Refrigeration nation : a history of ice, appliances, and enterprise in America Jonathan Rees

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rees, Jonathan, 1966-

Series:

Studies in industry and society

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Refrigeration and refrigerating machinery--United States--History.

Refrigeration and refrigerating machinery.

Refrigeration and refrigerating machinery--Social aspects--United States--History.

Refrigeration and refrigerating machinery--Economic aspects--United States--History.

Cold storage industry--United States--History.

Cold storage industry.

Cold storage industry--Social aspects--United States--History.

Physical Description:

x, 236 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013.

Summary:

Only when the power goes off and food spoils do we truly appreciate how much we rely on refrigerators and freezers. In Refrigeration Nation, Jonathan Rees explores the innovative methods and gadgets that Americans have invented to keep perishable food cold-from cutting river and lake ice and shipping it to consumers for use in their iceboxes to the development of electrically powered equipment that ushered in a new age of convenience and health. As much a history of successful business practices as a history of technology, this book illustrates how refrigeration has changed the everyday lives of Americans and why it remains so important today. Beginning with the natural ice industry in 1806, Rees considers a variety of factors that drove the industry, including the point and product of consumption, issues of transportation, and technological advances. Rees also shows that how we obtain and preserve perishable food is related to our changing relationship with the natural world. He compares how people have used the "cold chain" in America to its use in other countries, offering insight into more than just what we eat. Refrigeration Nation helps explain one small part of who we are as a people.

Contents:

Introduction: The Cold Chain

Inventing the Cold Chain, 1806-1880

The Long Wait for Mechanical Refrigeration, 1850-1910

The Decline of the Natural Ice Industry, 1880-1910

Refrigerated Transport Near and Far

The Pleasures and Perils of Cold Storage

"Who Ever Heard of an American Without an Icebox?"

The Early Days of Electric Household Refrigeration

The Completion of the Modern Cold Chain, 1930-Present

Conclusion: Refrigeration, Capitalism and the Environment.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781421411064

1421411067

9781421419862

1421419866

OCLC:

841199082

Publisher Number:

40022775413