It is not uncommon today for a home to be outfitted with a refrigerator that dispenses water and ice without having to even open its door. Today’s convenient devices are no longer the luxury item they once were.
An article entitled Taste of Superior Ice Makes Cutting Worthwhile by E. Chapman published on April 3, 1961, in the Sault Star, relates an interesting account of ice harvesting along the shores of Lake Superior in the Batchewana area.Elie, a well-known gentleman of the area was employed by residents to gather their annual ice crops.
Further north up the shoreline from Batchewana Bay, it is reported that Mr. Russell Beardon of Mamainse Harbour was known to have used his ‘huge Big Dane sleigh dogs’ to haul his supply of ice blocks in winters past. Downstream from Superior, commercial ice businesses such as Purity Ice or Superior Ice located in Sault Ste. Marie would employ dozens of cutters and multiple horse teams annually. Various articles from the early days of the Sault Star up until the 1960s also make mention of farmers in communities such as Rydal Bank, Kentvale, Portlock and Iron Bridge working in teams to cut ice to keep their dairy farms’ milk harvests cold and fresh.
Those fortunate enough to have visited the fishery at Mamainse Harbour in the early 1970s to purchase fresh and smoked fish will recall the glistening white beds of chipped ice that whole or filets of whitefish and trout lay upon, awaiting a hungry traveller’s purchase.