When I was growing up, we called the refrigerator an icebox. I think I used this term for the first half of my life until I was with a friend and said something about going to the icebox for a drink. They looked at me like I was crazy and asked The Cooler? I said, No, the icebox in the kitchen. To which they replied, You mean the refrigerator. Yes, the fridge. I went home and told my mom about the situation and she told me that, indeed, it was odd that we called the refrigerator an icebox. So from then on, the thing in the kitchen that keeps drinks and other goods cold, has been called a fridge or refrigerator. After the incident, I took it upon myself to look up what an icebox was. Back in the day, refrigerators were wooden boxes that had a space, or box if you will, for a block of ice. Thus, the icebox. Iceboxes were a cheaper version of the modern refrigerator and remained popular for a long time in the US while electric refrigeration was tested and refined. Once refrigeration processes were made more affordable, the icebox faded away and into antique shops.

In 1951, a patent was filed for a device called the ice chest that would be portable. The ice chest of the day were usually metal boxes with a top lid that would keep items cold long enough for a picnic. They moved from metal to molded plastic and today top of the line ice chests are rotational-molded (roto-molded), made of the same indestructible material as whitewater kayaks. I dont kayak, but I used to watch some kayaking show on Saturday mornings. A cooler made out of that stuff has to be pretty tough. Sorry, ice chest. Wait Ice box. So which is it?

I have always called a portable box, usually with handles on the sides, that holds food and drink cold with ice, a cooler. I have also heard many friends call these same things ice chests. And I know of a couple people that call them ice boxes (yours truly not included). According to a certain website, these special boxes have all sorts of different names. Those include but are not restricted to cool-box, chilly bin, and in Australia they call them the name of the major brand, Esky (like calling soda, Coke; which I do). Of the brands I can think of, I think coolers should be called Yeti. Yeti coolers are second to none and, like a yeti (fictitious animal), theyre big and bad. Able to withstand an attack from a bear, theyre guaranteed to hold your picnic tight and keep it cold long into that hot summer day. Most owners are fishermen, used on boats for long fishing trips, but Im starting to see more and more in the hands of regular Joes. I figure if they can keep ice long for days on a fishing boat, theyll be able to keep beer cold for a day at the ballgame or a weekend at the lake. Sure, they cost more than the normal coolers, but consider how long youll have it. While you replace other coolers time and time again, these are meant to last forever.

So whatever you decide to call it, a cooler is an ice box is an ice chest is definitely what we have here. Maybe its regional. Maybe Im just out of my mind for thinking about the subject of coolers or whatever you want to call them and why. All I know for certain is that the idea of a cooler and what is expected of them have changed over the years and will continue to change as long as people push the limits of sports and entertainment. Sit back and think about what you call them and why. You might learn something!