The Ice King | Frozen Assets | 2

In 1806, Frederic Tudor set out to build a fortune by shipping ice from his family’s pond near Boston to the tropical Caribbean—an audacious idea no one believed in. But turning frozen water into profit proved far harder than he imagined. By 1809, an embargo had halted his shipments, his debts had mounted, and Tudor himself landed in jail. Still, he refused to abandon the dream that everyone else mocked. Forced to improvise, innovate, and gamble, Tudor pushed ahead—determined to make the impossible pay. Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletter Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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• 0:00Lindsay Graham?

  Audible subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.

• 0:24Lindsay Graham?

  Imagine it's fall 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. You're marching down a damp stone corridor in the local jail. At the end of the hallway, you wait as the jailer unlocks a heavy wooden door and pushes it open. Inside, your 26-year-old son Frederick rises from a bench. He smooths down his rumpled jacket and runs his fingers through his hair. Earlier today, he was arrested for failing to pay his debts. The moment you heard, you rushed to the jailhouse, but you're not sure whether to help your son or just let him face the consequences of his actions. Frederick gestures to the bench. Father, you can sit if you'd like. You eye the rough, rickety planks. No, I'll stand.

• 1:08Lindsay Graham?

  Frederick slumps back down onto the bench. It wobbles under his weight. Am I supposed to sleep on this thing? I suppose they'll give you a blanket. When can I get out of here? Not until your debt's paid. And how am I supposed to repay anyone from a cell? You shake your head, dismayed at your son's naivete. You can't. Your only choice is to rely on your friends and family. Frederick looks at you with pleading eyes. Well, please, Father, I can't stay here. You say nothing, the silence hanging in the air. The blood drains from Frederick's face. You are getting me out of here, right? It's not that simple. You know, I can't keep bailing you out. My own situation isn't what you think.

• 1:50Lindsay Graham?

  But I'm not asking for a handout. I'll repay every cent when I'm back on my feet. I just need the chance to rebuild my business. Oh, it's that silly business of yours that got you into this mess. The ice trade will make a fortune. You'll see. No, it won't. Promise me you'll give up on this fool's errand, Frederick. Isn't it enough that you're a laughingstock? Maybe this is God's way of telling you enough is enough. So that's it. You're leaving me here. You shake your head. No, your mother would never forgive me. I've scraped together enough to clear your most pressing debts, but Frederick, you need to give up this lunacy. It's reckless, and it's not just yourself you'll ruin. You'll take the whole family down with you.

• 2:32Lindsay Graham?

  Your son buries his face in his hands and says nothing. You turn and leave the cell, intending to seek out the sheriff to cut a deal. Since this is Frederick's first offense, the authorities will likely spare him the humiliation of a night behind bars and give him a week to pay his creditors. But you can't help feeling it's only a temporary reprieve. Trouble has a way of finding your son. Next time, he might not get off so easily.

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• 4:07Lindsay Graham?

  From Wondery, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story.

• 4:29Lindsay Graham?

  In early 1806, Boston trader Frederic Tudor thought he'd found an ingenious way to make a fortune. That winter, he harvested ice from a pond on his family's estate and shipped it to the tropics. He hoped to create a new market for ice as a luxury product in places where the frozen commodity was otherwise nowhere to be found. But he'd quickly discovered that having the idea was the easy part, making it pay was more difficult, and by the fall of 1809, Tudor was in trouble. After a disastrous two years of being unable to ship his product due to an embargo on trade with the Caribbean, Tudor had sunk so far into the red that he was arrested for debt. He managed to avoid a lengthy stay behind bars, but despite the

• 5:13Lindsay Graham?

  pleas of his father, Tudor refused to give up on his dream of making his fortune by exporting ice. Tudor remained convinced that the ice trade would eventually become enormously profitable, so he persisted even when others mocked him and his creditors pursued him. So as he faced setback after setback, Tudor would be forced to innovate, experimenting with new technologies and new markets in his quest for success, because no matter what, Tudor was determined to continue on the course he'd chosen. This is episode two in our four-part series on The Ice King: Frozen Assets.

