[PW] refrigerators vs ice boxes

[Israel Cohen]

>  And in a separate and unrelated question, I see an old 1885 advertisement
> in a newspaper, offering both "ice boxes" and "refrigerators" (for home use).
> So what was the difference, in the days before electricity?
> Allen

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Refrigerator.html

>> ... in 1844 an American doctor named John Gorrie actually built a
very similar machine to provide ice for the hospital in which he
worked. Gorrie's machine compressed air that was next cooled with
water. The cooled air was then routed into an engine cylinder, and, as
it re-expanded, its temperature dropped enough so that ice could be
made. In 1856 another American, Alexander Twinning, began selling a
refrigeration machine based on the same vapor-compression principle,
and soon after that Australian James Harrison enlarged the American
design (meant to be used in individual homes) for the meat-packing and
beer-making industries. <<

BTW, I attended John Gorrie junior high school in Jacksonville, Florida.

We still had an icebox at home when I started going to grammar school.
Once a day the iceman sold us a 5 or 10 pound block of ice. He also
sold "dry ice" (frozen carbon dioxide) and would give us kids chips of
dry ice to play with. The dry ice made weird noises and foamy bubbles
when placed in water.

People look at me strangely when I use the word "icebox" when talking
about a refrigerator.

izzy