History of ice box, ice boxes: Oh remember the days of the iceman and the ice box! Because the ice box (ice boxes) literally began as a wooden box, specifics of when it was invented or by whom are (to say the least) very sketchy. But your grandparents may recall the hey day of the ice box something like this: The iceman delivered ice for the first ice boxes (ice box) the predecessor of the modern day refrigerator. Ice was purchased by the pound for the ice box from a frozen water salesman not unlike a milk man. Of course the ice melted in the first crude ice boxes, so the iceman was in great demand. The tin-lined area that held the ice had a rubber tube that was attached to the bottom at a drain hole to relay the water to a pan under the ice box. There was always a puddle of water on the floor to remind us that it needed emptied.