Cryo-Tech Inc

More refrigeration history: In 1867, a French immigrant named Andrew Muhl built an ice-making machine to help service the expanding beef industry. In 1873, the patent for this machine was contracted by the Columbus Iron Works, a company acquired by the W. C. Bradley Co., which went on to produce the first commercial ice-makers in the US.

In 1842 John Gorrie created a system capable of refrigerating water to produce ice. Although it was a commercial failure, it inspired scientists and inventors around the world. France’s Ferdinand Carre was one of the inspired and he created an ice producing system that was simpler and smaller than that of Gorrie. During the Civil War, cities such as New Orleans could no longer get ice from New England via the coastal ice trade. Carre’s refrigeration system became the solution to New Orleans ice problems and by 1865 the city had three of Carre’s machines.