A History of Refrigeration: From Icehouses to Walk-In Coolers

We utilize refrigeration technologies every day, even if we don’t always think about it. As our food travels from temperature-controlled trucks to the supermarket display cooler to our in-home refrigerator, we reap the benefits of centuries-old innovations in cooling technology. Let’s take a look at the history of refrigeration to show how the past’s ideas have made life today so much easier.

Before the mechanized fridge came along, humans had to rely on nature to keep food cool. People collected snow and ice in the winter, packing it into cellars or “icehouses” to create a primitive refrigerator. The idea for mechanizing this process was theorized in the mid-1700s, but the first functional prototype didn’t crop up until American John Gorrie built a working cooling unit.

It wouldn’t be until the 1920s that manufacturers started mass-producing electric iceboxes for in-home use. However, many early models used toxic chemicals as a cooling medium, posing health risks to owners. When this was corrected by new models in the 1930s, refrigerators started to become much more commercially successful, enjoying a production boom just after World War II.

As the fridge and the display cooler became ubiquitous throughout the U.S., cooling innovation raced forward. Features like automatic defrosting and ice making surfaced in the 1950s, while the 1970s and 1980s saw design improvements that made refrigeration materials and functionality more environmentally friendly.

These advances set the stage for the sleek features at work in every home fridge and store display cooler we use today. Current home units have built-in freezers and temperature control systems and are made from high-grade steel, copper, and plastic polymers. Coolers used for commercial and industrial applications have programmable thermostats and top-notch insulation, and they can be tailored specifically to cool any kind of product.

We’ve come a long way from collecting snow and ice to fill our icehouses. As cooling technology keeps improving, it makes our food fresher, our lives easier, and our homes healthier.