Al I interviewed a fellow once whose family raised cabbages in eastern Iowa for the Army during WWII. He reported the cabbages were loaded into burlap gunny sacks and sewn shut in the field, then the sacks were loaded into the reefers sitting along side the fields. I can only assume the cars were pre-cooled. The load may have been topped iced later, I don't know and he passed away over ten years ago. He told me the story because the Army was very particular in how they wanted the sacks sewn shut, and their crew had to learn the Army way.
