Tales and Items of Interest

ICE CAKES FOR REFRIGERATION

Until the widespread distribution of electricity on the Island in the 1950’s, ice harvested in blocks from fresh water ponds was the means of refrigeration for our homes and farms. An ice box was used in homes for the preservation of food. Some farms had a tank or large tub of water in their milk houses in which cream and milk cans were immersed. Ice would then be placed in the tank to make the water colder. Others placed their cream and milk cans directly in an ice bin in the ice house. Also, fox ranchers sometimes stored their fox meat in these ice houses. The ice was used for these purposes during warm weather, as long as the ice lasted.

The ice would be stored in a separate building in the yard, or in a portion of the wood or coal shed attached to the house. The usual method of storing in the ice house was by placing the blocks of ice in rows until an area was covered with one layer of ice. It would be kept about twelve inches away from the outside walls, then this space was filled with sawdust for insulation. Next, a thin layer of sawdust was spread over the first layer of ice upon which another layer was placed. The sawdust was to prevent the layers of ice from sticking together. This system of storage was used for further layers of ice. The top layer was finally covered with about a foot of sawdust or whatever amount was available.

The Marshfield area was supplied with ice largely from Wright’s Pond, located midway between this community and Charlottetown. This was a substantial commercial operation, supplying ice to many dairies and other food production plants, as well as the homes in the area.

The cutting and storage was carried out in the height of winter when ice conditions were right. An ice plough was used, pulled by a team or single horse, cutting a seam in the ice at 20" intervals, which would be sawed off every 20", giving a 20" by 20" cake, 12" or more thick. The cakes were pulled from the water with a pair of ice tongs

Photo by Barb Morgan

Old Ice House on the property of Marjorie and son, Wayne Boswall

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and loaded onto wood sleighs. The ice could be picked up at the pond for three cents per block or delivered to Drake’s ice house, on or near Clark St., Charlottetown, for 65 cents per sleigh load which consisted of eight blocks. People in the area would haul the ice to town to create enough credit to acquire their own supply of ice at no cost.

A common occurrence was having a man or horse slip into the icy water. A man could easily be fished out with a pole or rope and a little manual assistance, wet and badly chilled. The horse was another matter, the animal had to be lassoed and choked off, which caused it to float on its side, at which time several men or another horse would launch the critter back onto the solid ice.

A thought to ponder:

Now, at the beginning of the 21St Century, it would be no longer possible to depend upon cutting 12" to 20" thick ice cakes, as our milder winters produce ice which is scarcely thick enough to skate upon. Is it just our good fortune that electrically produced refrigeration came about prior to climate change, or is this climate change a result of our ability to produce electricity and many other amenities from

fossil fuels?

SOURCE Notes of Eric MacDonald

and Wally Wood

Ice cake and tongs.