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Intro:In my continuing quest to "bring life" to the family members in my tree, I have chosen to include not just cold, hard Facts but Stories that reveal the human strengths and frailties, the successes and failures, the celebrations and heartaches that introduce the person and not just their names, relationship, and vital facts.
In recent months I have delved into my own mental diary and chosen to relate the little memories and events that may help my grandchildren and great grandchildren and even my descendants many, many years beyond my own earthly existence learn to know ME. I dream of some young man or woman many years hence who may find some connection to me as they peruse our family tree.
Here I present a tribute to my father, delving into his occupation which filled so many hours of each day of his life but was so far from the entirety of his efforts that nurtured his family and brought respect and admiration from his peers.
THE MAKING OF THE ICE MAN
My father, Jack Carroll, was born in Joplin, Missouri, about forty miles from McDonald County situated in the most Southwestern corner of the state (County seat Pineville). That area of Missouri features rolling hills blessed with creeks notably Big Sugar Creek owning bragging rights to the second longest Swinging Bridge and Little Sugar that fed into Elk River.
Daddy came to Texas as a young man recently graduated from High School seeking a career. Life as a farmer was hard, dawn to dusk labor, and there was little money to be made. Although the Missouri Ozarks are ranked among the most beautiful places in America if not the world, in the 1930s as America rushed toward the Great Depression, the Ozarks offered little opportunity.
His beloved stepfather Earl Joseph King since he was eight years old had encouraged Daddy to "come West, young man, and work with me."
My sister Mary kindly filled me in on the details of that job: Our grandfather worked at the Ozark Mahoning Salsoda Plant in west Texas. It was another holding of the Mining Company in Kansas where Daddy Earl had worked underground and had 14 1/2 lbs of lead dust in his lungs. When diagnosed as having a short time to live, and needing dry weather and sunshine, the company transferred him to this western desert area of Texas in Ward County. Daddy’s first job with them was driving a mule powered drag line to knock down and keep clear the area around the wells for mining Salsoda. Daddy walked as he made the mule pull the log drag line.
Grandma and Grandpa King lived in the rural community of Royalty just South of Monahans. Daddy and his bride lived next door and met other young couples in the area. Early in 1941, they purchased two lots on Tatum Avenue in Monahans, which at the time was the furthest southern plowed and caliche graded road in town. Primary reason for the move was so Mary, their oldest daughter of three, could start Grade School there at Brown Elementary.
However, in 1942, when America became part of WWII, Daddy wasn't allowed to enlist being sole support of a mother with a disabled husband as well as being married and father of three children. Determined to do their part in supporting America, both Daddy and Mother, along with one of Mother's brothers, Jackie Oakley Joslin, found employment in the Vancouver, WA Shipyards. Most of that time their three girls lived with Daddy's parents in Royalty. Their Monahans home was leased to officers stationed at the Pyote Air Base.
On their return after VE Day from Washington State, one of the first couples to welcome them was Margie Griggs Meacham and her husband Tom. They were so well loved they became my godparents when I arrived as the fourth daughter.
Uncle Tom Meacham was a lovely, wise and kind man. Aunt Margie was gentle, sweet and had a surprisingly quick humor. We loved them deeply. At some point, Uncle Tom offered Daddy Jack an opportunity to partner with him in a novel enterprise for a desert community: the manufacture, marketing and delivery of ice. They were joint venturers in ownership and management of the major plant in Monahans serving the interstate rail and truck produce delivery industry. Tom also owned two more ice plants, one in neighboring Odessa, and one in the smaller town of Wink.
This past month an innocent query posted on Facebook in a popular group, Monahans High School Exes, generated a discussion that triggered a flood of memories. The admin of that group asked what jobs no longer existed that were once popular. A number of responses seemed to post concurrently to my own: 'working at' or 'using the services of' the Monahans Ice Plant.
The first that caught my eye was this by Sam Cathy Kelton: "Ice house. Monahans had one in the 1950s located by the railroad tracks to keep perishables shipped by rail cool. I remember going there with my grandfather to buy blocks of ice he’d chop up for water cans."
I immediately replied: "Sam Cathy Kelton That was owned and managed by my father John 'Jack' Carroll in partnership with my Godfather Tom Meacham.
