Model A Ice Delivery Truck

Shadetree

Shadetree

Well-known member
How many can remember the days of the ice delivery trucks? This was before we had electricity. Block ice was delivered by a Model A truck with a covered canvas top in my hometown of Spencer, WV during the summer months. The ice was further protected by another heavy canvas in the bed of the truck. A sign was placed in the window of the home showing how big a piece of ice was required for the ice box. The driver would chip the size required from a larger block of ice in the truck, throw it on his leather covered shoulder and carry it into the house. As I recall it was a penny a pound. We would watch carefully as the driver chipped the ice and we would get the smaller chips as they fell. I wish I had a picture of the truck, but I do have a picture of the sign that was used to designate the size of the ice needed.
IceWindowCard.jpg

Shadetree
 
Shadetree,
I am too young (45) to remember Ice trucks, but my father in law had a Model A Ice Truck about ten or fifteen years ago. I believe it was a 1 1/2 ton chassis. He bought it to take stuff to flea markets. Unfortunately, he forgot that models a only go about 45 mph, especially loaded with model a parts.
I believe it was lettered with Magic City Ice out of Binghamton, N.Y. I wish I had some pictures on my computer, but I don't. I know we have some prints of it somewhere.
Happy Sunday,
Jeff
 
I remember those signs and getting chips of ice from the ice wagon during WW II. Summer rental homes usually had"ice boxes" and the trucks plied the streets looking for sales. During the war a lot of horse drawn wagons sold ice, milk, produce, sharpened scissors and bought rags and scrap metal for the war effort.
 
V12Bill said:
I remember those signs and getting chips of ice from the ice wagon during WW II. Summer rental homes usually had"ice boxes" and the trucks plied the streets looking for sales. During the war a lot of horse drawn wagons sold ice, milk, produce, sharpened scissors and bought rags and scrap metal for the war effort.
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Remember the old Rolling Store. Had anything you could possibly need most of the time. I about dropped my teeth the other day, I saw one just on the outskirts of downtown Atlanta, now in an area with mostly run down homes.
 
I don't know about modern ice delivery, but I have pictures of my Dad delivering Ice off the back of a horse drawn wagon in Reno,Nevada.
Summer job to get his brothers, then himself through U.N.R.

Bill Wright
 
I don't think I have ever seen one. On a similar subject, I did some work several years back on Model A milk truck and I have never seen another one of those either.
 
53F100Jeffie said:
Shadetree,
I am too young (45) to remember Ice trucks, but my father in law had a Model A Ice Truck about ten or fifteen years ago. I believe it was a 1 1/2 ton chassis. He bought it to take stuff to flea markets. Unfortunately, he forgot that models a only go about 45 mph, especially loaded with model a parts.
I believe it was lettered with Magic City Ice out of Binghamton, N.Y. I wish I had some pictures on my computer, but I don't. I know we have some prints of it somewhere.
Happy Sunday,
Jeff
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Jeff,
Should you find those pictures, please share them with us. Even if you have to start a new thread. I believe this Model A truck was green with black fenders, not sure. It was a large truck also, not a pickup.

Thanks,
Shadetree
 
I'm 64, don't remember any ice trucks, but I do remember milk trucks and a horse drawn wagon picking up rags. The horse was a disapointment to us kids, a far cry from Silver or Trigger! I also remember a neighbor kid getting in trouble for throwing horse apples at a house.
 
The modle A ice truck was modern, the ice man and milk man when I was little had a horse and wagon. The ice man would open the door and yell "ice man" and carried the block of ice with ice tongs on a peice of leather on his shoulder in and put it in the wooden ice box. He would come out and say gid-up and the horse would move to the next house and stop with out him getting on the wagon. I had friends in school that's father was the trash paper and junk man. On thursdays after school that was a big deal riding with them picking old news papers that were put out at the curb with a horse and buck board wagon. G.M.
 
i have a picture on my grandfather standing on the back of a open wagon that was horse drawn! he did ice delivery. he had the huge ice tongues to pick the ice chunks up with. that's is when i was told fridges were called " ice boxes" . i have one of those ice boxes in my house just for display . he worked until he was 80 ! he past a way just before his 99th birthday. my father (his son) is now 84 and still kick'n . he told me how to shift my 46 ford three on the tree.:cool:
 
I lived across the street from the Woodbury, NJ Ice Company. I slept on an inclosed porch year round. 7am came noisely as the saw started. The 300 pound block was scored one way, tipped on it's side and scored again and came crashing thru the ice door onto the platform. All day trucks came for ice. Once a year in the summer they opened up the place for visitors. I loved that. The plant became cold storage for many years. Gone now.
 
