1914 Jan 21 - Ice Harvesting

 “With fervent appeals to the weather man to ‘have a heart’ and chase the mercury down where it belongs at this season of the year, the ice merchants are making preparations along the bay front to begin their annual harvest”

Hamilton Spectator. January 21, 1914¹

While a winter with relatively mild temperatures was welcomed by Hamiltonians in the years before World War One as it certainly affected home heating costs, there were others who wanted temperatures to drop very low and stay that way for long periods.

The ice merchants and the men they hired to harvest ice from Burlington bay wanted that frigid weather.

On January 21, 1914. The Hamilton Spectator carried an article on the soon-to-begin ice harvest:

“If the temperature does not jump too far upward, if it does not rain, and if a few other things dreaded by the ice men do not happen between now and next week, about 450 of the unemployed, together with several horses and number of sharp-pointed saws and ice plows will attack Burlington bay and tear out thousands of tons of ice for next summer’s use.”¹

¹ “Getting Ready for Harvest : Local Ice Men Preparing to Attack Bay : Quality is Now Said to be Excellent.”

Hamilton Spectator.  January 21, 1914.

Hamilton had been experiencing a relatively balmy winter in December and January, but a things had changed abruptly, which was perfect for ice formation:

“Ice on the bay at the present time is about six inches thick, and unusually firm and clear, owing to the fact that Jack Frost’s heavy bombardment early last week did the freezing quickly.

“In fact, the ice was frozen in almost record time, when the mercury was flirting around the foot of the tube. There was no sediment to make what is known among the ice men as snow or fog ice.”¹

Hamiltonians had practically all of its needs for natural ice filled from Burlington bay. The ice, not immediately needed, was packed in saw dust and stored in numerous ice houses near the bay. Then, the ice was broken into smaller quantities throughout the year and delivered to residences. 

Ice boxes were used to refrigerate food and Hamiltonians benefitted from the local harvest in that prices for the ice were lower than elsewhere:

“Some of the local firms ship the commodity away. It is claimed that the ice harvested here is as pure as any in western Ontario and some people prefer it to the artificial variety.”

With the Grand Trunk Railway lines located so close to the bay shore, it was a simple matter to get the ice into railway cars for delivery across Ontario and even into many areas of New York state.

In January, 1914, there were six local ice firms, with an estimated 40,000 tons of ice harvested among them:

“The work of cutting and packing the ice means employment for men for about two weeks, although the weather generally manages to prevent the men from working steadily.

“The long lanes out on the bay have to be fenced in to afford protection to skaters, ice-boaters and others. Even now men are working in the ice-houses cleaning them, and preparing them for the product which is common now, but will be a luxury when the pavement at the corner of King and James streets is hot enough to cook eggs on next July.”¹

The ice harvest companies on Hamilton bay generally had difficulty finding enough workers to supply their needs, but such was not the case in January, 1914. Unemployment was so widespread at the time and the wages offered by the ice firms were so good, filling the quota of workers needed would not be a problem.