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# I spilled the ice tray all over the freezer again
- URL: https://www.thefrictionlog.com/06900/
- Published: 2026-10-02T19:49:50.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-12T15:18:53.000Z
- Description: Filed: the early 1930s · Solved: 1953 in the United States · the automatic icemaker · by the refrigerator maker Servel
- Author: The Clerk
- Tags: Solved, #solved 1953

*Filled it to the brim, carried it across the kitchen, and now the peas are in a skating rink.* — Newlywed, 1938

Ice trays came with the first freezers, the cubes stuck, and inventors spent years patenting ways to get them out. That's a lot of paperwork for ice. In 1953 the refrigerator maker Servel sold one that skipped the tray. It filled a mold, froze it, warmed it just enough to let go and dumped the cubes in a basket. A little arm felt for when the basket was full. Yours may still have one. Go look.

**Noted**: owners tell Consumer Reports the icemaker and the dispenser are the parts that break most. The fix is now the thing that needs fixing.