Posted 5 years ago
Ted_Straub
(952 items)
The Mill Pond Ice Company of Tobyhanna, PA still harvests ice the old time way. The first image is their ice house where the blocks are stored. The sawdust insulated walls keeps the ice solid well into the summer. That is a vintage ice cutting tool in the left center of the image.
The second image is Mill Pond which supplies the ice during the Winter.
The Mill Pond Ice Company finished restoration of the Lackawanna RR ice car on 10/04/19. This conveyance was built in 1908. This car, and many more like it transferred ice in pre electric refrigeration days to New York and other towns and cities in the East. There were many companies providing ice, and traveling by rail, from the mountainous areas of eastern PA and northwest NJ back in those days.
Last is a photo of the Lackawanna RR interlocking tower of Tobyhanna, PA. Though no longer in operation, this tower stands a proud reminder of the Lackawanna Railroad's legacy.
Thank you Ted for the fascinating history of how ice was produced in the early days, I had no idea about the storage etc. Great post!
Hi, Jenny....I am glad to be able to share such interesting aspects of life! And I am also happy to be able to attend such things that are so interesting and informative!
Incidentally, the next ice harvest will be on the last Saturday of January 2020, as that is when the ice should be thick enough to collect. As a sidelight, the journals from the early 1900s had the ice harvesting on the day after Christmas!
Fascinating. What extremes we go to, to have iced drinks & cold beer ! In times of old-(even before my time)-, ice was shipped by sailing ships to our tropics. Doubt it raised the price of a cold beer as much as taxes though. They packed it in burlap & sawdust. Better to live in warm climes & buy ice than live in cold climes and pay to get warm.
True, 'buss! Taxes the the "fun" out of everything.
This was an interesting place to visit, and we were invited back for the ice harvest on January 25! This might be too extreme for me.....maybe I should stay in the office, anticipating the feast to follow!
And yes, the heating season will be us in the northern climes...brr, and $$$$$ :)
Thank you all for your loves of these images!!!!!
Ted!! Love the Horse drawn Ice Plow in the pic. I had one I got in NH years ago. Had the wood blade cover with it. Sold it to a working farm museum in Upstate NY years ago. I'll repost the Painted Ice Saw I have.
Stuff
Coooool, in all ways.
Hey, Stuff...thanks for the compliment, and for your info on our ice plow! I can't wait to see it...I find such things very interesting!
Yes, racer...really cool...thanks :), and it will get cooler as the days get closer to our Winter! As I have stated in an earlier reply, 2020's ice harvest will be on January 25th! It will be a really cool event...i would like to attend!!!!
Incidentally, the man giving the talk on the subject, said that journals from the early 1900s declared that the ice would thick enough to harvest on December 26th in those days!!!!!
Thank you for your comment and like of these images!!!!