Thursday, February 21, 2019

Consumers Ice Company

There's a nice exhibit outside the library this week in recognition of "Icebreakers," which is a beautiful mural of the employees of Consumers Ice Company, circa 1910. Here's the mural:



It's on a wall, and there's not much space behind the wall, and the sun was in the wrong place (etc.), but if you click on that to enlarge, you'll see an absolutely beautiful pencil rendering.

Consumers Ice Company cut ice out of Reed's Lake, which is the lake right behind the library (I posted a picture of the frozen lake earlier this week).

Here's info on the company itself:



Sorry, you're going to be clicking to enlarge all these images, but it's worth it. Highlights:
--open from 1893-1924
--up to 500 men employed
--ice was cut into large sheets, then into 22x22" cakes that were delivered to homes and businesses.
--ice was sent as far away as Chicago via railroad (for the meat packing industry).

There was also an article at the little exhibit, which I took photos of for you (click to enlarge). Enjoy.























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