Ice on a hot summer day

birdbath from my yard

Today is July 14th.  It's a hot day, just like yesterday, and just like tomorrow will be ... oh, wait a minute.... I see the forecast calls for thunderstorms tomorrow and a temperature only in the 80s.  The birds will still spend time in my front yard birdbath, but at least they will be cooler.  If I filled the birdbath with ice, it would melt very quickly but the birds would probably love the chilly water.  Now ... why am talking about a hot summer day and ice in the birdbath?   Read on.

On today's date, 170 years ago, something significant happened that concerned ice.  Dr. John Gorrie, a medical doctor, gave a dramatic demonstration.  First a little background.  Gorrie spent some time researching tropical diseases, and part of that research included cooling down sickrooms for patients using ice in a container suspended from the ceiling.  He was doing this research while living and working in Florida.  Of course, it was not easy to get ice in Florida in the early-to-mid 1800s, so he began thinking about how to make ice on his own.

Gorrie was born in 1803.  By the time 1845 rolled around, he decided to abandon his medical practice and devote his time completely to refrigeration.  Soon he had a working prototype for a machine that used compressors to chill air enough to freeze water.  In 1848 he applied for a patent.  But he lacked the financial resources to even consider making a dent in the block-ice industry.   The patent was not granted until 1851.  But in July of 1850, on the 14th, he gave a dramatic demonstration at a party given in recognition of Bastille Day, an event put on by the French consul in Florida.  Just after mentioning the dismal aspects of drinking warm wine on a hot summer day, Gorrie signaled to waiters to bring in sparkling wine on trays filled with copious amounts of ice.  It was a sensation!  People talked about it and the press wrote about it, amazed at the appearance of artificially made ice on a hot humid summer day in Florida.

a Gorrie ice machine in the John Gorrie Museum

But Gorrie's machines were inefficient and not always sealed well, and notwithstanding that dramatic presentation, over the next couple years no progress was made from a business perspective.  His partner died, and then just a few years later in 1855, Gorrie died as well, never seeing his work made into a success.  

But Gorrie's dramatic show made one thing clear: making ice mechanically was worth pursuing.  Others before him and after him contributed as part of long chain of events that leads up to our modern day refrigeration capabilities.  But that event on that sunny Florida day was significant.  

I have always been fascinated by the history of artificially produced cold.  There is a fantastic book on the subject titled Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold that I've read more than once.  It's worth the time if you are so inclined.

If not, that's OK.  Enjoy your iced drinks anyway.  I know I will.  I'm going to make lemon slush tonight, something that I've been drinking since I was a kid.  It is a simple crushed ice drink, nothing complicated, but just the right thing to have on this hot summer evening in Kansas City.

Have a great week, everyone!