• 5:51Lindsay Graham?

  At the beginning of the 19th century, Europe's great powers were at war. After the French overthrew King Louis XVI and installed Napoleon Bonaparte in his place, they came under attack from the continent's other monarchies, and the conflict was not just confined to Europe. Since France, Britain, and Spain all held colonies in North and South America, the fighting extended to the other side of the Atlantic, too. For the young United States, this broader conflict known as the Napoleonic Wars was a real threat. As a sovereign state, America was still less than thirty years old, and its armed forces paled in comparison to those of the great European powers. As a result, President Thomas Jefferson made staying out of the conflict a foreign policy priority.

• 6:35Lindsay Graham?

  And to emphasize American neutrality, he closed the country's ports to international trade. Merchants could no longer do business with any of the warring nations or their colonies. And Jefferson's restrictions did keep America out of the fighting, but at a steep price. The embargo devastated the US economy. Exports collapsed by eighty percent, docks fell silent and ships sat idle. Merchants like Frederic Tudor lost all their income and soon faced bankruptcy. So by March 1809, President Jefferson finally recognized the damage his policies were doing and lifted the trade restrictions. But it was too late for Frederic Tudor. Having been unable to ship ice that season, his debts had continued to mount.

• 7:17Lindsay Graham?

  Nevertheless, when he'd heard the news of the end of the trade embargo, he immediately began planning to harvest ice from his family estate as soon as the temperature dropped. But when he was released from his short stay in a Boston jail that fall, he still had creditors on his tail. So for the time being, he thought it was wise to leave New England and put some distance between him and his debts. Imagine it's December 1809 in the governor's mansion in Havana, Cuba. You scrawl your signature on a document, then pick up another piece of paper from a stack that never seems to shrink. Before you can read a word of the document in front of you though, there's a knock at the door and a smartly dressed young man enters. You gesture to a chair in front of your desk.

• 8:01Lindsay Graham?

  Uh, please, come, sit down. Thank you. I'm Frederic Tudor and I have an appointment with the governor. You take in the man's haughty demeanor as you check the calendar. Yes, it appears you do have an appointment, but I'm afraid you won't be seeing the governor today, you'll be dealing with me. Tudor's brow furrows in confusion. Well, forgive me, I assumed the governor would take a personal interest in a matter of this importance. A smile tugs at the corners of your mouth. Well, Mr. Tudor, the governor of Cuba is a very busy man, but rest assured, I have full authority to deal with this matter. Well, very well. As you may recall, I was responsible for importing a fine shipment of quality ice here to Cuba two years ago. I do remember that. You caused quite a stir.

• 8:42Lindsay Graham?

  Well, I only stopped my shipments because American trade policy was such that I would be breaking the law not to do so. But I put in a lot of time, effort, and money into establishing the ice export business, and I don't want to see it wasted. Now that American policy has changed, I'd like to resume those shipments. Well, of course, but you don't need any special permission to do that. What exactly are you looking for today? I would like exclusivity, the sole rights to import ice into Cuba. Now that trade's resumed, I don't want another merchant to sweep in and take advantage of my hard work. So you are saying you would like a monopoly? You could call that, I suppose, but it's a fact that Cuba wouldn't have any ice at all if it wasn't for me. I feel I should be the one to reap the benefit of the trade I brought to this island.

• 9:25Lindsay Graham?

  You find this young man brash and demanding, but you can see where this conversation is heading, and you sense an opportunity to personally profit. Well, Mr. Tudor, I understand your position, and I am sympathetic to it. You would benefit greatly from this arrangement, of course, monetarily. I think we would all benefit from an exclusive trade agreement. That may well be. Why don't you give me some time to consider your proposal and let me get back to you? Tudor nods and stands to leave, but just as he's about to walk away, he reaches into his pocket, drops a bag of coins on your desk. Perhaps this might help you make your mind up a little sooner. You pick up the bag and hastily deposit it in your desk drawer. Thank you, Mr. Tudor. I'm confident you'll be happy with my decision.

