WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES NOVEMBER 29, 2018 19
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
The iceman cometh in Ridgewood
BY THE OLD TIMER
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
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.
About 1858, Ferdinand Carre of
France invented the modern ammonia
absorption process of producing artifi -
cial ice, which gradually was adopted
by industry — initially by breweries
and then by other industries. By the
1880s, the manufacture of artifi cial
ice was growing, and by 1900, it had
substantially reduced the volume
of natural ice that was shipped in
commerce.
One of the local suppliers of artifi
cial ice was Philip Dietz, who had
originally operated a dairy and then,
in 1905, switched to selling coal and
wood. In 1911, he expanded his business
by installing artifi cial ice making
machinery with a capacity of 82 long
tons per day. His plant was located
on the west side of Fresh Pond Road
(now Cypress Hills Street) and Van
Cortlandt Avenue (now 71st Avenue)
in Ridgewood.
The ice was produced in 320 pound
cakes (7 cakes per long ton). It was then
sold to route men for $3 per ton. Many
of these route men were Italian immigrants
who came with their horsedrawn
open wagons to pick up cakes
of ice. They then made the rounds in
Ridgewood and the surrounding area
on dirt side roads.
The route men cut the 320-pound ice
cakes into eight, 40-pound pieces sold
at 10 cents each and made a profi t of
$2.60 per ton. They earned every penny,
as it was hard work — especially
during the summer.
During the hot summer months, as
the ice man made his rounds, the horse
pulled his open wagon with the cakes
of ice covered in a heavy canvas to
prevent melting. When he arrived at
the home of one of his customers, he
would remove the canvas from the ice,
and then — using his ice pick — would
chop the cake of ice to obtain the size
piece he knew the customer wanted.
When the ice man cut the ice,
usually the local children would gather
around the back of the wagon to pick
up slivers of ice from the bottom of
the wagon, then suck on them. The ice
slivers proved to be a delight during
the dog days of summer.
The ice man then used his ice tongs
and a burlap cloth to haul the piece of
ice from his wagon to his house. In some
homes, he entered the basement and
went to the dumbwaiter, where a metal
dishpan was placed awaiting the ice.
Upon placing the ice in the pan, the
customer would haul the ice up and
place it in the ice box. Generally, a
customer would order a piece of ice
every other day; during the winter, the
orders were usually twice per week
because of the colder weather.
In March 1916, Philip Dietz’s ice
business outstripped his capacity. He
installed additional machinery to produce
another 75 tons per day, bringing
his total capacity to 1,100 ice cakes (each
weighing 320 pounds) a day, with a
storage capacity of 10,000 cakes.
In the 1930s, General Electric introduced
an electric refrigerator that had
a large cooling coil on top. The gas utility
companies quickly banded together and
invented a gas refrigerator sold under
the “Electrolux” label; these refrigerators
required a gas pipe connection.
Gradually, the performance of
electric refrigerators were improved,
and the gas refrigerator faded from
the scene — as did the ice box and the
ice man, both victims of progress.
The Dietz Coal Company, however,
remained profi table through the mid-
1950s, as it was one of the city’s largest
coal suppliers. The company serviced
homes and businesses still heated with
coal stoves and boilers.
But aft er the 1950s, business started
to wane as those same homes and businesses
converted to other, cleaner fuel
sources such as home heating oil and
natural gas. Dietz Coal soon went out
of business, and its land and site were
redeveloped into the Glenridge Mews
condominium complex in the 1980s.
Sources: The Sept. 29, 1983, issue of
the Ridgewood Times and “If You’re
Thinking of Living in Ridgewood,” New
York Times, March 24, 1985.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or old
photographs of “Our Neighborhood:
The Way It Was” that you would like to
share with our readers, please write to
the Old Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times, 38-
15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361, or send
an email to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.
com. Any print photographs mailed to
us will be carefully returned to you upon
request.
Ridgewood Times archives
The Dietz Coal plant as seen in the 1970s
Ridgewood Times archives
An early 20th century photo of the Dietz Coal Company in Ridgewood
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
A diagram of a typical ice box
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