That is Priceless by Steve Melcher for December 27, 2024

Oh good, now it’s martini time.

/// Iceman Natty was not very nice.

Told Lavinia he’d lower the price

of the ice blocks he carried

if she’d “act like we’re married.”

So she screamed at him, “You stink on ice!”

Threr was a chill in the desert air as the wagon train circled for the evening encampment.

Water, water everywhere … and not a drop to drink…

My Dad, born in 1896, had a lot of iceman jokes.

It has been acknowledged the young men delivering this exceptional ice from Rockland, Maine were among the first diagnosed with ‘Blueballs’. Although a cure was never found, a good blanket came in handy in more ways than one when making deliveries to young ladies.

Suppose you could paint a bit faster? This crap is starting to melt!

Pictured: Chip and his cold blocks.

“I don’t care how weird the perspective looks; we’re not posing for you unless you paint my horse’s good side.”

Charlie Brown, that blockhead, chose this career later in life

You would think that with the ice being in blocks, that this guy could have stacked them better. Maybe that’s where the nickname “blockhead” came from.

My paternal grandfather was a delivery iceman. He met my grandmother on his route. Early 1900s.

Rockland’s horning in on the Nyack Ice Company’s business led to the famous ‘tong wars’.

“Tell me straight, Doc, will I be able to play the piano after this surgery?”

“Of course you will.”

“That’s great!! I’ve never been able to play the piano before!”

These seem like perfectly good blocks of ice. “Carry them to the cripple pile,” the boss said. What are they trying to do? Run the company out of business? I heard a rumor that the bosses have invested their money in something called “refrigerators.”

♪♫ Whoa, I cried like a baby

When you left me last Friday night, yes I did

You know I cried like a baby

When you left me last Friday night, mm-hmm

But now I finally made me some connections

And I want you to know I’m gettin’ long alright

Listen, you know my ice man is a nice man

Just as nice as he can be

When he goes and collects his money

He brings it all home to me

Now my meat is a sweet man

Bring me chicken evеry day

And he tells me, “Prеtty baby”

“You don’t never have to pay”

Now my wood is a good man

’Cause he likes to keep me warm

And his wood don’t burn to suit me

Then me takes me in his arms

Now my landlord, he done tell me

“You don’t have to worry ’bout the rent, no, no”

“Because all I wanna do is hold you, baby”

“And yo’ rent won’t cost a cent”

Now my coal man is a old man

You know he’s almost 82

But God, believe me when I tell you

That he knows just what to do ♪♫

— Big Maybelle

That’s a lot of work to deliver two ice cubes for somebody’s poolside drink.

The Ice Cart: 

Paste (including the quote marks) 

"Category:Nicolino V. Calyo" Wikimedia 

(syntax supported by the Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, and Brave search engines) in the browser address bar (or search for it using one of those search engines) and choose the first Category: found, and once there find the text string Cart2, and click its link for info and links that point to more info about this roughly A4 paper size drawing. 

Again, a larger strip image is shown by (Ctrl- or right-) clicking the image in Mr. Melcher’s MASTERPIECE #3434 (December 27, 2024) blog entry, accessible by the Check out the blog! box after the last comment, and using the dropdown menu (even larger if you crop what’s after .jpg from the URL). I’ve added a comment there pointing to the info about this artist I used to point to here. So far, first work by him used here.

it’s hard to commeth when your hands are cold.

“Someone wanted ice for a really big iced tea?”

“The Ice Cart”

Looks like an ad, you think?

Call Me Ishmael hasn’t weighed in yet. I hope he’s enjoying an extended Christmas celebration and that we’ll hear from him over the weekend.

The iceman always has his pick.

It’s hard to explain the appeal/

Of the works of Eugene O’Neill/

For his musings (morose)

Leave me quite comatose/

No matter how happy I feel..

Yeah, just watch out for icebergs on your route, ok?

Barely remember the “Ice Man”….

But I remember that the neighbor lady “Darlene” must have loved whatever the “Jewel Tea” man had to “offer”…

He sure made no “quickie” sales….

And as a little boy that was obvious even to me….

…