Barnegat Cold Storage Building

Hello friend,
I used to work there.
I pulled 300 pound blocks of ice, packed fish, scrapped the freezer pipes to remove frost, and in general cleaned up.
That was when I was young.
I made some money to pay bills while I was going to college.
Had a really great time there. Liked to work and be productive.
I can remember some of my buddies who worked there.
Some are dead and some are still living.
Made one enemy, but that's his problem.
Hurt a customer accidentally and I'm sorry for that.
He survived.
Liked my bosses, Ally and the other guy,can't remember his name.
They used to call me bunker boots because I would always smell like bunkers. The fish we packed in ice by the thousands !
We packed in ice all sorts of fish for the Philadelphia markets and others.
Squid, bluefish, bunkers for bait, swordfish, lobsters, clams, etc. What a place.
Tractor trailers used to come in packed full of wooden drums of fish.
We would unload each truck, wash in water, and measure 25 pounds each flat box, fill with water, then put in freezers for storage.
We would make 300 pound blocks of ice, chip in blocks of 50 pounds for customers, and grind up for icecubes to sell at various ice cube machines.
Another store in South Toms River was a liquor store which sold spirits and our ice cubes.
A liquor store was also attached to the ice plant.
The two bosses ran that. And maybe consumed too much of the spirits too !.
What a place.
When I was on ice duty, that was an all day job, I liked to glance out the window and watch below as the people would get out of their cars and fill up with fresh spring water out of our tap. I was particularly interested when the girls would bend over to fill their gallon jugs. Um, you know what I mean. Nice pictures anyway. Ha.
Oh yeah, painting.
We would mix beach sand with gray paint and paint the steps, walkways,etc. to prevent slipping better.
It worked great.
Pete the engineer, who was in charge of the two diesel generators the provided the gas and electricity for the whole plant, was a great friend. He put me on a path of engineering endeavors that has lasted until today. Such a nice guy.
I wish I was young again.
Ed

Wow, that is so amazing. I was in the Navy and stationed at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in 1959-1960 and I too worked at Barnegat part time. I did the exact same things Joe did. Of course there wasn't too much of a variation when you worked there, we all did pretty much the same things. I do remember one thing a bit different and that was when I got to go out on one of the ice delivery trucks. I loved it because we got to get out on the road for the day and it wasn't quite as back breaking.
I remember getting back to the barraks and everyone yelling "he's back, get in the shower - you stink". LOL

I was about born in 63,, i remember very well going to the ice house with my grandfather with a car filled with water jugs. We filled up on the central ave side where the railroad tracks still were along the building with its end bumper. I was so amazed that train tracks were in seaside, we lived on kearney ave and the house is still in the family. I grew up in seaside from the day that school stopped till the day it started. during school i was up north jersey. Billy isreal lived across the street from me and had many stories. We used to get our bunker from the loading guy around back where the freezers were. I go on Historic arials and look at old arial images from 1920 and wonder where did all the great times and places go. Oh yea, we swam at the salt water pool by the pier on days when my parents thought the ocean was to rough. that pool was huge, i have many films of us in seaside. i worked on the boardwalk for the hershey's and also for Mr Boyd's beach and raft rental on kearney ave and the beach,,,,joe