The Ice King: How Frederic Tudor Got Rich Shipping Ice to India

About this episode

The episode explores Frederic Tudor's ambitious yet initially ridiculed venture of shipping ice from Boston to Calcutta in the 1800s.

Frederic Tudor could get ice any time he wanted. He lived in chilly Boston and his family had a lake that froze over in the winter. Harvesting ice and storing it was a normal thing in New England in the 1800s, but Frederic decided he'd make a fortune if he could ship ice to the warmest places on earth. And  everyone thought this was the dumbest business idea of all time! No one would back Frederic's plan - no one would even let him rent a ship to carry his ice. For decades he tried and failed to get his ice business running. He even ended up broke and in jail. But finally he prevailed and became a wealthy and celebrated figure - who changed the world.      Write to us at [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Topics covered

• business failure
• entrepreneurship
• ice shipping
• 19th century
• innovation
• resilience

Keywords

• Frederic Tudor
• ice shipping
• Calcutta
• Boston
• 19th century business
• entrepreneurship
• innovation
• business history

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Boston, Calcutta

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