Icebox
The refrigerator , commonly used in Austria as an ice box , is the forerunner of the refrigerator as a non-mechanical household appliance for cooling and keeping food fresh . Often the term is still used colloquially for the modern refrigerator.
construction
As a cold source served ice , which in a special - for protection against corrosion usually with tin was laid compartment with an outlet for the melt water - being proposed or zinc sheet. The ice was placed above the cooling compartment (also next to it in North American models) in order to cool the rising warmer air down again.
In order to ensure a low consumption of ice, the melt water was not allowed to remain in contact with the ice, but had to flow off continuously.
The refrigerator was double-walled and the inside was lined with zinc or glass or terrazzo sheets to facilitate cleaning , and in luxurious versions sometimes also with porcelain. Hair , wool , cotton , chaff , chaff , kieselguhr , slag wool were used for insulation . In some cases, a more or less elaborate layering of wood, wood-based panels, cork, sawdust, peat, straw or even seaweed was used.
In order to enable good air convection in the cold room, the goods were placed on wooden or wire grids. The watertight separation of the ice from the refrigerated goods by the sheet metal prevented too much condensation from collecting in the refrigerator compartment.
At an ambient temperature of 19 ° C, an ice cabinet with a volume of 222 liters and an ice container of 16 kg capacity could cool the contents to 6.9 ° C, the daily ice consumption being 6 kg.
A characteristic of ice boxes is the water tap that emerges from the front at the bottom, mostly a simple conical tap with a rotary lever, typically made of nickel-plated brass. The door is made thicker to insulate.
Installation site
The same principles applied to setting up a refrigerator as to planning pantries and pantries . The location of the refrigerator should be on a north wall that is as cool as possible, shaded by trees from the outside, as far away as possible from chimneys, stoves - including the warm kitchen - and sun rays in order to avoid unnecessary heating and premature thawing of the ice. Storage cellars that did not get warmer than 15 ° C were often the best possible locations. Alternatively, many kitchens had a so-called ice balcony.
business
Initially, natural ice obtained in winter was used , which had to be collected in suitable storage cellars, the so-called ice cellars , so that it was also available in the warmer seasons.
The delivery of households and small grocery stores, e.g. B. the dairy shops, with ice sticks or blocks took place several times a week by special delivery companies, which were often called ice cream man analogous to other supply services such as milkman and newspaper man . Particularly convenient ice boxes, which were common in North America, could be filled with ice from the rear wall without having to grant the supplier access to the apartment.
The ice water had to be emptied every day, usually through a small tap. In the simpler versions, the water dripped into a bowl under the cabinet, which had to be emptied by hand.
The food to be cooled should not come into direct contact with the ice, as the ice did not necessarily consist of drinking water or at least suffered a loss of quality due to the months of storage. On the other hand, for hygienic reasons, the food should not be placed directly on the cooling grids so that it cannot contaminate the inside of the cabinet.
history
Ice boxes established themselves in wealthy households in the German-Austrian region at the end of the 19th century and matured as a product. They were also more likely to be found in urban households, where the necessary ice could be obtained more easily than in the countryside. Vienna is accepted as the cradle of the transportable ice reservoir. The development of the mechanical and more convenient refrigerator replaced the refrigerator, in North America as early as the 1930s, in Europe from around the 1950s.
Manufacturer around 1896
In 1896, Ernst Nöthling classified the following as better known manufacturers:
- Herman Delin, Berlin N., Chorinerstraße 9
- C. Fiedler, Berlin C., Neue Grünstraße 10
- F. Krieg (owner O. Wendt), Berlin SO., Skalitzerstraße 136
- Heinrich Sackhoff, Berlin SW., Zimmerstrasse 79
- Theodor Weigele, Berlin S., Alte Jakobstrasse 50
- Zeppernick & Harz, Berlin SW., Gitschiner Strasse 108
- Ludwig Düring in Breslau, Kaiser Wilhelmstrasse 9
- Schmidt & Keerl in Kassel
- R. v. Bandel, Dresden, Blasewitzer Strasse 37d
- United Eschebach'sche Werke, Aktiengesellschaft , Dresden and Radeberg
- Giessen brothers, Dresden-Neustadt
- Ms. Reindel, Dresden-Neustadt, Turnerweg 1
- Werner & Bardach, Düsseldorf, Bilker Allee 49
- AMJ Rieper & Komp., Hamburg and Ottensen
- August Schilder, Liegnitz
- A. Cäsar Schmidt, Stettin, Roßmarktstrasse 17
- CF Kirchhof's Sons, Vienna IV, Schaumburgergasse 8
- Emil Stuck in Leipzig
- Wiesner & Fiedler, Vienna
See also
The smaller ice box , which can be filled from above with the lid open , was partly produced by the same manufacturers of the ice boxes.
literature
- E. Nowák, CA Menzel: The construction of the ice cellar both in and above the ground and the storage of the ice in them together with an appendix: The fabrication of artificial ice , 5th edition. G. Knapp, publishing house, Leipzig 1883
- Ernst Nöthling (ed.): The ice dipper, ice houses and ice boxes, their construction and use. For construction technicians, brewery owners, farmers, butchers, confectioners, innkeepers, etc. 5th edition. Bernhard Friedrich Voigt Verlag, Weimar 1896
- Theodor Koller: The refrigeration industry. Handbook of the practical utilization of cold in technology and industry . (= Hartleben's chemical-technical library , volume 226). 1st (only) edition. A. Hartleben's Verlag, Vienna 1897
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c cooling devices . In: Lueger's lexicon of all technology . 2nd Edition. Volume 5, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Leipzig / Stuttgart 1907, p. 732 .
- ↑ a b ice . In: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon . 6th edition. Volume 5, Bibliographical Institute, Leipzig / Vienna 1906, p. 476 .
