TOWNSHEND — I remember when refrigerators were called “iceboxes.” Most people didn't have electricity. Therefore, keeping perishable food any length of time was a problem.
If you lived in a house with a cellar, people often stored food there for a short time. If that was not an option, an icebox was necessary.
These boxes were about 5 feet tall and about 2 feet wide. They had short legs at the corners and resembled a piece of furniture. The box had a lift top and a large door opening to a white interior with several shelves.
Under the lift top was a large compartment lined with metal for the ice. A drain ran to the bottom to collect melted ice water in a pan.
Ice men regularly drove the streets with a horse-drawn wagon loaded with large pieces of ice. The ice man supplied the housekeeper with a cardboard sign with several size options printed on it. The sign was placed in the window.
The ice man would cut a chunk that size and, with a pair of ice tongs, toss it over his back, which was protected with a rubber apron.
The ice was cut from a nearby pond with an ice saw and then carried to an ice shed in very large pieces by a conveyor belt. There the chunks were stored in tiers with sawdust between each layer. The sawdust would preserve the ice all summer long.
Often children would see the ice wagon coming and would gather around it to to pick up and suck on the cold ice chips.
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I remember when trolley cars provided mass transportation in larger cities before buses were even thought of - in fact, before the public began to use automobiles.
Trolley cars were somewhat like small trains. They were about 30 feet long and 10 feet wide. They ran on tracks similar to a train, usually down the center of the road.
They were powered by electricity, supplied by a bare wire overhead. Each car had metal rods, or trolleys - one on the front and one on the back - to transfer the power needed to operate the trolley.
Only one rod was used, depending on the trolley's direction.. When the car reached the end of the tracks near the city road limits, it would then reverse direction and use the other other rod.
Inside the car were two rows of seats, each accommodating three people, and an aisle down the center.
A motorman operated the controls, and a conductor collected the fares as he walked down the aisle. The price to ride depended on how far you were going, and usually the cost was no more than $2.50.
At the end of the line, the conductor would pass down the aisle and flip all the seats so that the riders would face the direction the car was headed.
Along the city streets were poles or markers designating where the car would stop to pick up or discharge passengers. One could board or exit the car at either end. However, in warm weather, a different car was used, which was open on both sides and could be boarded from either side.