The Frozen Water Trade (BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week)

[Anson (Bob) Roberts]

This is a most unusual bit of food history.

The Frozen Water Trade (BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week)
Gavin Weightman
2002

Gavin Weightman's book (published in 2002) tells the extraordinary story of Frederic Tudor,
the man behind the 19th-century trade in natural ice extracted from the frozen lakes of New
England.

Read by Neil Pearson
From the Publisher:

"On 13 February 1806 the brig Favorite left Boston harbour bound for the Caribbean island
of Martinique, with a cargo that few imagined would survive the month-long sea voyage.
Packed in hay in the hold were large chunks of ice harvested from a frozen Massachusetts
lake. This was the first venture of a young Boston merchant, Frederic Tudor, who imagined
he could make a fortune selling ice to tropical countries." "Ridiculed from the outset by
fellow merchants, Tudor endured years of hardship before he was to fulfil his youthful
dream. Over thirty years he and his rivals extended the 'frozen water trade' to Cuba,
Charleston, New Orleans, New York and London, and finally - to the astonishment and delight
of the British Raj - to Calcutta, when in 1833 more than a hundred tons of ice survived a
four-month voyage of 16,000 miles with two crossings of the Equator. For the next fifty
years Calcutta, Bombay and Madras eagerly awaited their regular supplies of New England
ice." "Tudor not only made a fortune; he founded a huge industry which each winter
employed thousands of men and horses to harvest millions of tons of ice. Thanks to his
astonishing enterprise, iced drinks, chilled beer and homemade ice cream became an
essential part of the American way of life, and cooled the brows of colonial communities
throughout the world long before artificial refrigeration became available - after which
the frozen water trade melted away, leaving little to show that it had ever existed." In
this book Gavin Weightman reveals the forgotten story of America's vast natural ice trade,
which revolutionised domestic life for millions of people.

Gavin Weightman - The Frozen Water Trade 1[5].mp3

Gavin Weightman - The Frozen Water Trade 2[5].mp3

Gavin Weightman - The Frozen Water Trade 3[5].mp3

[Anson (Bob) Roberts]

Last two plus log

Gavin Weightman - The Frozen Water Trade 4[5].mp3

Gavin Weightman - The Frozen Water Trade 5[5].mp3

Gavin Weightman - The Frozen Water Trade Program Guide.txt

[Riklaa]

Thanks Bob! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rick

[Anson (Bob) Roberts]

This is one of the oddest business ventures of all time. The documentary captures it very well.

[semoshorts]

I remember hearing about this fellow in context of the popularization of bananas as a staple albeit tropical (and very perishable) fruit in the United States. The river ice made the weekly banana boat runs from Central America to New York and Boston possible.
Thanks for sharing.

[Anson (Bob) Roberts]

It's tough to imagine a trade in ice, given today's refrigeration. That's why this is interesting.