KAWARTHA LAKES-Up to the 1940s, few families had electric refrigeration and most people subsisted largely on foods that were slower to perish, like potatoes, carrots and onions. For meat, village residents tended to get fresh cuts from the butcher shop and would only get enough for immediate use. In town, milk would be delivered regularly, so it could be consumed before it spoiled. Most farm families were part of a beef ring, where the neighbourhood would cooperate to butcher an animal, and typically would only take enough meat for a week, except perhaps in winter—when meat could be frozen naturally. Meat could be kept for a few days on the cellar floor, being the coolest part of the house in summer. Farm families typically had their own milk, and often fed the surplus to pigs because it would not keep. Starting in the late nineteenth century, those living close to the waterway might be able to afford an ice box, which was an insulated storage container, looking much like a small refrigerator, with an ice block on top. An ice block might last for three days before it needed to be replenished.
Most waterfront communities in the Kawarthas had at least one business that supplied ice to local residents. Fenelon Falls had a railway connection, which allowed significant quantities of ice to be shipped to Toronto beginning in the late nineteenth century. By the twentieth century, the Jackett family supplied much of Fenelon Falls’ ice needs. The original photograph shows Wilf Jackett’s operation on Cameron Lake, near Diehl’s Point. It was taken from the village’s sand hill, which Wilf used as a source of aggregates. Note how the ice field is laid out in large squares—each would be a day’s cut—and the railway in the foreground. Ice had long been cut in this vicinity, because of it was easy to load it onto rail cars.
Each winter, the Jackett family would get out 1200 to 1500 blocks of ice to meet the village’s needs—and it was a lot of work. Because snow acts as an insulator, the roadway that would be used out onto the ice had to be kept clear, so it would be sure to freeze deep enough to be safe, especially if a truck was hauling ice off the lake. In early years, a hand saw, much like the ones used to crosscut lumber, was used to manually cut through the ice. Later on, Jacketts built their own ice saw, taking the engine out of a Model T, and fitting two large circular saw blades to it, that could cut to a depth of about 15 inches. The saw had a guide that would drop into a previous cut to ensure that the blocks had a consistent thickness. Often the ice was thicker than the blade could cut and then they would drill a hole through the ice and finish cutting out each block with a handsaw.
The first row was the trickiest to remove, as the blocks had to be pried out of the surrounding ice sheet. Once it was removed, the remaining ice could be floated over the edge of the open water, where an elevator would covey it up the bank. The ice was then teamed or trucked to an ice house, where it was stored under layers of sawdust. Before blocks of ice could be sold, the sawdust had to be washed off.
By the 1940s, Jacketts had two delivery trucks working full time in Fenelon Falls to ensure that everyone received a block of ice every three days. For 25 cents, the driver would carry the block into the customer’s home and put it in their ice box. In the same period, hourly wages at the largest local factory, Allen Wood Products, ranged from about 50 cents to $1 per hour. By the 1960s, most families had purchased an electric deep freeze (as freezers were then called) and a refrigerator. For a few years, the ice business primarily served cottages, but then petered out.
This story is part of our partnership with Maryboro Lodge, The Fenelon Falls Museum and was written by Glenn Walker.
If you want to make a donation to the museum, you can e-transfer to:Â [email protected] or mail a cheque to :
Maryboro Lodge Museum
Box 179
50 Oak Street
Fenelon Falls, ON
K0M 1N0
