NOT MANY WATTS HOUSEHOLDS HAD REFRIGERATORS IN 1928- WHEN I WAS FIVE YEARS OLD. MOST HOMES HAD A COOLER OR AN ICE-BOX TO "SAFEGUARD" THE FEW PERISHABLE FOOD-ITEMS OUR PARENTS COULD AFFORD--LIKE MILK, CHEESE, EGGS, OR PRODUCE.

THE COOLER WAS A KITCHEN CABINET WITH TOUGH SCREEN SHELVES THAT DREW NATURALLY COOL AIR FROM THE OPEN SPACE BENEATH THE FLOOR OF THE HOUSE. NOT REFRIGERATED, BUT BETTER THAN NOTHING.

THOSE WELL TO DO FAMILIES THAT OWNED AN ICE-BOX, HAD TO STOCK IT EVERY TWO OR THREE DAYS WITH A SQUARE CHUNK OF ICE, WEIGHING TEN TO FIFTEEN POUNDS. DURING A HEAT WAVE, THAT CHUNK OF ICE SHRUNK FASTER THAN A GAMBLER'S LUCKY STREAK.

HEAT WAVE OR COLD SPELL, THAT ICE-BOX REQUIRED REPLENISHING. THAT WAS THE JOB OF THE LEGENDARY ICEMAN. IN OUR NECK OF THE WOODS, HE DROVE FOR THE UNION ICE COMPANY-- ORIGINALLY ON A HORSE-DRAWN RIG AND DURING THE LATE 1920s, IN A LIGHT, CHAIN DRIVEN TRUCK EQUIPPED WITH AN ENCLOSED WOODEN BOX IN THE REAR WHERE HE CARRIED HIS LOAD OF NUMEROUS 100-200

POUND SLABS OF ICE.

US SNOTTY LITTLE KIDS NEVER LEARNED HIS NAME, HE WAS ONLY MR. ICEMAN.

THE LADIES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, WHOSE ICE-BOXES HE REPLENISHED, MAY HAVE BEEN MORE INTIMATE WITH HIM; WE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THOSE MATTERS.

EACH HOUSEHOLD ON HIS ROUTE HAD BEEN ISSUED A PLACARD TO HANG ON THE FRONT DOOR WHENEVER THEIR SUPPLY OF ICE NEEDED REPLENISHING.

ONE SUMMER DAY I CHASED HIS TRUCK EAST ON 105th Street, FROM HICKORY ST. TO CROSEUS ST, WHERE HE SLOWED AND TURNED RIGHT. I SAW MY CHANCE TO GRAB HOLD OF THE BED OF THE TRUCK AND WENT TO SWING INTO THE ICE STORAGE BOX. OOPS, I DIDN'T QUITE MAKE IT. THERE I WAS HANGING ON TO THE TRUCK BED WHILE IT ACCELERATED, AND MY KNEES DRAGGED ON THE GRAVEL PAVEMENT. AN ADULT SOMEWHERE YELLED AT THE DRIVER AND, THANKFULLY, THE ICEMAN STOPPED, AND I FELL TO THE ROADWAY ON MY FACE AND MY BLOODY KNEES. EVEN A SNOT-NOSE FIVE YEAR OLD, LEARNED ENOUGH TO NEVER, EVER TRY THAT STUNT AGAIN.

IT'S A WONDER THAT I EVER, EVEN GREW UP; IN WATTS. HJP