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NostalgiaChapter 4 of 5

How Families Kept Food Cold Before Fridges

The Drip Pan Nobody Forgot

A child kneeling to slide out a shallow metal drip pan from under a wooden icebox
AI-generated image

As the ice melted, the water had to go somewhere.

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Most iceboxes had a drip pan underneath to catch it.

Someone had to empty that pan, often every day. Forget, and water would spill across the kitchen floor.

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In many families, emptying the drip pan was a chore given to the children.

Continue reading: Chapter 5 of 5 →