Ice!

Snail Lake was dotted with ice houses and fisher people yesterday, and today's chilly sunshine will certainly draw more folks to the ice. Though I do not know if it was ever used for harvesting, other metropolitan lakes were used for that purpose. Laurence Pringle's latest book tells about "the amazing history of the ice business" and is filled with fascinating facts and photographs. From the food storage alternatives people employed to keep foods cool to the cutters used in the early 1800s to the railroad cars of the later 1800s that allowed food to be transported coolly, I learned so many "cool" facts. Imagine 600 men harvesting ice on New York's Rockland Lake (and one female exception) or Thoreau's annoyance at the ice harvesters interrupting his peace on Waldon Pond. The images of ice cards and ice tongs are intriguing, taking readers to a not-so-distant past they almost cannot imagine.