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 THE
FROZEN WATER TRADE: A TRUE STORY (Hyperion)
by Gavin Weightman. History. 2003. 247 pages. During the summer of 1805,
Bostonian brothers William and Frederic Tudor agreed to pool their money
to form a company with the intention of selling something to people who
didn’t know they needed it, ice. Guided mostly by a trial and error
system, Frederic (William bailed out rather quickly) devised a system of
ice harvesting, storage houses, and a marketing plan to convince those in
warm climate areas that they really needed ice for various reasons: cold
drinks, ice cream and refrigeration. Harvested from Boston area ponds, the
ice was placed in storage houses until it was jammed into the hull of
ships for delivery.
Along with fighting lost and delayed ships, in which the ice and
profits melted, Frederic also had to deal with pirates, creditors, jail,
skeptics, yellow fever, and the pressure of having to revive his
family’s dwindling fortune and good name. Beginning in the West Indies,
Tudor expanded to Havana, the Southern US, and India, with his crown jewel
export being the 1933 four month, 16,000 mile voyage of one hundred tons
of ice to Calcutta. With pure determination, Fredric overcame years of
near failure and slowly built and dominated the new ice trade industry
that not only made him a fortune, but also hailed him as “The Boston Ice
King.”
I know what you’re thinking, and you’re wrong. Yes, the topic
of this book may seem uninteresting, but The Frozen Water Trade is
anything but. In fact, I found this book to be fascinating. Utilizing his
own research, Tudor’s diary, and newspaper articles, Weightman
wonderfully recounts the life of Fredric Tudor and the birth of a
completely new industry. There are also a number of pages loaded with
pictures, illustrations, and advertisements that help you relate to the
book’s arcane topic. So you’re not bogged down with ice trade
information, the author also gives you a glimpse into Tudor’s private
life, family matters, and other business ventures. The writing style is
very easy to comprehend and flows nicely throughout the book. However,
there are a few newspaper reports that tend to get a bit boring due to the
way English was scribed back the early to mid 1800s. This book is a marvel
on so many levels (history, marketing, engineering, business, etc.)
without suffocating the reader with frivolous information. Along with
Tudor’s entrepreneurship, I also admired his never ending determination,
or maybe it was stubbornness, to keep his dream alive without letting
anything get in his way. Perhaps this book could also be one of those
self-help motivation books? Different and interesting, The Frozen Water
Trade is a great read. – Denis Sheehan
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