Spanktown Time Machine: Think Summer Heat is Inconvenient Now? Try Keeping Cool With Huge Ice Cubes (July 25, 1930)

On July 25, 1930, Rahway residents endured a severe heat wave with temperatures well over 90 degrees. The Rahway Record reported on that Friday morning that help was being provided by the White Ice and Johnson Coal Company, Inc., located on Bridge Street near Main Street. The company dispensed more than 450 tons of ice during the hot spell, with large machines kept running at full speed day and night. The trucking squad, which normally ended work at 4 o'clock each day, was kept busy answering ice calls until nearly midnight. The company had been located in Rahway for more than eight years. All water used to produce the ice was filtered seven times and came into no contact with ammonia or brine water used in the freezing process. The purified water was encased in containers which produced cakes weighing more than three hundred pounds. Unlike today, Rahway residents in 1930 lacked air conditioning to combat the heat. Home air conditioning units were not described as ready for the market until June 1935 in Popular Mechanics, and were available only to the wealthy at costs between $10,000 and $50,000. Instead, residents purchased huge blocks of ice from companies like White Ice and Johnson Coal Company to keep cool during summer heat waves.

This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy against official sources.

Produced with AI assistance and reviewed against source records.