Strange encounters with ice at US motels – and Nordic translations

Abstract

This essay is a humble attempt to shed some rays of light on the cultural history of the practice of using ice cubes in drinks, its past, present and to some extent future. Departing from the author’s travel documentation from trips to the US and examples from Sweden from the internet, literature, archives and interviews it aims to share reflections on the normalization and translatability to different cultural contexts of the use of ice cubes. It also provides a couple of examples of failed translations and some reflections on the future of ice cubes in an era of environmental crisis. Well aware that there are many stories to be told about ice cubes, the hope is that this essay will arouse interest and curiosity of this tiny object and its possibility to open up perspectives on our society and its history.