Ice Harvesting and the "Hot Tamale!"
By Heidi Sproat
In our collection we have audio recordings of interviews conducted in 1977 with three men - Earl Smith, Tony Ghirard, and Frank Kearney - who “worked in the ice,” harvesting blocks of ice in the Truckee area. I recently listened to the recording and wanted to share some of what I learned as well as an amusing insight into the importance of the “Hot Tamale Man.”
In the early 1900s, ice was harvested from area ice ponds and stored in ice houses located at various sites in the greater Truckee area like Polaris, Boca, and Prosser. Listening to the old timers explain how they harvested the ice is fascinating. The Transcontinental Railroad came through Truckee in 1869, and rail transportation throughout the area developed quickly in the following decades making trade access both available and relatively easy. In the early 1900s, Truckee was known for its cold deep freeze days. Recall that ice was a rare, expensive commodity before refrigeration was generally available in the late 1920s. Area ice men capitalized on these factors and developed a system for collecting water in large ice ponds with water diverted from the Truckee River or its tributaries. The ponds would freeze to a depth of 18" (which was typical) or even 28" (as in Floriston). The men also developed a process for harvesting the ice, and a process to harvest and then store the ice in ice houses until it was transported. Many of the storage ice houses were lower in elevation than the ice ponds themselves, which made it much easier to float and channel the ice blocks into storage. However, if the ice house was above the pond, continuous divider “dog belts” were used that pulled the ice toward the ice house – like an upwards-angled conveyor belt. The stories of these three men who worked in the ice industry are both educational and entertaining. These gentlemen explained the process by which the ice was harvested. (See note 1.) The ice ponds had to be kept free of snow continually, as snow would act as a blanket and hamper freezing. It took months of cold weather for the ice to achieve the right thickness. If snow settled on the ice, workers immediately cleared it. As the ice became thick enough to bear substantial weight, but before it was thick enough to be harvested, snow clearing was done with men and horses. Ten to 15 workers (called "swampers") would go out on the ice with a 6-horse team to clear the snow using an 8-foot-wide blade scraper. Usually in December, the ice was harvested and it was a very busy 9 days. Most ice houses were located below the ice ponds and were generally about 200 feet long. Ice was stacked inside about 40' high. To harvest the ice in the ice ponds, the men first scored the ice, sawed (with 4 feet crosscut saws), split, floated and channeled the ice blocks down a run, "switching" the blocks inside the ice house into respective storage rooms, and "edging" the blocks to maximize space and minimize waste. The ice was layered and packed in storage with 10-12" sawdust which acted as insulation to prevent melting and to prevent the blocks from sticking to one another. Earl Smith said that the work at the Donner Ice Company was done with the help of a steam engine. At Boca, initially did everything by hand; later they had a generator and all was mechanized. At Polaris, the work was labor-intensive. In spite of the frigid temperatures, the men loved the job and were well paid for the time. Earl said he made $.90 per hour, 9 hour days, and only had to pay $1.50 for his board. Everything else was his and he had all he could eat. Tony said he earned $5.00 a day and board, and worked for 2 1/2 months. He shod horses and put steel plates on men's shoes so they wouldn't slip. He was constantly busy and without assistant help. Keep in mind that these blocks of ice weighed in about 725 pounds EACH, and were 18-24" thick and 28” square. (See note 2.) The most amusing story, however, is when foreman Johnny Cabona (of downtown Truckee's Cabona's store) hired "Hot Tamale Men." When Frank was in his early teens, he was hired to quickly retrieve and skim off any horse excrement that wound up on top of the ice ponds. The "skinner" would yell out "Red Hot" and Frank would scurry over with his wooden cart and scoop up whatever the horse left behind - so as not to contaminate the ice. I never would have thought how important it would be to have someone at the ready to take care of 'horse business' during an ice harvest. We are lucky to have these first-hand accounts of a profession that was so essential to our community 100 years ago. These stories – and others – are available on our website for your listening pleasure. Sit back and listen to some of our old timers recount their early lives in Truckee. And please, if you know of more information or have images of these – or other - activities, our Truckee-Donner Historical Society would love to see them. Note 1: Reno “Ice Man” Tom Macaulay also relayed the ice harvesting process in a January 1997 California's Gold Huell Howser segment, now available on YouTube. https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/1997/01/08/snow-ice-californias-gold-812/ . Also browse through Tom Macaulay’s article on the Ghosts of the Truckee River Canyon to read more about the area towns that had ice harvesting capabilities, and Macaulay's audio recountings as well. Macaulay Ice Industry May 12, 1987 and Tom Macaulay Polaris Ice 1996 . Note 2: Tony Ghirard shared that the ice blocks at Floriston were 28 inches square, so 28 inches in each dimension. Here’s the math: 28 x 28 x 28 = 21,952 cubic inches in one block of Floriston ice 12 x 12 x 12 = 1,728 cubic inches in 1 cubic foot 21,952 / 1,728 = 12.7 cubic feet in one block of Floriston ice Weight of one cubic foot of ice: 57.4 lbs 12.7 cubic feet x 57.4 lbs per cubic foot = 729 pounds, weight of one block of Floriston ice |
To view more images of the area’s Ice Industry in general, please visit out TDHS Image Collection and search “ice industry”. You will be rewarded with at least 70 images. Enjoy!
To view more images of the area’s Ice Industry in general, please visit out TDHS Image Collection and search “ice industry”. You will be rewarded with at least 70 images. Enjoy!
HCS 12/29/2019; KH 20200101