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

Only when the power goes off and food spoils do we truly appreciate how much we rely on refrigerators and freezers. In this book, the author 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 cons...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rees, Jonathan, 1966-
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Baltimore : The Johns Hopkins University Press, [2014]
Series:Studies in industry and society.
Subjects:
Online Access:DE-862
DE-863
Summary:Only when the power goes off and food spoils do we truly appreciate how much we rely on refrigerators and freezers. In this book, the author 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. Beginning with the natural ice industry in 1806, the author considers a variety of factors that drove the industry, including the point and product of consumption, issues of transportation, and technological advances. This book also shows that how we obtain and preserve perishable food is related to our changing relationship with the natural world.
Physical Description:1 online resource
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:1421411075
9781421411071

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