“Any process which hasn’t been radically improved in twenty years is ipso facto obsolete and offers real opportunity.”
Clarence Birdseye
Jeff Weaver. Pavillion Beach. 2008. Oil on canvas. Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester MA
During five winters in Labrador as a fur trapper, Birdseye experienced firsthand that quickly frozen fish and vegetables retained their quality when cooked. He came to Gloucester in 1925 and developed his quick freezing process here. He obtained some 250 American and foreign patents. His ideas, such as an electric light bulb that withstands freezing temperatures revolutionized the grocery industry.
- Mass Moments Minute (1 min)
First Frosted Here; Mass Moments Audio File; On this Day; http://massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=72
- Fantastic Multimedia: Down the FORT (5:35 min)
Multimedia public history project about "the Fort," a Sicilian fishing enclave adjacent to the Gloucester harbor. This is a Mass Humanities funded project. Check out the Down the Fort project's website.
