ABC’s of Early Refrigerator Etiquette

UNDER no conditions allow cheese a place in an ice box. Its strong odor will be absorbed by other foods, no matter how good the construction of the box.— The housewife of yesteryear had a lot of daily duties associated with the refrigerator in a home. This list below offers the Do’s and Don’ts to follow. 

• ALL refrigerators must be used with judgment. 
• BEWARE of drain pipes connected with sewer or waste pipes or even discharged on the ground. 
• CLEAN, scald and sun the refrigerator at least once a week. 
• DARK, ill-ventilated halls are not fit places for refrigerators.
• EVERY day put ice in the ice chamber; a little every day will keep an even temperature, while if this is neglected, much more ice will be required to chill the air current.
• FOOD should be carefully looked over, and so far as possible, placed in covered dishes before going into the ice box.
• GERMS are good friends of an ill kept ice box and must be continually fought.
• HOT sal-soda water is ideal for the weekly scalding.
• ICE should be carefully rinsed before placing in the ice chamber, even though the distilled variety be used. 
• JOINTS and hinges must be strong and reliable; a loosely hung door is responsible for much waste of ice. 
• KEEP butter and milk on the topmost shelf, that they may have no opportunity to absorb odors.
• LININGS of tile need and deserve proper care. If there is a wooden casing, prevent warping by keeping the refrigerator where it will be exposed neither to extreme heat nor cold.
• MANUFACTURERS have succeeded in obtaining air-tight, well ventilated construction; it remains for the housekeepers to see that there are no careless leakages.
• NEVER allow an ice box to be washed by simply pouring hot soapy water through it; ordinary soap should never be used in a refrigerator. Scouring soap and alkalis for zinc or metal and alkalis for porcelain linings are alone permissible.
• ONLY eternal vigilance will keep the most expensive variety in a sanitary condition, and with such care the cheapest grade may be satisfactory from the standpoint of health. 
• PORCELAIN-LINED refrigerators can be washed as easily as china, and while the first cost of such a box is large, their arrangement seems nearly perfect for keeping food sweet and making ice last.
• QUICKLY close the lid of the ice chamber when fresh ice is put in, but open the lower doors until the ice begins to melt, then shut tight.
• REFRIGERATORS should never stand in a draft or in the kitchen; both tend to melt the ice fast.
• SANITARY ice boxes provide a current of dry, cold air. If a match, left in the food compartment for twenty-four hours, refuses to ignite, the refrigerator is out of order, or improperly used.
• THE temperature of the food compartment should hover around 40 degrees Fahrenheit. It will never reach as low as 32 degrees, but should not mount higher than 45 degrees.
• UNDER no conditions allow cheese a place in an ice box. Its strong odor will be absorbed by other foods, no matter how good the construction of the box.
• VENTILATION is secured in good refrigerator on the principle that heated air rises; as the air over the ice box is chilled it passes downward, surrounds the food compartments, rises as it becomes heated and finds its way out, making a rapid and continuous current.
• WHEN ice gets very low, before putting in a fresh supply, air the box by opening all doors and remove the food; the fresh air will be quickly and economically chilled.
• XTRA precautions to prevent ice from melting are not economical; ice must melt in order that the desired temperature may be reached.
• YOUR refrigerator will respond to intelligent care as quickly as the range or furnace.
• ZEALOUS, unremitting attention to the details of cleanliness seems to be the price one must pay for an indispensable convenience, the refrigerator.— By A Refrigerator Alphabet, by I.C.E., in The Housekeeper, 1905

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia