[AT] Ice harvest coming up next month

[Larry Goss]

Very interesting site, Steve.  It brings to mind entries in my grandmother's diary where she describes the process of filling the ice house on the farm in Colorado.  They lived on the St. Vrain below Lyons, and had several irrigation lakes on the farm which were fed by the river coming down from Estes Park.

I was very interested in the particulars of the ice house in the video.  It is smaller than I expected -- the one on the farm in Colorado was at least twice as large in all dimensions -- 8 times as much ice.  Dad said it got filled every winter, and they always had ice available for an ice cream social every summer.

I expected to see sawdust being used in conjunction with the storage.  That's a detail that is missing from my father's description, but he implied to me that they could not have done it without sawdust.  By the time I was visiting on the farm during summer vacations, refrigeration was well-established and the ice house stood empty year-around.  

Larry


----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve W." <falcon at telenet.net>
Date: Friday, January 29, 2010 12:23
Subject: [AT] Ice harvest coming up next month
To: ATIS LIST <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>, Engine list <sel at lists.stationary-engine.com>

> For anyone interested in how they used to keep things cold prior 
> to the
> refrigerator.
> 
> http://millersmillsny.com/
> 
> If it stays cold for the next couple of weeks they should get 
> some good
> ice this year.
> 
> Oh, if you plan on coming wear good boots. It gets wet on the 
> ice at
> times. A set of ice cleats isn't a bad idea either...
> 
> -- 
> Steve W.
> 
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