Looking Back

Unidentified men demonstrate how ice harvesters used long bladed saws to cut crystal clear blocks of ice from Lake Huron during the winter months in the Les Cheneaux Islands. Profiles of the islands can be seen behind the men, who have just started cutting ice blocks that will be loaded on a sled and transported to the mainland. The photograph was probably taken before the 1930s, when electric refrigeration was becoming the more popular way to keep things cool. Ice harvested from the lake was packed in sawdust into buildings with straw insulation to last through the spring and summer months. (Photograph courtesy of Helen and Con Shoberg)