• 10:11Lindsay Graham?

  After he leaves, you count out the coins and pocket your share, setting aside the rest for the governor and other officials you'll need to give a cut. Then you take a piece of paper and write out the license, granting the exclusivity that Tudor requested. You set it on a pile for the governor's signature, satisfied that you'll profit handsomely from this renewed ice trade, whether Tudor ultimately does or not.

• 10:36Lindsay Graham?

  In early 1810, after winning the exclusive right to trade ice in Cuba, Frederic Tudor was ready to get back to work. But before his shipment of ice arrived that spring, he needed to rebuild his dilapidated ice house. In the two years since Tudor had last shipped New England ice to Cuba, the ice house in Havana had stood empty. Its underground storage chamber was damp and dirty, and the timber structure above it had collapsed. So Tudor decided to start from scratch. He hired a team of Cuban laborers to build him a new and bigger ice house, and they managed to finish construction before two new ships carrying ice from Boston docked in Havana in April 1810. After taking receipt of the shipments, Tudor paid longshoremen to unload the cargo and transport it to the new ice house.

• 11:20Lindsay Graham?

  Then, just as he had two years earlier, he placed ads in local newspapers encouraging the inhabitants of Havana to come and buy a chunk of pure, clean New England ice. And to his great relief, he was soon back to making money. But a month later, Tudor's worst fears were confirmed when a rival appeared on the scene. A ship sailed into Havana with its whole packed with ice from New England, and it wasn't one of his vessels. Tudor's unusual business idea had been mocked for years, but now it was clear that someone else had finally seen the potential profits. So Tudor went straight to the Cuban authorities, demanding they block the newcomer from unloading his cargo. According to the terms he'd agreed to with the government, only Tudor was permitted to import ice to Cuba. But despite their previous assurances

• 12:05Lindsay Graham?

  that he alone would be able to sell ice on the island, the governor's officials ignored Tudor's complaints and made no move to enforce his exclusive rights. Tudor realized that the trade agreement he'd made was nothing but a worthless piece of paper. But Tudor was still not about to let a rival encroach on his territory. He reasoned that if the people of Havana could buy the cheapest ice from him, his rival wouldn't stand a chance, so he slashed his prices. This move worked. Customers flocked to Tudor's ice house while the rival merchant was shut out. After just a few days, the newcomer's ice was melting rapidly, and he made overtures to Tudor, offering to sell the rest of his ice at cost. But Tudor had no intention of allowing his rival to even break even and refused to purchase the remaining stock.

• 12:50Lindsay Graham?

  This left the other merchant no option but to raise anchor and leave Havana, dumping his now worthless cargo into the sea. By the time Tudor's own ice ran out, he generated $7,400 in revenue, on which he made a $1,000 profit. But it wasn't much of a payday for all the effort he put in, and Tudor was still deeply in debt. Still, it was enough to prove that after a long embargo, the ice trade could again be profitable, and it motivated Tudor to keep going. But looking ahead, Tudor realized that if he wanted to make real money, he'd have to expand. So over the winter of 1810 and into early 1811, he began the process of branching out into a new market. He kept his ice house in Havana and continued to send shipments there,

• 13:33Lindsay Graham?

  but he decided to add a second destination on another Caribbean island, Jamaica. As he'd done before, Tudor asked his family for help. He recruited his younger brother Harry to travel to Jamaica and build a temporary ice house, big enough for a test shipment. Then after dispatching ice to Havana to begin a new season of trading there, Tudor loaded up a second ship bound for Jamaica, which departed in April 1811. Unfortunately, this shipment never arrived at its destination. The vessel was lost at sea, and since it was already spring in Boston, Tudor had no ice left to harvest. His attempt to break into the Jamaican market sank with the doomed ship. And even worse, the failed delivery triggered a series of disasters.

• 14:16Lindsay Graham?

