The iceman cometh in Ridgewood: Our Neighborhood, The Way it Was

Until the late 19th century, homes in the Ridgewood area stored vegetables, fruits and cured or smoked meats in cold cellars. A few homes had refrigerators (ice boxes) but ice was expensive because of the distance it had to be hauled, and the expense of storing it for many months before it was delivered to the eventual user.

Although today we know a refrigerator as an electric powered insulated container used for storing food and other perishable products, originally a refrigerator used ice to lower the temperature.

During the winter months in upper New York state and New England, there was an ice industry where men using large saws cut blocks of natural ice from frozen lakes and rivers, and stored it in pine sawdust in thick insulated wall warehouses. The ice was then shipped during the