Refrigerated Railroad Cars
Cattle - and pigs and turkeys - were walked to towns or cities to provide meat for consumers. Ice cooled railroad cars later in the 1800s enabled the beef to be butchered in Chicago and elsewhere then shipped east.
"Ice tank" loaded from top.
It was so hot this week, I chose to write about ice. The cattle would not have been butchered in 96+ degree temps.
For centuries, 'beef on the hoof' would be taken to lots outside of a city where it could be fattened and sold to local butchers. A Civil War sketch of moving cattle with the troops (Library of Congress)
A cattle market outside the city of Konstanz by Wilhelm Kobell, 1820 (Albertina Museum, Vienna)
The livestock was taken into the city to butchers in their shop or meat market as related in the book
Meat Matters: Butchers, Politics and Market Culture in Eighteenth Century Paris by Sydney Watts, (portions of which are online)
HERE;
HERE;
HERE; and
HERE
Cows were also kept in a city dairy such as Cow Keeper’s Shop in London, 1825, by George Scharf (British Museum)
Butcher's Shop by Carracci, 1580s (Christ Church Picture Gallery, Oxford)
Railroads started transporting live cattle to eastern cities. After the trip they would have to be feed for a few days at their destination until they regained their weight. A variety of images for the
Harper's Weekly, May 2, 1874 article The Texas Cattle Drive. “Shipping for the eastern markets” Wichita. (George Ranch Historical Park)
Gustavus Swift was a pioneer in processed food, and in 1882 he opened a large 'refrigerator' building in NYC to hold the cut beef from his shops in Chicago. The cuts of beef were shipped on his train cars with ice and air flow.
Turkeys to market - walking or by coach blog post
HERE
TAPED TALKS
Cattle, Dairy, Cheese, and Butchers virtual talks
HERE
UPCOMING TALKS Always limited in August so these are just from emails
Aug 2 Sat 11
AM The Wild and Weedy Plants We Need for the Future of Agriculture. Nan McCarry. U.S. Botanic Garden. DC
HERE.
TAPE maybe
HERE
Au 4 Mon 12
The Flavor Lineage: How Africa, Europe & America Shaped Southern Cooking. Psyche Williams-Forson and Liz Williams. Les Dames d'Escoffier Washington DC Regional Chapter. $10
HERE
Au 14 Thur 12
Iowa Brewing: A Complicated History. Doug Hoverson. State Historical Society of Iowa
HERE.
TAPE may be
HERE
CALENDAR OF VIRTUAL FOOD HISTORY TALKS HERE
©2025 Patricia Bixler Reber
Researching Food History HOME
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment