There was one business that happened between USA and India went extinct around 150 years ago.
Actually, when I first heard about that business, I thought it was impossible for such a business to have existed in the first place.
Any guess what the business was about?
It was the export of ice blocks from USA to India.
A guy called Frederick Tudor came up with the ingenious idea of harvesting ice from the lakes of boston and export it to tropical or equatorial countries.
India was a big importer of Tudor’s ice cubes. Tudor's Ships offloaded cubes of ices in the Madras and Calcutta ports.
Interestingly, most of the ice cubes reached the destinations without any significant melting thanks to the low temperatures of ocean water and insulation with sawdust.
Donny Trump was complaining a few months ago about how little business India did with US compared to what they do with us, but in nineteenth century India was importing tonnes of ice cubes from the USA.
The business flourished until the technology brought the ability to make ices anywhere in the world. The business finally ended around 1884 when Madras imported the last shipment of ice.
Vivekanandar Illam (Vivekananda house) is a popular landmark in Chennai today. But around 150 years ago, the building was used for storing the ice that was imported and was then called ‘Ice House’. The building still exists today as the only witness to the business that once existed and thrived.