Tell MeThursday- The Antique

As many of you guessed, it was the Ice Tongs. My Mothers kitchen had all these thing up on the kitchen wall. I just love History and searching for the dates of things my Parents or an antique shop has. There is just somethings about the time before me. It's like a mystery just waiting to be retold. So many time we forget that there once was a time when electric was not available for everyone. Just to think that time was not all that long ago. Many of our Grandparents can tell you of that time. This is just one story of the time of Ice Boxes.

This is an Ice Tong
One that hangs in my fathers home now.

In the 1800's through the Mid 1900's Ice boxes were use to keep food cold. The ice trucks would come to the streets and people would purchase their ice blocks for the Day. Ice tongs were used to carry the ice block to the house. During the later days, some companies would give out these tong to their customers, just for being loyal. The one Pictured above was one of those kind.
The closes Patent I found was this one(below). As you can see it dates back to 1899. even though these were used earlier the patent would be issued later. Patent could take up to a couple of years to be given. Must patent are listed by issue date and not submitted date. Therefore other companies could copy the product until the patent is issued.

Patent 621,356 Issued Mar. 21, 1899 to Albert D. Marsh of Ovid, New York. Tongs The objective of the patent is to have tongs with two movable jaws and provided with means whereby the distance the jaws can be opened, can be adjusted and open the a fixed distance and their closing also regulated.
L – 26-1/2”, Spread – 21”, PAT MAR 21, 99 BY A D MARSH, on one side of the lower portion of the handle, double action pivot. This item is the configuration of the upper right patent drawing.		Patent drawing

Not sure what time frame my families ice tong was made. I found a couple of similar photos. Both have dates of around the end of the 1800's and beginning of 1900's

This one is from a Patent site.

Antique Abbey had these.
Said to have been found close to The Old Ice House after hurricane Katrina.

I believe ours would be before 1899 since it so closely resembles Albert Marsh's patented Ice Tongs. Patents were usually for long periods of time. My Logic is the companies copy his until the patent was issued or they got their patent request in later.after the patent was issued you will only see Albert's. Another reason is because, there seems to be a patent pending on ours and that usually means the request came in after Albert Marsh's but before Albert's was issued. So I would give it a date of around the mid 1890's.

My Sunday Thoughts-It's a long weekend!

Well here it is Memorial Day Weekend. I remember when it was just a Day! Can't remember when it changed over to a Long weekend celebration. Its a Mark of the time one can wear White pants, shoes and Purses, or is that a thing of the past? on the TV Some folks were asked "What is memorial day to you?" they said things like;
Picnics and cookouts.
Family Party time.
A Day Celebration.
Pool time.
I was taken back, you see Memorial Day was set up to remember the Soldiers who lost their lives to make this Country Free. What happened to the School teaching. It must be in the text books! The other day my daughter stated that the teaches do not teach they just do what ever the state says.... I have a hard time with that. However after hearing some of the comments on Memorial Day, I am rethinking that.
A little history for you.
This day was set aside after the civil to honor and remember the fallen, there was so many of them! It was known as "Dedication day". Folks went to the grave and visited the dead, some times just setting and talking to them. Families and towns come together to Mourn their lost. It is believed that the first time it was observed was by formerly enslaved black people at the Washington Race Course. These folks were from what we know today as Charleston, South Carolina. The race track had been used as a slave imprisonment during the Civil War. After the war ended the Slaves that had been keep there were free. Did they Celebrate you ask.. No. What the did was gather up all the fallen soldiers and made a Grave site. Buried them all and set the that day as a remembrance of the cost of Freedom. It was called the Union Graveyard and on May 1, 1865 all came together to honor the fallen. They had sermons, singing and picnics on the grave yard grounds. Only the Black community attended and the children were said to be in the thousands.
On May 5 1868,General John A. Logan,commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic declared this Dedication Day be Nationwide and on the 30 of May. The date was chosen because it was not the actual anniversary of the war. The tombs of all the fallen of the Civil War were decorated with flowers.
In 1882 the name was changed to Memorial Day. It did not really go well and was not widely observed until after World War 2. The new name was not official until 1967. Then in 1968 a bill was passed to included Veteran day, Washington's Birthday and Memorial day all in one and making it a three day weekend event. The bill came in effect on the last Monday of May in 1971. By 1978 all states were observing this Memorial day on the same date.
Now How confusing is that? That's a little history of the Day we now observe and how it evolved. I wonder how it will be looked at in, oh let's say 40 years from now.....?