Reaping Winter

A rural industrial tradition endures in the hills of Vermont

Boredom breeds ingenuity. It produces industry.

We have, unfortunately, lost the ability to be bored; entertainment is so accessible now that it has become nearly inescapable. This was certainly not the case in the 1800s in our village cloistered in the hills of Vermont. When the cows had been fed, their troughs liberated from the nightly freeze, and the hearth fires stoked…what then? The fields were buried in multiple feet of snow, timbering the forest would be more efficient in late summer or autumn, and the Town Hall where dancing would become wildly popular would not be built until 1856. With no fields to sow or harvest, and trees difficult to fell in the snow, the farmers and other working men of the village would turn to the lake to harvest the only crop available in January: ice.

We take ice for granted today and so often forget how many industries rely on its utility; look around and consider how many things in your home or work need to be kept cold. Home refrigeration is a relatively new invention; consumer adoption of devices we’re familiar with really only was possible because of the synthetization of freon in 1930 by Frigidaire. Before then, Vermont homeowners bought and used ice, but the real customers buying the lion’s share were farmers and creamery operators who needed it in bulk. Besides supplying local farmers and creameries, loads of ice were packed in sawdust and put on a train in a nearby town to make their way to Boston market. From there, it is speculated by our town’s historical society that water from our little lake would make its way across the sea to India and beyond.

A creamery in my town with ice house on the right

Every year since 1979, our village gathers on Colt’s Pond to celebrate and honor the working history of the town and its ice cutters with a demonstration, competition, ice skating, snow shoeing, raffle, and other things you’d expect at a rural winter carnival. It is rewarding to watch as the children marvel at the old methods and tools. They eagerly want to step out onto the frozen lake and try their hand at the timeless harvest. They approach, eager to grip the saws, the chisels, and especially the traditional wooden crane pictured here: