The fact was that neither the Soviet Union—nor any country in the world, not Britain, not Germany—could match American domestic refrigerators in 1959. The United States was the ice nation par excellence. Ninety-six percent of households owned fridges (compared to 13 percent for Britain). The American way of life was, to a very large extent, made possible by refrigeration. From the clink of ice cubes in a glass of bourbon to the easy luxury of a Chicago steak in New York City, from soda fountains and popsicles to frozen peas, the business of cooling food and drink was deeply American.