  When news spread in Boston that Tudor had lost stock in the shipwreck, it spooked one of his creditors, prompting a demand for immediate repayment. But Tudor didn't have enough cash to settle the debt, so the creditor sought a warrant for Tudor's arrest. For the second time, Tudor was apprehended by a Boston sheriff, and this time, he was locked up in a prison cell for days. Tudor was only released after his family scraped together enough money to satisfy the court. But no sooner was he free when another blow landed. The War of 1812 broke out between the United States and Britain, and to stop the Royal Navy capturing American merchant ships, President James Madison once again closed American ports.

• 14:56Lindsay Graham?

  For the second time in five years, a self-imposed trade embargo delivered a crushing blow to America's merchants, and Tudor faced another winter unable to harvest or sell ice. With exports on hold, but creditors still on his tail, Tudor desperately looked for other ways to make money. He considered investing in Massachusetts coal mines, but he lacked the funds to buy in. He tried to persuade his father to remortgage the family estates, but he had made risky real estate investments that weren't paying off, so he wasn't in a position to lend his son any more money. Desperate for cash, Tudor soon had an idea just as unconventional as exporting ice. Although he had no experience in shipbuilding, he came up with an innovative design for

• 15:37Lindsay Graham?

  a flat-bottomed boat that had a keel only at the stern, meaning it could remain stable while sitting high in the water. This made it perfect for sailing far upriver where water was increasingly shallow. As a merchant himself, Tudor knew that traders would appreciate the ship's ability to carry cargo deep inland, but aware that the country was at war, he also hoped that the government would see the military applications of his new design. The navy could sail further upriver and deposit troops deeper inland than previously possible. In the hope of catching the attention of the Secretary of the Navy, Tudor somehow managed to borrow yet more money and construct a prototype of the boat. As he pursued this new goal, his debts soared to almost $39,000, more than three-quarters

• 16:20Lindsay Graham?

  of a million dollars today, and he still had no income. But Tudor did not let that fact slow him down. In May 1813, he launched his experimental boat and sailed up the Charles River with a delegation of potential investors aboard, but unbeknownst to him, he would not be returning to port with the rest of the passengers. Tudor's prototype hadn't traveled far when he was flagged down by another vessel. A sheriff then boarded and arrested Tudor once again for failing to pay his creditors. The experimental ship returned to port without the man who built it and without attracting any financial backing. Yet again, Tudor was imprisoned in a Boston jail and only released when his father agreed to bail him out once more, but his father also left him in no doubt that this was the

• 17:05Lindsay Graham?

  last time. Frederic Tudor's business woes had gotten him in trouble with the law a third time. He was frustrated, still believing that no one else could see what he could. As far as he was concerned, Tudor had been laid low not because his business concepts lacked merit, but by sheer bad luck. So no matter what obstacles were put in his way, Tudor was sure that his fortunes would change when he got the chance to resume the ice trade, even if it meant risking another arrest and disappointing his father yet again.

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• 18:10Speaker 04

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• 18:39Speaker 05

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• 19:22Speaker 05

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• 19:46Lindsay Graham?

  The War of 1812 and America's subsequent trade embargo was a serious obstacle for Frederick Tudor's ice export business. But Frederick's father found that there was a silver lining in the war. Since it put his son's risky ice exports on hold, he used the time to encourage Frederick into safer business ventures. But Frederick was only biding his time until Boston Harbor reopened. In February 1815, Congress ratified the Treaty of Ghent, bringing the War of 1812 to a close. With British warships no longer patrolling the East Coast, President James Madison then reopened the nation's ports. And almost immediately, arguments began in the Tudor household. Because no matter what he may have promised his father

• 20:29Lindsay Graham?

  in the past, Frederick was determined to resume his trade in ice.

• 20:37Lindsay Graham?

