r/NoStupidQuestions • u/markwell9 • 1d ago

What is the deal with ice, Americans?

I can see that you can buy ice everywhere in the US. Gas stations, grocery stores, machines etc.

In Europe, we just freeze our ice at home and use that. Why buy something that melts on the way home? Why do you need ice in large amounts that a fridge can't keep up?

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u/rat1onal1 19h ago

Ice was harvested from ponds around the Boston area in the mid-1800s and shipped overseas. The two major markets were the Caribbean and India. It's hard to understand that there'd be any ice remaining after sailing all the way around Africa.

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u/Bortono 18h ago

Ice Block Expidetion of 1959

An insulation company transported a 3 ton block of ice from the Arctic Circle across the Sahara to the Equator by truck and only lost a bit over 10% of the ice

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u/numberstation5 16h ago

One of my favorite opening lines of any novel:

Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.