spring they were equally as difficult because of deep mud from snowmelt.

In When Shadows Stir, it was the more common root cellar where foodstuffs were kept, and that included milk, most often drunk as skim milk because the high-fat cream would be separated and saved to make butter. Once enough cream had been stored and the butter was churned, everyone enjoyed the refreshing treat of buttermilk — the liquid remaining after churning was complete.

It’s also interesting to note that long before there were freezers to store it in, people made their own ice cream. China can lay claim to making ice cream in 618-907AD, while Italy began making ice creams and sherbets in the mid 1600’s. The process of whipping up a batch of ice cream became even easier when the hand-cranked mechanical ice cream maker was invented in 1843 (hubertcloix.com) by Nancy Johnson. During its heyday, well into the mid-1900’s and beyond, many enjoyed the fun of making homemade ice cream with this modern contraption.

My aunt and uncle had one of those old hand-cranked ice cream makers passed down to them and they used it to make a type of pineapple ice cream. Bar none, it was the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted. Period. Full stop.

Modern ice cream makers are easy to come by now, but if you happen to have an antique hand-cranked model gathering dust in the attic, this is how it’s described in ice-cream.org:

“This consisted of a wooden bucket that was filed with ice and salt and had a handle which rotated. The central metal container, containing the ice cream was surrounded by the salt and ice mixture. This churning produced ice cream with an even, smooth texture.”

I’ve been able to determine that rock salt mixed with the ice makes the ice cream freeze faster for a better result, and it must be continually cranked for at least twenty minutes. Some instructions say as long as forty minutes, but the determining factor is how quickly the ice cream mixture firms up.  When the mixture becomes really firm, the harder it is for the handle to turn and your ice cream is ready.

And here’s a homemade ice cream recipe (vaughnbarry.com):

2 Cups Whole Milk, 2 Cups Heavy Cream, 1 Cup White Sugar, 2 Teaspoons Vanilla, 2 Cups Fresh Strawberries (Mashed), ¼ Teaspoon salt.

 

Enjoy!

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