Harvesting Ice

People did not always have a refrigerator to keep their food cold. Before refrigerators were invented, food was kept in what was called an ice box. It was a box which had a place for a cube of ice to sit. The ice gradually melted, but it kept the food cold for about a week. Every week an ice man traveled by horse and wagon and delivered blocks of ice to each house in the city. It's reported that a large chunk of ice cost about 50 cents.

Where did the ice come from, and where did people get ice in the middle of the summer? Every year in January, when the Caroline, Leopolis, or Marion Mill pond froze solid, men removed all the snow from a large area. With a long hand saw, they would cut into the ice and make a block that was about two feet thick. Then the ice was taken to an ice house near the shore of the pond. Inside, the blocks of ice were stacked on top of each other with a layer of sawdust in between them and around them. Sawdust was very important because it was an insulator. This means that it kept the ice from melting, even in the summer. Every week of the year the iceman loaded his truck with ice from these buildings and delivered it to homes. Other places such as the Buss Cheese factory in Caroline kept their own supply of ice. The factory needed large blocks of ice to keep in their cheese storage houses.

Source: From Sawmills to Villages: The Early History of Big Falls, Caroline, Leopolis, Pella, Buckbee, Granite City, Hunting and Split Rock, a Marion School study project.