《朝花夕拾》80年代冰箱潮:大寒话冰王,一百多年前开创全球冰块贸易的波士顿冰王Frederic Tudor 。
今天是2022年1月20日,也是中国农历2021牛年的最后一个节气大寒,“取冰藏冰大寒迎年”指的正是天寒地冻新春在望的这一时段,此贴沾边凑合应景。
八十年代的时候,电冰箱们已经普及百姓家庭,央视黄金时段也有好些冰箱广告,别致新颖记忆犹新----- 新飞广告好,不如新飞冰箱好;海尔冰箱,中国造;汪明荃的容声容声,质量保证;两个小孩远隔山谷遥相呼应的美菱--阿里斯顿等等。。。最喜欢的是东方奇洛瓦冰箱那则广告,一个沧桑男人步履蹒跚挣扎在沙漠之中,头昏眼花看见远处升起一座飘渺隐约的绿洲蜃楼,定睛一看是一台装满冰镇饮料的崭新冰箱,于是三步并成两步跑去拎瓶啤酒倒将下去,舒坦惬意浑身3万多个毛孔无一处不畅快(初中课文里的经典句式),其广告词大致如此-----每当我看见天边的绿洲,就会想起东方奇洛瓦。
那时的我只知道冰箱是国外发明国内引进(老师上课讲的科普),真正了解冰箱历史是多年之后自己在报刊杂志电视网络上看到的: 1920年代美国通用电器公司率先生产家用冰箱,之后广受欢迎逐渐普及,接着日本等多国陆续引进美国技术迅速发展冰箱产业,5-6十年代中国也开始生产冰箱从此拥有国产品牌。早先还有几个关键的时间节点,比如1834年在英国工作的美国工程师帕金斯发明了实用制冰机并获专利;又如1844年美国佛州的医生约翰为他的黄疸病人降温所需冰块设计的制冰箱也获专利;再如1925年瑞典丽都两工程师开发了家用吸收式冰箱,最终专利被美国通用收购,1927年开始就是通用冰箱高调上市大行其道。
而在冰箱普及之前的近百年时间(19世纪中后20世纪初期),则是引领全球冰块贸易的波士顿冰王家族的黄金华年辉煌时代,他家不是最早做冰块生意的,但是将冰块贸易扩展全球销往多国成就卓著大赚特赚的庞大公司,极简而言如此这般: 将冬天里新英格兰淡水冰雪湖水结成的冻冰,在当时高端保冷技术加持下进行储藏,以及运往炎热地带如印度、香港等地高价销售牟取厚利。
冰王的冰块生意,曾经犹如日上中天,诞生于1920年代的711便利店最早也是德州一个卖冰小店,兼卖一些牛奶面包等基本食物,后来电冰箱产业发展起来,冰块生意日落西山,711就转向扩大了它家的零食生意。
附三段转摘文章:
1.“The first transport of Ice, from the shores of the United States to the banks of the Ganges is an event of no mean importance; and the names of those who planned and have successfully carried through their adventure at their own cost, deserve to be handed down to posterity with the name of other benefactors of mankind.”
This laudation was written in 1837, in the Calcutta Courier.
2.https://www.wired.com/2010/09/0913calcutta-ice-ship/
1833: Nearly 100 tons of ice, cut in blocks from frozen New England lakes earlier in the year, arrives in Calcutta. The first shipment of ice imported to India soon fires up a market for cold drinks in a country unaccustomed to such a chilly luxury.
The transoceanic operation, undertaken by the Tudor Ice Co., began in early May 1833, when approximately 180 tons of freshwater ice was loaded into the insulated hold of the sailing ship Tuscany in Boston.
The historic four-month trip of the precious, perishable cargo was made possible by advances in ice harvesting and storage adopted and pioneered by Frederic Tudor, aka Boston's "Ice King," member of an influential Boston Brahmin family that had already built a lucrative business shipping Northeastern ice to the Caribbean and Europe.
3.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7-Eleven
In 1927, Southland Ice Company employee John Jefferson Green began selling ice, then he started selling eggs, milk, and bread from one of 16 ice house storefronts in Dallas, with permission from one of Southland's founding directors, Joe C. Thompson Sr.[8] Although small grocery stores and general merchandisers were available, Thompson theorized that selling products such as bread and milk in convenience stores would reduce the need for customers to travel long distances for basic items. Thompson eventually bought the Southland Ice Company and turned it into the Southland Corporation, which oversaw several locations in the Dallas area.
未完待续下一篇是:冰王采冰的湖泊等:https://bbs.wenxuecity.com/myhouse/11259533.html