Letter to the Editor

You see, long before cable television, microwave ovens and electric-powered automobiles ... people lived simpler lives filled with even simpler conveniences. One of those simpler conveniences was the icebox. Similar to the modern refrigerators that most of us are familiar with, iceboxes were not electric refrigeration units, but standard metal boxes that used blocks of frozen water to keep the appliance cold, thus preserving perishable food during a time when no meal was taken for granted. These blocks of ice would be replaced almost daily with pieces weighing 25, 37 or 50 pounds – depending on what the customer could afford. A 37-pound block of ice – which was most common – would cost around a nickel. One summer’s day in Baton Rouge, back before World War II, a young boy had just finished making his daily run delivering ice for the United Ice Company when the owner called him