June 7, 2024 Coats Museum News
Did Coats ever have an ice house where one could purchase hunks of ice to make homemade ice cream in the old crank ice cream maker or to cool the sweet tea or lemonade in the hot days of summer? If not, how and where did they cool the items that would quickly spoil in the hot temperatures of the three warm seasons in the Coats area? Why did some families have either a store bought or homemade wooden ice box? If Coats did have an ice house, where did the ice come from that would have been stored in it and how did they prevent the ice from melting in the ice warehouse?
Was there an ice wagon in Coats? The museum has a picture placed on top of the wooden icebox on display in our miniature kitchen showing a somewhat pathetic mule pulling a wagon that was filled with ice. The story is told that families would put a sign in the yard with a number on it to signify whether they wanted 10 cents, 25 cents and so on amount of ice. It was shared that the iceman knew exactly how to chip off that amount from a larger block of ice. Did he wear a wide leather pad over his shoulder and have an ice clamp to manage the ice. The museum has an ice clamp in the ice box.
There is an interesting memory about the ice house that was shared with the museum volunteers. Several years ago a ninety-three year old teacher from Tennessee came with her son from Pittsboro, NC to visit Coats and the Coats Museum. She recalled living in a house behind where Grady Matthews grew up. She stated that her dad worked at the ice house and she would go to him and get ice so her mom could crank up a batch of homemade ice cream for him to sell. She would repeat that task several times a day. She said that Grady was just a toddler at that time so figure out the dates of when there was still an icehouse.
Mrs. Sanders wrote a book about her life experiences and one chapter dealt with her couple of years in Coats and the wonderful memories she had while living here and especially her friendship with one of the W.E. Nichols’ daughters and how well she was treated by that prominent family. She sent the museum the Coats part of the book before she published it. We conclude from her memories that the ice warehouse was in the general area of the first brick post office in Coats and also close to the train depot. Is it possible that the icehouse was there after electricity came to the town?
Coats had minimal electricity until about 1925. Earlier, Dr. Roberts did supply less than twenty houses with currents which were somewhat rationed as to when it could used. Roberts’ business was destroyed by the fire that burned the huge Hosiery Factory located in the area of the Dominos Pizza. Cumberland Electric was the first company to attempt to bring electricity to the town but it fell through and Carolina Power and Light Company got the contract after many sessions with the town board to supply street lights and limited electricity.
We were told that the electric company officials did not think that farmers could afford to pay the bills and it would not be profitable to have to erect poles, wiring and insulators in the rural areas. Many farmers supplied the necessary materials to get some electricity.
Did you know that ice products were being sold in and around Coats in 1994? The CACC named the Ice Novelties as the Business Focus. The business was owned and operated by Mark and Judy Parrish. The company was housed in a 3500 square foot storage facility which served as the center of the business. The couple also bought and sold antiques, did silk screening which involved printing and designing logos for caps, shirts, and signs and operated Ice Novelties which catered to civic organizations, schools, businesses and special events. The business began in 1979 with the ice cream sno-cone street vending operation. The Parrish family-Mark, Judy, Josh, Jonas and Simon live in the historic Henry Parrish on Crawford Road (Daily Record July 27, 1994).
One has to only look around and see the beauty and variety that God created in nature. The same holds true with the humans that he made who have come through the doors of our small town museum. Mike and Claudia Tocci from Sparks, Nevada never cease to amaze us with their generosity of exhibit items and financial support to the Coats Museum. Thank you-Mike and Claudia, the people at the museum are so humbled by your faithful donations.
Did Coats ever have an ice house where one could purchase hunks of ice to make homemade ice cream in the old crank ice cream maker or to cool the sweet tea or lemonade in the hot days of summer? If not, how and where did they cool the items that would quickly spoil in the hot temperatures of the three warm seasons in the Coats area? Why did some families have either a store bought or homemade wooden ice box? If Coats did have an ice house, where did the ice come from that would have been stored in it and how did they prevent the ice from melting in the ice warehouse?
Was there an ice wagon in Coats? The museum has a picture placed on top of the wooden icebox on display in our miniature kitchen showing a somewhat pathetic mule pulling a wagon that was filled with ice. The story is told that families would put a sign in the yard with a number on it to signify whether they wanted 10 cents, 25 cents and so on amount of ice. It was shared that the iceman knew exactly how to chip off that amount from a larger block of ice. Did he wear a wide leather pad over his shoulder and have an ice clamp to manage the ice. The museum has an ice clamp in the ice box.
There is an interesting memory about the ice house that was shared with the museum volunteers. Several years ago a ninety-three year old teacher from Tennessee came with her son from Pittsboro, NC to visit Coats and the Coats Museum. She recalled living in a house behind where Grady Matthews grew up. She stated that her dad worked at the ice house and she would go to him and get ice so her mom could crank up a batch of homemade ice cream for him to sell. She would repeat that task several times a day. She said that Grady was just a toddler at that time so figure out the dates of when there was still an icehouse.
Mrs. Sanders wrote a book about her life experiences and one chapter dealt with her couple of years in Coats and the wonderful memories she had while living here and especially her friendship with one of the W.E. Nichols’ daughters and how well she was treated by that prominent family. She sent the museum the Coats part of the book before she published it. We conclude from her memories that the ice warehouse was in the general area of the first brick post office in Coats and also close to the train depot. Is it possible that the icehouse was there after electricity came to the town?
Coats had minimal electricity until about 1925. Earlier, Dr. Roberts did supply less than twenty houses with currents which were somewhat rationed as to when it could used. Roberts’ business was destroyed by the fire that burned the huge Hosiery Factory located in the area of the Dominos Pizza. Cumberland Electric was the first company to attempt to bring electricity to the town but it fell through and Carolina Power and Light Company got the contract after many sessions with the town board to supply street lights and limited electricity.
We were told that the electric company officials did not think that farmers could afford to pay the bills and it would not be profitable to have to erect poles, wiring and insulators in the rural areas. Many farmers supplied the necessary materials to get some electricity.
Did you know that ice products were being sold in and around Coats in 1994? The CACC named the Ice Novelties as the Business Focus. The business was owned and operated by Mark and Judy Parrish. The company was housed in a 3500 square foot storage facility which served as the center of the business. The couple also bought and sold antiques, did silk screening which involved printing and designing logos for caps, shirts, and signs and operated Ice Novelties which catered to civic organizations, schools, businesses and special events. The business began in 1979 with the ice cream sno-cone street vending operation. The Parrish family-Mark, Judy, Josh, Jonas and Simon live in the historic Henry Parrish on Crawford Road (Daily Record July 27, 1994).
One has to only look around and see the beauty and variety that God created in nature. The same holds true with the humans that he made who have come through the doors of our small town museum. Mike and Claudia Tocci from Sparks, Nevada never cease to amaze us with their generosity of exhibit items and financial support to the Coats Museum. Thank you-Mike and Claudia, the people at the museum are so humbled by your faithful donations.