  Imagine it's the evening of November 1, 1815, in Boston Harbor. The sun is sinking below the horizon as your son, 32-year-old Frederick, gently peels your arms from around him. You pull a handkerchief from your sleeve and dab your eyes while he tries to comfort you. Oh, Mother, I thought you'd be used to me going away by now. It never gets easier. What if the ship sinks? It won't. You might catch a tropical disease. I won't. Oh, I'm sorry. Every time you go, it makes me think of your brother John. 14 years ago, your son John died on his return journey from Cuba, where he'd been sent to recover from a bout of illness. Oh, Mother, John was already sick. He would have died whether he went away or not.

• 21:22Lindsay Graham?

  You glance toward the ship, where the captain's making the final preparations for departure. He spots Frederick and gestures for him to come aboard. Well, look, I've got to go. They'll pull the gangplank any minute. You know what? I'm sorry your father's not here to see you off. Oh, it's okay. I know he's angry, but this is the only way I can pay back what I owe. And I'm not gonna bury my head in the sand like he does about his own debts. Well, he's trying his best, but you know he's a very proud man. So am I, and I wanna stand on my own two feet. I don't want father to bail me out every time I get in trouble. But still, couldn't you send someone else to Cuba for you? You could manage the ice harvest here instead, like you've done before. Nah, I think it's better if I'm out of Boston for now. There's a reason we're sailing at sunset.

• 22:07Lindsay Graham?

  It's easier to slip out of the harbor without the law knowing. The law? Are you in trouble again? No, I'm just keeping a low profile in case one of my creditors hears I'm leaving the country. They might call in the authorities again to stop me from going. I see. You hand Frederick a parcel wrapped in brown paper. Well, here, take this. What is it? Some sweets, a few clean shirts, it's not much. Well, it's perfect, thank you. Now, I really must go, but I'll be back in the spring and, God willing, I'll have a hold full of cash too.

• 22:42Lindsay Graham?

  You wrap your arms around your son one last time. But after a few seconds, your son Frederick wriggles free and dashes up the gangplank onto the departing ship. You stand on the dock, waving as the vessel slowly drifts away into the gathering dusk. You find yourself wishing your son would come to his senses. Like your husband, you have serious doubts that the ice trade will ever make him rich. You can only hope that Frederick has learned from his past mistakes and that this time he'll do things differently.

• 23:14Lindsay Graham?

  In late 1815, three weeks after bidding his mother farewell in Boston, Frederic Tudor once again docked in Havana. He still didn't enjoy Cuba's sweltering climate, which made him physically uncomfortable and even worse, threatened to quickly melt his precious cargo. But after more than a decade, Tudor had an increasingly sophisticated understanding of how to harvest, transport, and store his product. So when Tudor disembarked in Havana this time, he wasn't alone. With him was a team of Boston carpenters who he'd hired to construct a new ice house, one that was to be a radical break from previous designs. Tudor's earlier ice houses in Cuba had been based on the type used widely in New England. There, the structures tended to be excavated into the ground with subterranean chambers

• 23:59Lindsay Graham?

  which were hewn out of rock and lined with brick or stone. These ice houses managed to keep ice frozen even at the height of a Boston summer, but Tudor had concluded that they weren't as effective in the tropics, and he thought he'd worked out why. In the Caribbean, the heat of the blazing tropical sun caused the ground to become much warmer than in northern climates like New England, leading the subterranean chamber of his Havana ice house to warm quickly and much more than expected. Tudor came to realize that an ice house engineered to stay cool in New England would not suffice in Cuba, so he came up with a bold new blueprint. His latest iteration would be built entirely above ground, using cheap timber rather than expensive stone.

• 24:40Lindsay Graham?