All the work required of the employees built muscles! The high school football coaches encouraged their players to work at the plant. More than one of DaddyJack's 'boys' were recruited to college football teams. Daddy Jack followed their careers like a proud papa!"
Following on my reply, my beautiful elder sister posted the following response, triggering vivid nostalgic memories for me:
"💁Daddy Jack Carroll, a refrigeration engineer, was part owner of Tom Meacham’s Monahans Permian Ice Plant, one of three of Meacham’s Ice Plants with one each in Wink and Odessa. Here, the plant produced both block ice and Ready Ice, a form of small, hard frozen rings sold in bags. Wink only made blocks, Odessa only made Ready Ice so our plant delivered the blocks needed in Odessa and the bags needed in Wink. More sophisticated production than most people realized.
Mary then added this memory:
"For a Homecoming Parade I was chosen as Miss Permian Ice and Daddy Jack made me a throne from the 300 lb ice blocks in the back of one of the plant’s pickups. The ice blocks on either side of the seat had a bouquet spray of a dozen red roses frozen in the center of the crystal clear blocks. A very fancy “Throne.” I wore a low neck formal and a fur stole but it was still a very chilly parade ride."
I remember that parade and Mary's glamorous gown and beautiful stole. I was mesmerized by the two dozen long stemmed roses in the huge blocks of ice! To my young mind that was MAGIC!
Other memories stirred by an earlier subject featuring the photo of a man toting one of those 300 lb. blocks (see pic below) generated comments that actually portray a rather broad spectrum of services offered or customer needs fulfilled by the following comments:
Ralph Neidhardt:
"In the 1940's after WWII, I remember putting a card in the front window and the ice man would come and place the requested amount in our cooler/refrigerator. We had to run a hose out the back door to drain the melted ice from the previous visit. Mother was in heaven when we got a real refrigerator."
Ellen Neal:
"I remember the ice house in Monahans and the semi-trucks getting their blocks of ice."
Judith Snelson:
"Me too! On long trips mother would put a tub of ice underneath her feet on the floorboard. Helped with the otherwise hot rides before car AC!"
Linda Grant:
"I remember the ice house in Monahans and stopping to get two ice blocks to keep food cool when camping."
In 1914, there were 182 ice factories in Texas. This photo of a man named Charlie Thorn carrying a 300 lb. block of ice at the Dillingham-Alexander Ice Plant in Breckenridge, Texas, was taken in 1926 by the great Basil Clemons and is part of the collection at UT Arlington.
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The practice of preserving foods or cooling an area as a respite from heat has its roots far in the past. Google reports the following stages of development and the source reporting each:
* Major eras: Ice was first manufactured using early, natural methods by Egyptian and Indian cultures around 500 B.C., who used evaporative cooling with porous clay pots to freeze water overnight. The first mechanical ice-making machine was invented in the mid-18th century, with commercial industrial production emerging in the 1830s-1850s.
SOURCE: Wikipedia
* Key Milestones in Ice Production:
500 B.C.: Egyptians and Indians created thin layers of ice using shallow clay pots and rapid evaporation, according to BF Technology and Ice Systems.
1750 B.C. - 400 B.C.: Civilizations in China, Sumeria (Mesopotamia), and Persia stored naturally frozen ice in specialized buildings (yakhchals) to preserve food and cool drinks, notes Wintersmiths and Emergency Ice.
1755: Scottish professor William Cullen designed the first artificial refrigeration machine, demonstrating the method of creating ice, although it was not used for commercial production.
1800s: The Natural Ice Trade, led by "Ice King" Frederic Tudor, dominated the 19th century by harvesting, storing, and shipping natural ice from frozen lakes.
1834: Jacob Perkins built the first working vapor-compression refrigeration system.
1850s: John Gorrie patented a machine to make ice to treat yellow fever patients, pioneering mechanical ice production, says Focusun.
1929: The first commercial tube ice machine was invented by Jurgen Hans.
SOURCE: Reddy Ice
Modern electric home refrigerators with automatic ice makers became common by the 1930s-1940s, notes Everest Ice and Water Systems and Euhomy.
SOURCE: Everest Ice and Water Systems
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This tribute continues in my next column. See you then!
In the meantime create your own stories capturing the personalities and events in your own or favorite family profile to spark an emotion from those who share your research.
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