Thomas Moore’s inventions was the first of its kind in that it allowed agricultural and fisheries products to be transported in any season under even the hottest conditions. Moore coined the term Refrigeratory and later refrigerator for his new invention. As most innovations do, this one was devised out of necessity. Previously, perishable meats were salted to be preserved. Butter, cream, and milk were almost strictly subsistence products that were stored underground or even underwater in sealed containers. Any transportation of goods had to be done by night, or only in the winter. Moore’s refrigerator consisted of a cedar box with an interior tin liner, and thick rabbit skin cover for a lid. Ice was put in between the cedar exterior and tin interior. This allowed Moore, a dairy farmer, to transport butter from his Montgomery County, Maryland farm to markets in Washington D.C. and Georgetown, 20 miles south. He was able to keep his butter hard, and sell it for 5 times the going rate.
This refrigerator was the very beginning of the massive transportation of agricultural produce that we see today. This, combined with Robert Fulton’s Steamboat, and later railroads that sprawled the country, helped to make agriculture profitable within the United States, allowing farmers to sell their goods in markets far away, boosting American agricultural commerce, and the economy as a whole. This could not have been done without Moore’s refrigerator and subsequent improvements.
Sources:
1. http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/thomas-moore
2. http://researchingfoodhistory.blogspot.com/2012/04/thomas-moores-refrigerator.html
This refrigerator was the very beginning of the massive transportation of agricultural produce that we see today. This, combined with Robert Fulton’s Steamboat, and later railroads that sprawled the country, helped to make agriculture profitable within the United States, allowing farmers to sell their goods in markets far away, boosting American agricultural commerce, and the economy as a whole. This could not have been done without Moore’s refrigerator and subsequent improvements.
Sources:
1. http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/thomas-moore
2. http://researchingfoodhistory.blogspot.com/2012/04/thomas-moores-refrigerator.html