Ice, ice daily: When Dallas had ice delivered - The Dallas Morning News

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Editor’s note: Take a look back into The Dallas Morning News Archives.

Today, most North Texas residents who need ice can walk to their freezer and press a button or simply grab a bag at the local convenience store.

But over a century ago, before those modern amenities, Dallasites depended on daily ice delivery as their only way to preserve food and chill drinks.

Take a look back through The Dallas Morning News archives to find out how once upon a time, ice delivery kept Dallas cool.

The American Ice House Building at 309 N. Malcolm X Blvd. was constructed in the early 1890s and was the Dallas headquarters of William J. Lemp’s St. Louis Beer. By 1923, Texas had 321 ice and cold storage plants across the state.(J.M. Colville )

Before ice was local

The city of Dallas was unable to naturally produce its own ice for most of the 19th century. Instead, ice was typically shipped to the region after being harvested from frozen lakes in New England. Ice was then stored in local ice houses and distributed to customers daily. At the time, it was the only way for Dallasites to receive ice regularly.

By the 1890s, ice companies in Dallas and across the country had begun using commercial refrigerating machines to keep their natural ice frozen and also to create artificial ice. Icemen working in Dallas ice houses packed the ice tightly using insulators like sawdust to keep it from melting. It was then loaded onto wagons and delivered to consumers.

An icy business

The storage and production of ice became a prosperous industry for local businesses.

One organization, the Dallas Ice Factory and Cold Storage Co., located on Field Street, was “the largest ice making plant in the whole south,” according to The News on Jan. 25, 1891. An ice house could produce over 100 tons of ice a day, and increased investment in ice companies made Dallas a major ice distribution point for North Texas.

A Southland Corp. ice delivery truck from the early 1920s that replaced mule-drawn carriages.(The Dallas Morning News)

Log-ice-tics

The logistics of the ice trade were especially sensitive to the weather. High demand combined with low supply, particularly on hotter days, sometimes resulted in “ice famines.” According to The Dallas Herald, Dallasites almost experienced one in September 1881, so much so “that the delivery wagons did not make their regular rounds.” The News reported on July 7, 1890, that because of the summer heat that year, combined with broken ice machines, consumer prices rose by 30 percent and ice had to be “shipped from the north” to keep up with demand.

Ice delivery was not just a summer phenomenon. Every day, local ice delivery companies transported ice to customers. Dallas’ City Ice Delivery Co. advertised their services “through the fall and winter,” touting their year-round service.

A certain amount of ice melting during a delivery was to be expected, and this was even built into their economic model. According to The News on July 8, 1911, a superintendent of an ice plant in Fort Worth noted that when first out for delivery, the average block of ice weighed around 315 pounds, allowing for 15 pounds to be melted. The News reported that in 1911, wagons in Fort Worth delivered, on average, 3,000 pounds to 4,000 pounds of ice to residents per day.

By 1923, Texas had 321 ice and cold storage plants across the state, which produced around 15,265 tons of ice daily. That was enough to provide every Texan with 6 pounds of ice per day. As reported in The News on July 26, 1923, Burt C. Blanton, manager of the Texas Chamber of Commerce’s industrial department, noted that the entire state of Texas consumed 2,000,000 tons of ice annually.

‘A thing of utility and beauty...’

A refrigerator circa 1920, one of the earliest models produced by refrigerator inventor Frigidaire.(Business Wire)

For years following its mainstream introduction in the 1870s, mechanical refrigeration that could create artificial ice was exclusively for businesses that could afford it. It was seen as too bulky and cost-prohibitive for the average consumer. But, beginning in the 1920s, having an electric refrigerator in the average home was within reach.

The first consumer models were simply cooling mechanisms installed in existing iceboxes. Later, cabinet refrigerators as we recognize them were introduced. Though initially marketed as a luxury item, the electric refrigerator was a cost-saving investment compared to having ice delivered.

Advertisements for refrigerators highlighted the way they could make their own ice that was even colder than ice bought from the iceman. “Electricity has won its crowning household triumph,” one advertisement read. In response, ice companies argued that their ice was cleaner and less bacteria-prone.

The electric refrigerator’s practicality was self-evident and ice delivery was increasingly viewed as inconvenient and unhygienic. The News cautioned readers to clean their ice thoroughly after they received it. If the iceman swept sawdust off their ice, readers were told to inspect the broom used, as well as the iceman’s hands. If their block of ice was dragged across the sidewalk, collecting dirt, “Only thorough washing and care” would it be safe to drink. Being able to keep food consistently cold and cleanly prepare ice at home made the electric refrigerator the preferred option.

Southland Ice Co. employee John Green — circa 1927 — began stocking eggs, milk and bread to sell to his ice customers, effectively creating the first convenience store. Southland would eventually become 7-Eleven.(The Dallas Morning News)

Melting of the Ice (delivery) Age

Consumers and businesses alike saw the advantages of electric refrigeration and by 1948, the heyday of ice delivery companies had passed. That year, Dallas’ The Southland Corp. had become the largest ice company in the city and operated one of the only citywide ice delivery services left. By 1950, 90% of Americans living in towns and 80% of Americans living in rural areas had a refrigerator, according to Gavin Weightman in his book The Frozen-Water Trade.

Corporate consolidations throughout the 1950s also spelled the end of ice delivery in Dallas. In 1952, the Republic Ice Co. of Dallas sold its ice delivery truck fleets, and in 1956, Southland purchased the Paramount Ice Co., the year after purchasing Southern Henke Ice Co. of Houston.

Yet the legacy of Dallas’ ice delivery companies is still visible today. Joe C. Thompson and John “Uncle Johnny” Green of the Southland Ice Co. are credited with selling groceries out of Dallas ice houses. These ice houses were renovated into convenience stores called Tote’m Stores, locations which were later renamed 7-Eleven. Reddy Ice, also headquartered in Dallas, was once a division of the Southland Corp., and is the largest manufacturer of packaged ice in the United States.

Interested in learning more about local history? Become a Dallas Morning News subscriber at dallasnews.com/archives.

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