I remember when I was little not everyone had refrigerators,and window boxes were still in use. I also remember people still heated their houses with coal. And the coal trucks pulled in front of our house and put the shoot down to our coal cellar.,and shovel the coal down the shoot. Then the driver would crank start the truck and drive down the road to the next house. There was a mixture of Model Ts and As. Ice trucks, and horse drawn "rags and iron " carts. It was great fun to watch all this as a kid. We lived next to a train yard so I went to sleep at night to the sound of the engines pulling in and out of the yard. I have to dig some of these pics out someday and post them,great memories.
 
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I remember ice trucks in Oakland, California as being large, with duallies, painted royal blue, with huge white letters spelling out ICE. The rear had a heavy canvas curtain, the driver muscular and all business. One knock and a yell, he was in and out before you knew it. If I was outside, I'd be recipient of a few ice chips. There were also coin operated ice houses on convenient corners. Roofers chipped tar for the melt bucket, and us kids would get the small chips to chew like gum. GMC Hucksters had hanging scales to weigh the produce, and the organ grinder's monkey tested each coin with his teeth. A photographer came around with his small pony, kids would don the chaps, vest, and cowboy hat he provided for a picture on the pony. The rag picker was the only one with a horse and wagon. His huge wagon was plied higher than high with rags, and he'd also collect left over household grease. That man was so dirty, he looked as if he'd been rolling in coal dust. I knew about coal only because our gravity furnace was not working one winter, and Father would bring home bags of coal for the fireplace. It was my task to stir yellow powder into the margarine. When rationing ended, my mother baked bread and we'd slather hot bread with real butter. Three loaves of bread would dissappear before supper. We cooked Poprite popcorn over the coals. It came in an aluminum pan covered with foil, and had a long wire handle. The foil would mushroom up as the corn would pop. We had the first TV on the block in 1948. All the neighbors brought finger food, and we watched Ted Mack's Original Amatuer Hour. Wrestling was debated as being real or fake, and Ed Sullivan had Chinese acrobats, Kate Smith, and the Harmonicats.
 
I actually delivered ice.I was 12 yrs old the first summer & the man I worked for would only let me deliver 25 # at a time, I made 1 $ a day & lunch. we worked 7 days a week during the summer. The next summer I was allowed to deliver 75 # 50 on shoulder & 25 in tongs I made 3$ a day & lunch. We delivered in the Oxbow, Union, Round, Middle Straights, etc.Lake area, Any one who lives in the Pontiac, Waterford,Highland, etc. will know where this is. Some times people would forget to change their sign & you already had the ice at their door & they would want more or less ice. It was hard work but good memories. I believe many children worked back then.
Gary. I forgot to mention the truck was a 1 1/2 ton 32 to 34 ford flatbed, I remember it looking like my 34 pickup.
 
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What great memories you have written! I know my grandchildren would never understand the joy of having an ice chip on a hot, steamy summer day. We looked forward to seeing the Model A Ice Truck coming down the street.

And Rust, whatever you do this week, get us some pictures of you cutting ice. I had no idea this was still being done. If you have problems posting the pictures, send them to me.

Shadetree
 
I'm too young to remember details but Mom & Dad had an old icebox in the basement for 'backup' in case the new fridge quit, or if we were having company and needed extra cold storage. Don't recollect where the ice came from but the storage compartment was big enough to hold several large ice blocks.

Does anyone have any pictures of the ice delivery trucks?
 
V12Bill said:
I remember those signs and getting chips of ice from the ice wagon during WW II. Summer rental homes usually had"ice boxes" and the trucks plied the streets looking for sales. During the war a lot of horse drawn wagons sold ice, milk, produce, sharpened scissors and bought rags and scrap metal for the war effort.
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Sure did Bill,i remember all of them. I also remember standing in line with my Mother for hours to get a bag of oleo-margaren with the orange dot that you had to squeeze around to mix it up. ken ct.
 
G.M. said:
The modle A ice truck was modern, the ice man and milk man when I was little had a horse and wagon. The ice man would open the door and yell "ice man" and carried the block of ice with ice tongs on a peice of leather on his shoulder in and put it in the wooden ice box. He would come out and say gid-up and the horse would move to the next house and stop with out him getting on the wagon. I had friends in school that's father was the trash paper and junk man. On thursdays after school that was a big deal riding with them picking old news papers that were put out at the curb with a horse and buck board wagon. G.M.
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Shoot George ,we all know your older than dirt,gidy-up,gidy-up. Im LOL,LOl. ken ct/ PS MODLE is realy spelled MODEL lol again.
 
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