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Large sheets of ice are pushed
to the icehouse.
Ice workers mark lines on the
frozen lake.
Ice History
Before refrigeration, people used ice to keep food cool. Ice was
harvested from frozen lakes and rivers in winter. People waited until
the ice was at least 60 centimeters (cm) thick. Then it was strong
enough to hold the ice workers.
Horses were used to plow a frozen lake to clear away the snow.
Then the horses pulled a special tool that scratched lines in the ice.
Workers cut along the lines with sharp saws. They used poles to
push large sheets of ice to icehouses. There they cut the sheets into
smaller blocks.
Icehouses looked like barns. Inside, the ice workers carefully
stacked and stored the ice blocks. They spread straw or sawdust over
and around each block to keep it from melting and sticking to other
ice blocks.
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