Saturday, February 4, 2017

Ice Harvesting -- Gainful Winter Employment for Many in the Past

 By Pamela S. Meyers

I've been busy this month preparing for a launch of my newest book and have had no time to research the next stop on our tour of the old mansions of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Since we are in the middle of winter, I thought it might be interesting to republish an article I first published here back in February 2014. I hope you enjoy learning about ice harvesting that was a small industry in Lake Geneva during the winter months. 
Most of us probably take the kitchen refrigerator for granted. You plug it in and it keeps your food chilled and safe to eat for several days while the freezer keeps food safe to eat for a long while. Turn the clock back to the 19th Century and even up to the 1940’s in some cases, and keeping food chilled wasn’t so easy.

Ice harvesting was a big business in my hometown of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, as it was for any municipality that had access to frozen lakes and rivers. For the three or four months a year, while the lake was frozen, men were provided employment as they worked hours to get large blocks of ice harvested and stored for the coming summer months.

While researching for my historical novels, I actually came across old advertisements from Chicago restaurants that stated they chilled their drinks with crystal-clear ice from Lake Geneva.

Photo in Public Domain - Source Wikipedia
Ice cutting and harvesting on a larger scale than my small hometown had been done for decades on the East coast, but as populations moved westward, so did the ice industry. Not only was ice needed for homes, but also commercially to chill the meat being transported from the Chicago meat packing companies to the East.

Ice cutting on a small or large scale was a labor-intensive process:

  • To safely cut and harvest ice, the ice had to be at least 12 inches thick.
  • First, they scored the iced using a tool that looked something like a plow with a long blade. A horse pulled the tool back and forth, scoring the ice into even-sized squares.
  • Next, men would saw the ice on three sides of each square then, using a special tool that looked      like a long pole, they’d break the fourth side away.
  • Then they prodded the floating blocks of ice through an open water channel to a ramp, and a horse pulled each block of ice up the ramp where it was loaded on a wagon.
  • A horse team pulled the wagon to the ice house. In my hometown’s case, it was stored near the railroad depot for ease in getting a lot of the ice onto train cars to take into Chicago. The rest was used in town and delivered to homes.

Here's a film from 1919 that actually shows the process from beginning to end. If you have time to watch the whole thing, it's fascinating to watch.

Photo in Public Domain. Source: Wikipedia

 The blocks were stored with layers of hay and sawdust in between them. Amazingly, it would keep until summer. Ice was regularly delivered to homes much the same way milk was delivered. For home deliveries, if customers needed a delivery they’d put a sign in their window that said “ICE,” followed by the amount of pounds needed. The need for ice delivery slowly dwindled as people began acquiring electric refrigerators during the 1930s. 

Today ice harvesting still goes on, but mostly for educational purposes to show those of us who have always taken our refrigerators for granted how most people kept their food cold as recent as 80 years ago.

Aren't you glad we don't need to cool with blocks of ice today? 

A native of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, author Pamela S. Meyers lives in suburban Chicago with her two rescue cats. Her novels include Thyme for Love and her historical romance, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Her novella. What Lies Ahead, is part of a novella collection, The Bucket List Dare, which is now available at Amazon in both print and Kindle formats. Second Chance Love from Bling!, an imprint of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, released in January 2017. When she isn’t at her laptop writing her latest novel, she can often be found nosing around Wisconsin and other Midwestern spots for new story ideas.


  1. My maternal grandfather (I never knew him) was an "ice-man," so this was particularly interesting to me. Thanks!

  2. Great post, thanks for sharing. Loved the old film! I'm going to put a link to this on my fb page "Homesteading Hearts."

  3. I've always been fascinated by the use of ice before widespread refrigeration. I still find it hard to understand how the harvested ice stayed frozen. What about in the summer and during the train rides? What did the people use for ice in hot climate regions? I wrote a western novel and during my research I discovered they had ice cream parlors in the west. Huh? As a matter of fact that was a favorite pastime of Wyatt Earp. He spent more time at the ice cream parlor than the saloon like we see in cinema and on those old television shows. Good post, thank you for resharing.