Skotch Kooler Nostalgia

Recently, a tenant left one of these behind. It’s dented, and the handle is broken, but it brought back a wave of childhood memories of picnics with my father, at the beach, and in the garden of our townhouse, that made me smile.

We had a set. The “Kooler” and the grill. It was a genius design – Sturdy, easy to carry, easy to store, it didn’t tip over in the back of the Jeep. For our small family, the grill was the perfect size for grilling burgers and roasting marshmallows. The cooler was filled with ice and bottles of tonic and gin for the grownups, 7 up and ginger ale for the kiddies . Sometimes we used it to keep the ice cream from melting on the way home from the store. We had a wicker hamper too. Of course, this was before air conditioning and plastic.

It did rust in salt air. That was the fate of our set, tucked on a shelf in the garage of our cottage by the sea. After my father’s death, we switched to igloo coolers and stopped grilling. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to dispose of them for forty years.

I never watched Mad Men on TV but apparently they had one on their set.

Originally made in Ohio by The Hamilton mailbox manufacturer, they made jugs and frozen ice cans, too, before fading into obscurity.

In 2017, an attempt was made to revive the brand and you can put your name on the waiting list here. Skotch Kooler USA You can also follow them on Instagram. They even have a soft sided one now.

The plaid designer, Petra Cabot, died in 2006. You can read her obituary and more about the design here.New York Times

Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

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