WASECA — The scene will be similar to that of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Ice covering Clear Lake in Waseca will be scored, then cut and sawed. The blocks of ice will then be clamped, with a rope attached, waiting to be harvested.

The difference, of course, from the ice harvests of long ago will be that the hands holding the rope to pull the 200-pound blocks will be that of children in modern winter attire, running and pulling with all their strength. The purpose? Winter fun and a neat little history lesson — much less vital than when the harvests were required to keep food cold in ice boxes long ago.

In Waseca, until the 1950s, Johnson Ice Co. supplied blocks of ice to residents with ice boxes, said Joan Mooney, co-director of the Waseca Historical Society. Ice boxes were large coolers, before refrigerators, which kept food chilled and fresh. The blocks of ice put inside would last about a week before melting, she said.

“The ice man would come in the summer and have a block of ice on his back and trudge it up the steps,” said Mooney, who is also director of programming.

The company had a big ice house in which it stored the harvested blocks through the summer. The sheer size of the blocks stacked together was part of what kept them from melting quickly. An opening at the top vented the latent heat released by melting. Water drained from the bottom.

“They would stack up blocks of ice and cover them with sawdust for insulation into July or August,” Mooney said.

The widespread use of electricity is what led to the demise of Johnson Ice and ice boxes, in general.

The Waseca County Historical Society and Farmamerica have held an event each year to remember and celebrate the practice of ice harvesting. Children are invited to score the ice, cut it, see an ice house, take a horse-drawn sled ride or go sledding, among other activities. Scott Roemhildt of Akorn Creations will set up a historic logging camp as he does each year.

The blocks of ice the children pull from the lake are pulled into an ice house, stacked and covered in saw dust for insulation. The ice house is put onto a wrecker truck by Tesch Service Center and brought to Farmamerica, where it sits until July. Then, it’s brought to Maplewood Park in Waseca for the city’s Chautauqua event.

“We open the ice house, and kids dig around in the ice house to see if there’s any ice left,” Mooney said. “Sometimes there is. Let’s just say it’s not as full as it was.”

On the Waseca County Historical Society Web site, visitors can listen to Arthur Carlson’s stories about his ice harvesting days in Oakes, N.D., while working for North American Creamery during the Great Depression.

“They needed ice to put into the box cars when they shipped the butter, eggs and poultry to the marketplaces ...,” he said.



Hear Carlson’s story and view a slide show of former Ice Harvests at www.historical.waseca.mn.us/events/iceHarvest.html.