  The walls were designed with cavities that would be stuffed with sawdust and peat to act as an insulating barrier between the hot air outside and the cold ice inside. And the storage chamber would be raised off the ground with drains in the elevated floor to allow meltwater to drip out. So while his carpenters got to work on this innovative new ice house, Tudor busied himself with the next part of his plan. As before, he went to the governor's mansion to request an exclusive license to import ice into Cuba. Tudor expected that it'd be granted with a minimum of fuss, but when he asked the officials to reinstate the monopoly, he made a shocking discovery: someone had beaten him to it. A Spanish merchant, Carlos Gobergo de Seta, had already been granted the exclusive right

• 25:24Lindsay Graham?

  to import ice for the next year. Tudor was stunned to find himself an interloper in the trade that he'd personally created. Tudor was furious, but he knew from experience that there was little in Cuba that couldn't be solved with a bribe. So he petitioned the governor to reverse his decision, but even after distributing $2,000 in bribes to any official who'd take the time to listen, the decision stood. Tudor soon discovered that de Seta had posted a $30,000 bond to secure the rights, and there was no way Tudor could match that kind of cash. Still Tudor knew that Cuban officials could not always be counted on to enforce their trade agreements. Six years earlier, he had secured the exclusive rights to import ice, but when a rival merchant

• 26:07Lindsay Graham?

  appeared on the scene, the Cuban authorities turned a blind eye. Hoping that they'd look the other way again, Tudor set in motion a trade war, and he had one important advantage over his new rival: experience. When Tudor learned that De Seta intended to source his ice from New England, he wrote to his cousin William Savage in Boston and ordered him to secure space on every merchant ship headed to Havana in the spring. So when De Seta tried to hire his ship, he found that Tudor's name was already on every manifest, meaning that De Seta had no one to haul his shipments for him. In response, De Seta took out ads in Boston newspapers, claiming that he alone had the right to import ice into Cuba. He warned that any ship carrying Tudor's ice would be impounded in Havana, but Boston's

• 26:51Lindsay Graham?

  shipowners and merchants rallied around one of their own. Tudor may not always pay his bills. His ice trade might be the butt of jokes, but at least he was a New Englander. Being given the cold shoulder in Boston forced De Seta to compromise. Eventually, he and Tudor came to an agreement. De Seta would allow Tudor to import ice to Cuba in 1816. In return, Tudor would give up some of the space he'd reserved on Boston's merchant ships. So for now, the Cuban ice trade would operate as a free market. But then, the Cuban government threw another wrench in the works. As Tudor's new ice house near completion, Cuban officials visited to inspect it, and they were surprised to find it wasn't a subterranean chamber like Tudor had built before.

• 27:34Lindsay Graham?

  That concerned officials, who declared that the new raised structure was too tall for the already congested docks. Even after Tudor's carpenters reduced the height by three feet, it wasn't enough. Frustrated, Tudor had no choice but to tell his carpenters to disassemble the half-finished ice house and start again on a different site, further away from the docks. But time was not on his side. Just two weeks after construction began on the new site, Tudor's first ice ship docked at Havana Harbor. Tudor was forced to unload the cargo and store it in the still unfinished ice house even while the carpenters were working on it. Making it worse, the structure didn't have a roof, and with the sun blazing down from above, a steady flow of meltwater soon dripped from the drains in the ice house floor.

• 28:19Lindsay Graham?

  Tudor's product was disappearing quickly and with it, any chance to make a profit. Desperate to salvage the season, Tudor thought on his feet. He tested the meltwater and found that it was still cold, so rather than allow it to drip onto the ground and go to waste, he collected it in barrels. Then he began experimenting with ways to offer it to customers. After just a few hours of effort, Tudor came up with a solution. He took a fourteen gallon jug and wrapped it in layers of cloth, sawdust, and dried moss to act as insulation. He found this method could keep the water cold for up to a day, so he began to offer what he called his "water cooling jugs" to the coffeehouses of Havana and tried to persuade the coffeehouse owners that their customers would pay handsomely for an ice cold glass

• 29:04Lindsay Graham?

  of water alongside their coffee. He was right, for a short while at least. Chilled restaurant water became the newest novelty to hit Havana, but unfortunately, it proved to be a passing fad, and demand fell after customers had tried only a few glasses. Still, the chilled water craze lasted just long enough to rescue Tudor's trading season, and by the time demand for the melted ice water fell off, Tudor's carpenters had finally finished the roof of the ice house and enclosed the building. Against all odds, Tudor's quick thinking had kept his business afloat, and in the meantime, the money he made selling his cool water jugs allowed him to fund more deliveries of ice from Boston. Not for the first time, Frederic Tudor had identified an untapped market, but he knew

• 29:47Lindsay Graham?

  from bitter experience that new ventures didn't always pay off, and neither would his next one.

