1940's "Iceman" Advertisement Picking Tool-USA

Yes, by common description this would be known as an "icepick". The history of this item demands the correct description. MemoryLaneVintiques hand-picked this item in Bridgeport, TX.
Before the ice picking tool was associated with "prison shanks" and the exploits of Murder, Inc, it actually was a mandatory tool for an "Iceman". (not Richard Kuklinski)
Beginning in the late 1800's, Americans had their ice delivered from factories that stored blocks of ice from the ice harvest. Whether delivered by horse drawn carriage or a refrigerated truck, an iceman would be needed. Think of them like a paperboy but instead delivered a block of ice. The iceman would leave ice in your personal icebox in or outside your home. The icebox receptacles evolved into electric refrigeration by the mid-1950's. An iceman usually had to have these tools to deliver ice in block form, ice hooks, ice tongs, wires (to tie sacks of ice), and a pick to break ice into pieces to fit the different dimensions of their customers ice box. The delivery ice was primarily for homes to keep perishable food from spoiling and not for consumption until filtered water for ice was more available. Icemen would start to create ideas that would be considered "marketing" in the late 1940's. The need for delivery ice became part of refrigerated logistics and delivered into grocery retail stores. Icemen began handing out ice picking tools to "already" and "potential" customers with a catchy slogan. This "loyalty gift" would also bear the 4-digit phone number of the iceman's ice storage facility (company) to place an order for their ice needs.
By the beginning of the 1960's the icemen turned in their tongs and picks for pre-bags of "crumbled" or "cubed ice" and in 1965 Frigidaire Cold Storage gave every home the automatic ice maker.
It was around that time; the iceman delivery days were done and gone, and the age of cold storage dairy delivery was the obvious fit for most of them. The ice picking tools became an "ice pick" for bartenders and restaurants for the most part and by the 1980's picks rarely were given as a loyal gift.
This pick is 8.75" long and weighs 1.2 ounces. This item is intended for vintage collectors and not shanking!
Condition is good with a 1940's-1950's patina

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