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Small doors in pantry rooms in some buildings.
Posted by:
222psm
()
Date: January 17, 2010 12:21AM
Does anybody know what these doors were used for? The doors were about waist high off the ground about 4' wide x 3' tall and went out to the rear porch. Our building had them. 1 for each apartment, and several buildings in our neighborhood had them. The one in our apartment was painted over so many times that you could not open it.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2010 12:38AM by 222psm.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2010 12:38AM by 222psm.
Re: Small doors in pantry rooms in some buildings.
Posted by:
captain54
()
Date: January 17, 2010 04:59AM
From Cecil Adams of "The Straight Dope"
[i]Home delivery of ice continued for a long time — in the 1920s apartment buildings were still constructed with ice doors opening into each kitchen. In the 30s, though, electric refrigerators replaced iceboxes in most city households. Some nonelectrified rural areas relied on ice deliveries until the 50s[/i]
[i]Home delivery of ice continued for a long time — in the 1920s apartment buildings were still constructed with ice doors opening into each kitchen. In the 30s, though, electric refrigerators replaced iceboxes in most city households. Some nonelectrified rural areas relied on ice deliveries until the 50s[/i]
Re: Small doors in pantry rooms in some buildings.
Posted by:
222psm
()
Date: January 17, 2010 09:26PM
Thanks! captain, that makes perfect sense, explains why newer buildings did not have
them. The building we lived in was constructed in 1922. It also had a similar door in the basement, for coal delivery. I still remember the coal truck using it till about 1974 or 75 when they put in a gas furnace.
them. The building we lived in was constructed in 1922. It also had a similar door in the basement, for coal delivery. I still remember the coal truck using it till about 1974 or 75 when they put in a gas furnace.
Re: Small doors in pantry rooms in some buildings.
Posted by:
Elaine W
()
Date: January 19, 2010 08:11PM
Actually, the buildings with the ice-box doors were "modern" (for the 1920's), so the ice-man did not have to carry ice across the kitchen floor, dripping water along the way. Buildings that pre-date WWI generally didn't have the ice-box door while post-war buildings usually did (like your 1922 building).
Re: Small doors in pantry rooms in some buildings.
Posted by:
davey7
()
Date: January 25, 2010 07:40PM
Check and see if there was a floor drain (if you have the original flooring) near the hatch. There might also have been milk delivery that way as well.
Re: Small doors in pantry rooms in some buildings.
Posted by:
222psm
()
Date: January 25, 2010 10:54PM
davey7 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Check and see if there was a floor drain (if you
> have the original flooring) near the hatch. There
> might also have been milk delivery that way as
> well.
I do not remember seeing one, but I'm sure that was not the original floor. I wish that I could check, but I no longer live in that building, or in Chicago as a matter of fact.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Check and see if there was a floor drain (if you
> have the original flooring) near the hatch. There
> might also have been milk delivery that way as
> well.
I do not remember seeing one, but I'm sure that was not the original floor. I wish that I could check, but I no longer live in that building, or in Chicago as a matter of fact.
Re: Small doors in pantry rooms in some buildings.
Posted by:
davey7
()
Date: February 02, 2010 09:24PM
When my parents redid their kitchen the pantry (which had already been converted to an ad-hoc laundry room) they found an old plumbing stack which we tied their washer into. You could see where the old ice box drained into it (though no ice door - there were bars on the windows from day one - 1906 - at the back. It wouldn't surprise me if not having an alley behind the building had something to do with this as well). The apartment we lived in briefly before that had the little door into the kitchen pantry (this place also had a butlers pantry and linen AND cedar ROOMS, not closets).
Their current place which is in a high rise from the late 20's also had a floor drain for an ice box, though I suspect that there may have been central refrigeration or a drain pan under the fridge. I'm sure it was electric as it was a "high-class" building built for owner-occupiers.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2010 08:06PM by davey7.
Their current place which is in a high rise from the late 20's also had a floor drain for an ice box, though I suspect that there may have been central refrigeration or a drain pan under the fridge. I'm sure it was electric as it was a "high-class" building built for owner-occupiers.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2010 08:06PM by davey7.
Re: Small doors in pantry rooms in some buildings.
Posted by:
222psm
()
Date: February 03, 2010 12:20PM
Now that I've thought about it there was a drain outside on the patio, right under the ice door. (we lived in a basement apartment) I remember it had a pipe that lead to our pantry, no water ever came out of it, that I can remember. And a pipe that went to a other drain in the middle of the patio. Maybe the drain next to the door was a clean out. I also remember a cutout in the pantry that was the size of a small fridge or icebox. (small by todays standards)
