Ice Used to Cool Theaters in the Late 19th Century
Poet involved
What happened
In the 1890s, theaters in cities like New York and London began using ice and electric fans to cool auditoriums, attracting audiences seeking relief from summer heat. The Isis Theatre in Houston installed an air washer in this period.
Literary impact
The cooled theater became a setting in late Victorian and early Modernist poetry and prose. Poets like T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound referenced the contrast between the sweltering street and the cool, artificial interior of the theater.
Source: ASHRAE