• 29:58Speaker 06

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• 30:41Speaker 06

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• 30:53Speaker 07

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  Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of A Great Book with Barack Obama ad-free right now, plus access each audiobook discussed in the series. Download the Audible app today.

• 31:58Lindsay Graham?

  By the fall of 1816, Frederic Tudor's stock of ice was finally gone. It hadn't melted. In fact, his new ice house in Havana had been a great success and kept his product frozen for months. Instead, he had sold out. After years of working tirelessly to market his product, he was thrilled that now, for Cubans, ice was no longer a novelty. It was a commodity that they'd grown to rely on to preserve their food and to cool their drinks. But Tudor was not done innovating. While he'd successfully sold all the ice he imported to the island that season, he kept some aside for his own use. Throughout the summer, he'd conducted experiments with it, buying oranges from a local market and storing them in the ice house to see how long they lasted at a cooler temperature.

• 32:43Lindsay Graham?

  After finding that the fruit stayed good for over a month, Tudor decided to buy enough limes, oranges, bananas, and coconuts to fill one of his ship's holds on its return journey from Cuba to the US. Then he set sail with his last stash of ice packed around the fruit crates, preventing the produce from rotting during the voyage. If all went to plan, Tudor wouldn't just be a pioneer in the ice trade, he'd revolutionize the shipment of exotic tropical fruits to America.

• 33:13Lindsay Graham?

  Imagine it's September 17, 1816, on board the merchant ship Parago in New York Harbor. You scan a cargo manifest from the newly arrived vessel, frowning as you read. "It's unlike anything you've ever seen, and you can't decide whether the merchant who handed it over is serious or if he's playing an elaborate joke." You hold up the document. "Is this yours? Are you Mr. Tudor?" "Yes, I'm Frederic Tudor." "It says here you come from Cuba with ice." "That's right." "Cuba doesn't have any ice." "Well, it does now. I harvest ice from lakes in New England during the winter, ship it to Havana, and then sell it from my ice house there. So why have you brought it back to New York?" Tudor points at the bottom of the list. Well, see here, I've got limes, oranges, bananas, and coconuts, too.

• 33:57Lindsay Graham?

  The ice is just to keep them fresh. Ice, oranges, and what else from Cuba? I've been doing this job for 20 years, Mr. Tudor. This is the strangest manifest I've ever seen. Have you ever tasted a coconut? Can't say I have. Well, they're delicious, and I reckon New Yorkers will go mad for them. Well, let's take a look. Maybe I can try one. It would be my pleasure. Tudor fishes out a key and unlocks the hold. He takes hold of the hatch, but then leaps back when a blast of air hits him. He grabs his arm to steady him. What was that? I don't know. Sounded like gas. You sure it's only ice and fruit down there? You lean over the opening and immediately recoil. The smell coming from the hole is horrendous.

• 34:42Lindsay Graham?

  You cover your nose and mouth and climb inside. It's oppressively warm. Meltwater sloshes around your boots, crates of fruit floating in it. A few boxes have cracked open to reveal rotten oranges inside. You turn to see Tudor standing by the hatch, his face as gray as the moldy fruit. I, I don't understand. This shouldn't have happened. The, the air must have gotten in. It must, it should have been sealed tight. You give Tudor a sympathetic look. Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Tudor. Looks like the whole cargo spoiled. You check the manifest again. The ice, well, that's, that's all gone, and the fruit, uh, no value to any of that. I'll, I'll just strike you out. You won't need to pay any customs duties, but, but can I give you a tip for next time?

• 35:25Lindsay Graham?

  Tudor glances at you, but you can see he barely registers what you're saying. Well, Mr. Tudor, maybe New York isn't ready for coconuts.

• 35:36Lindsay Graham?

  Frederic Tudor had enjoyed a successful trading season in Havana, selling more ice than his competitor, Carlos Goberto de Seta, by undercutting him with lower prices. But now he had nothing to show for it. Even though he didn't have to pay duties for the spoiled cargo, the cost of buying the now rotten fruit had wiped out the profit he made over the past six months. As a result, Tudor was still heavily in debt, and letters from Boston brought more troubling news. Four different creditors were after him, each demanding that Tudor repay what he owed them. That meant returning home would put Tudor at risk of being arrested and imprisoned again, so he decided to stay in New York until the next season's ice trading began.

• 36:16Lindsay Graham?

  The following month, in October 1816, Tudor got a tip-off that changed his plans. A letter from his older brother William came with unexpected news. The Tudor family was putting up a distinguished visitor for a few days. Sixty-six-year-old General Thomas Pinkney had served alongside Tudor's father during the War of Independence and had gone on to be elected the governor of South Carolina. He'd traveled to Boston on business and wanted to catch up with his old comrade at the same time. During General Pinkney's visit, talk had naturally turned to family matters, and that included Tudor's quest to conquer the ice trade. But when Tudor's father had given Pinkney a summary of what were to him his son's exasperating business exploits, the general didn't laugh.

• 36:59Lindsay Graham?

  Unlike most people, General Pinkney seemed to take the idea seriously, and he suggested that Tudor's plan might actually succeed not in the Caribbean, but in South Carolina, where summer temperatures were also often unbearable. When William heard this, he encouraged his younger brother to get to Boston as soon as he could. So in spite of his fear of the creditors that awaited him, Tudor rushed north to the family estate. Once there, he seized the opportunity to pitch his business concept to General Pinkney in person, and Pinkney was impressed with Tudor's drive. He offered to invest in an ice house in South Carolina in return for a share of future profits. But unfortunately, the funds General Pinkney was offering wouldn't be enough to build

• 37:40Lindsay Graham?

  even a modest structure, and as things stood, Tudor couldn't cover the shortfall himself. So since Tudor had no other source of capital, he resigned himself to letting the opportunity pass him by. But then another family friend stepped in. When Tudor mentioned General Pinkney's proposal to fellow merchant Francis Lee, Lee offered to lend Tudor $300, enough to travel to South Carolina and set up a new branch of his ice business. So on November 1, 1816, the now thirty-three-year-old Tudor set sail from Boston aboard a ship bound for Charleston. Exactly one year had passed since Tudor had slipped out of Boston at dusk, bound for Havana. His fortunes hadn't changed over the subsequent 12 months. He was still in debt. He still had to ask the captain to keep the departure quiet.

• 38:25Lindsay Graham?

  His father was still skeptical, and yet Tudor pressed on. But now Tudor wasn't chasing a tropical fantasy. After years of frustration in the Caribbean, Frederic Tudor would test his trade on home turf in the American South, and he would soon find out whether his business was strong enough to endure or whether he was skating on thin ice. From Wondery, this is episode two of our four-part series On the Ice King from American History Tellers. On the next episode, cracks begin to appear when Frederic Tudor expands the ice trade. While new markets bring soaring sales, missteps in the Caribbean and a mild New England winter threaten to melt his profits and destroy his health.

• 39:10Lindsay Graham?

  American History Tellers is only possible because of listeners like you, so thank you. And don't miss an episode. Be sure to follow American History Tellers on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. And to find out more about me, including my other podcasts, my live show, the history tours I'm arranging, and all sorts of other things, go to historyishuman.com. That's historyishuman.com. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsay Graham, for Airship. Audio editing by Mohamed Shazib.

• 39:54Lindsay Graham?

  Sound design by Molly Bach. Music by Thrum. This episode is written by Scott Reeves. Managing producer Desi Bladlock. Senior producers Alida Rosansky and Andy Beckerman. Executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marshall Louis for Wondery.

• 40:16Speaker 01

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