Homes, Trades and Games of Long Ago · Drawing 31 of 40
The ice cutter
Long ago, in winter
Before refrigerators, ice was fetched from the frozen river. With long saws, men cut huge blocks, and the horse hauled them to a big shed where they waited for summer.
Look together
What is used to cut the ice?
An idea to try
Put one ice cube in a bowl and another wrapped in a thick cloth. After twenty minutes, check which one melted less, and explain why the blocks were packed in sawdust.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
Before electric refrigerators became common, natural ice helped preserve food. In Montréal, workers sawed blocks from frozen waterways and transported them to storage buildings insulated with materials such as sawdust.
Find the saw, tongs and sled. This is a historical scene to observe, not an activity to copy on a frozen lake or river.
Sources and context (2)
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. Source titles appear in their original language; some linked pages are in French.
- Encyclopédie du MEM — Une glace bien utile
- Société d’histoire de La Prairie-de-la-Magdeleine — La coupe de la glace
Source review: 2026-09-19. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.