Today in HistoryâJuly 14: How a Florida Doctor Invented Ice Machines
The first machine-made ice cubes served at a party have their origins in an infirmary, and they were created by a man the New York Globe derided as a âcrankâ for believing that it was possible to manufacture ice in the first place.
That man, Dr. John Gorrie, was the local postmaster, a notary public, a parish vestryman, president of the bank, and mayor of Apalachicola, Florida. In 1837 he resigned as mayor to focus on medicineâand inadvertently changed the way we drink.
Ice at a party doesnât sound revolutionary today (think of how many tons of it that wedding at MSG mustâve used), but on this day in 1850, when waiters appeared carrying bottles of champagne on ice, guestsâaccustomed to warm wineâwere astonished. Where had the ice come from?
At the time, ice was harvested from frozen northern lakes and shipped by schooner to warmer climes. The melting valuables were packed in sawdust below decks. Not all of it survived the journey.
But this ice was locally made. Gorrie had invented a mechanical refrigeration machine that compressed air to create ice and cool rooms. It was the first device of its kind in the country.
And he invented it for a slightly more noble purpose than chilling champagne (no offense, fellow oenophiles).
Yellow fever was rampant along the Gulf Coast, with Florida suffering a severe outbreak in 1841. Gorrie didnât understand disease transmission, but he noticed that infections peaked during swampy summer months (and where sanitation was poor). He concluded that cooling the air might help combat disease and feverâif not, it would at least make patients more comfortable.
Iced teaânow a southern summer stapleâoriginated in the north, where ice was more plentiful.
His early experiments involved pans of ice hung below pipes directing airflow in patientsâ rooms. But as weâve established, ice was a luxury, out of reach at his hospital for indigents. Gorrie needed to make his own.
He patented his machine and spent the next few years trying to start his business. But the bad press dogged him. Some historians believe that the wealthy New England ice traders actively campaigned against him, fearing the threat to their business.
Gorrie died impoverished, likely suffering from a fever himself.
His business plan failed, but his invention didnât. Modern refrigeration and air conditioning owe something to the doctor who just wanted to make sick people feel a little better.
- 180 tons: Ice shipped from New England to Calcutta in 1833
- ~52: Gorrieâs age at the time of his death
- $2.5 billion: Estimated worth of the packaged ice industry worldwide today
- 1789: A mob captures the Bastille in Paris, the beginning of the French Revolution
- 1811: Amedeo Avogadro publishes a report with his now-famous hypothesis
- 1968: Hank Aaron hits his 500th career home run
