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Saloons
were the primary establishments for drinking and socializing in
Fredericksburg
before 1920, but they never made a comeback after the repeal of
Prohibition. Ice houses took the place of saloons for many Germans
for a time after WWII.
In the beginning, Texas ice houses actually sold ice - specifically
25 lb. blocks of ice to use in home iceboxes in the days before
refrigeration. Then a farsighted ice house owner saw a way to expand
his business. He took advantage of the cold temperatures in the
ice vault to store and sell not only ice but all kinds of food items
that needed to be kept cold. Other ice houses quickly copied the
idea.
As foot traffic in ice houses increased, proprietors brought in
metal shelves and racks and added bread, snacks, chewing tobacco
and cigarettes to the inventory. In Central,
North
and East Texas, ice
houses evolved into convenience stores (7-Eleven was the largest).
In the Hill Country
and South Texas, where
beer was a big seller, ice house owners brought in chairs and set
up domino and pinochle tables to take advantage of the cool air
from the ice vault. People in the neighborhood would stop by after
work to have a beer and catch up on the local gossip. On weekends
they brought the whole family and made an evening of it.
Ice houses flourished even after most homes got electric refrigerators
and air-conditioning. They adapted to particular situations.
In towns near lakes and rivers, ice houses sold bait, tackle and
fishing licenses. In the Hill
Country where deer hunting is big, ice houses sold ammo, and
they added cold storage units so hunters could store their dressed
deer carcasses.
While there is some spirited debate over what constitutes an honest-to-goodness
Texas ice house, many experts agree that the South
Texas ice house/beer joint/community center concept first formed
in post-prohibition San
Antonio where there were few taboos against beer drinking. By
the late 1940s just about every San Antonio neighborhood had one.
Ice houses were not fancy, and no two were alike. They were boxy,
functional and architecturally unattractive. Parking lots were often
dirt or gravel. Some ice house parking lots looked like they were
paved with beer bottle caps.
Inside decor was plain and simple with bare concrete floors and
mismatched tables and chairs. Some ice houses had pool tables, juke
boxes and TV sets. There were usually a few beer signs on the
wall. Several Fredericksburg ice houses sponsored teams in the local
bowling and softball league, and proudly displayed their dusty
trophies behind the counter.
What all Hill
Country ice houses had in common was ice cold beer (often advertised
as "the coldest beer in town") and a friendly atmosphere. While
some Hill Country ice houses sold liquor, they served no mixed drinks
(liquor by the drink was illegal in Texas until 1970), although
in Fredericksburg no one objected if one of the regulars brought
in a bottle of schnapps to share on a cold winter afternoon.
A Saturday evening at a Fredericksburg
ice house was just plain fun. Adults drank beer, played pinochle,
gossiped and socialized. Children played baseball, kick the can
and freeze tag in the open space out back.
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