On Thu, 1 Aug 2013 19:39:12 -0600, "graham" > wrote:

>
>"Brooklyn1" > wrote in message
.. .
>> On Thu, 1 Aug 2013 18:58:01 -0600, "graham" > wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>"T" > wrote in message
...
>>>> In article >, says...
>>>>>
>>>>> "Polly Esther" > wrote in message
>>>>> ...
>>>>> > It's time again to prepare for hurricanes with one storm in the
>>>>> > Atlantic
>>>>> > and one in the Pacific. More or less. Tis the season to start
>>>>> > packing
>>>>> > your freezer - with water in milk jugs etc. A freezer will hold temp
>>>>> > much
>>>>> > longer if it is full. Last year, I froze water in the lasagna pan.
>>>>> > It
>>>>> > was quite handy to hold an ice chest cool when all else failed.
>>>>> > Polly
>>>>> >
>>>>> Wouldn't it be worthwhile buying a small generator?
>>>>> Graham
>>>>
>>>> Well - the generator assumes fuel supplies will last. I've said when we
>>>> do purchase a property I'm putting in a 10kW natural gas fired
>>>> generator. That way you only have to worry as far as National Grid.
>>>>
>>>Assuming you are out of power for a few days, or even a couple of weeks, a
>>>small generator, used every few hours should be more than enough to keep
>>>the
>>>fridge and freezer ok, which is what most seem to be worried about. It
>>>would
>>>certainly save chasing around for dry ice like scores or 100s of others.
>>>Graham
>>
>> A small generator will use about 1 gallon of gas an hour... it costs
>> less to lose some food... and much of what folks keep in their fridge
>> really doesn't need to be refrigerated, and butter, eggs, cheese, etc.
>> can last a lot longer than the typical power outage. And if you don't
>> open your freezer food will remain frozen for 48+ hours. You won't
>> die from eating canned foods for a couple three days. When Hurrican e
>> Gloria hit Long Island everyone in my area was out of power fro over a
>> week, I was out 11 days, we all survived quite well without
>> generators... most of us had outdoor grills so everyone pooled their
>> food and we had a giant neighborhood cookout/cook-in, even the pets
>> helped eat all the food, no food I know of spoiled.
>
>I suppose people survived quite well in the old days without a fridge or
>freezer. I was in my teens before my parents could afford to buy a small
>one.
>Graham

I grew up with an ice-a-box. Our first fridge was a 1948 Kelvinator,
its freezer held two ice cube trays (watery cubes). During NYC
winters most folk's freezer was their fire escape. Back then people
shopped every day... frozen foods at the supermarket were a novelty...
in 1950 supermarkets were a novelty.