You're Invited - August 22

Victims of a hostile takeover

You are invited to the next meeting of the 

Culinary Historians of Atlanta

The Ice Man Goeth

In 1923 an ice refrigerator, known today as an icebox, cost less than $30.  Ice was plentiful and cheap.  In contrast, the least expensive electric refrigerator was $450, and was made with flammable refrigerants.  Electricity was costly and scarce, especially in rural areas.  So, why in the world did the ice men and the icebox disappear?  What were the public and backroom deals that led to the downfall of ice refrigeration?  Who promoted the switch?  Was the public duped?  Did people really need a new Frigidaire refrigerator (and color matching electric range)?

Millie Coleman will tell this tale. Millie doesn't just lecture. She creates a series of characters from a particular era to to create a new genre -- part performance art, part informational.  Playing the part of one Mary Engle Pennington, a 1920s chemist and director of the ice industry's Household Refrigeration Bureau, she will explain how refrigeration, sanitation and nutrition science, along with the Irish potato famine, propelled American society's craze for appetizer aspics, gelatin salads, jiggly Jell-O desserts and ice box pies -- all of which which paved the way for the institutionalized foods we eat today.

Open to the public. $5 per person Free to CHA members (CHA dues are $15 per year). 

Date: Sunday, August 22, 2010

Time: 2-4 pm

Location:

Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts

1937 Lakeside Parkway, Tucker, GA     30084

 Please RSVP by sending a comment or through our Facebook page: 

              Facebook address is Culinary Historians of Atlanta 

Upcoming events: 

September 26 - The Herbs of Shakespeare - herbs that were used in Elizabethan times

October 17 - Relishing History - the history of three condiments - make your own mustard!