Granddaughter studying Eugene O’Neil asks “What’s an iceman?” provoking huge squirts of nostalgia from us “elders” who remember the guy with the stake truck and the big blocks of gunny-sacked ice on the tail -gate. Way back before we all had electric refrigerators, we had “ice boxes” that cooled food using real ice in blocks which had to be replaced as they melted. The guy came into our neighborhood every few days and we had cardboard “ICE” cards which we popped into a window if we needed any. He had huge tongs, a leather apron and a thing on his shoulder for hauling really big hunks. In the summer us kids mobbed the truck hoping to snatch a shard of ice to suck on as he worked each block in a bed of sawdust. Anybody remember what ice cost in the thirty's?

Reference ID: BX93247

Responses:

• Re: The Iceman Donna K. 01/09/2026 (0)