Today most folks slip the ice tray from the freezer section of their refrigerator and with a few deft strokes have a pitcher full of ice cubes to chill the summer beverage of choice.

Many people living today don't remember when a sturdy wagon pulled by strong horses would halt in front of a house, and a muscular man wearing a leather apron would chip out a small block of ice from the massive slab he had onboard. If you were lucky, he would flip you a small corner to rub against your forehead. It was a great way to beat the heat.

In the late 1800's, one of the major businesses in the Hampton region was ice harvesting. The process was simple enough, but highly taxing. During the cold winter months, local ponds would freeze to a thickness of 10 to 22 inches.

Hearty men would cut away portions weighing approximately 300 pounds. They would load their "crop" aboard large, heavy wagons and deposit the blocks in ice houses. Up to 1,500 tons would be harvested in this manner.

Although spring and fall were the slack seasons, the buildings, tools and stock required upkeep. Winter and summer were the busiest times, and weather conditions were not conducive to comfort. Clothing designed to ward off the cold didn't necessarily keep one dry. If a worker got wet while hauling ice from a frozen pond, he generally stayed wet — and cold.

And we all know that doing any manual work in the humidity of summer can be fatiguing, particularly if one is racing the sun to keep ice from melting.

The ice houses were constructed of sturdy timber and built to hold the ice until it was needed for the warmer months. Hay or sawdust was used as insulation.

Keep in mind, a century ago life was just a bit more primitive than we might appreciate today.

Curtis DeLancey was a main ice supplier to the region. He and his crew of 15 to 20 men would cut and pull their ice from Drakes Pond and store it in one of his 20 ice houses around town. Not all of the ice went to the ice houses. The Casino and many of the hotels had their own ice houses, and DeLancey and his crew were more than happy to keep them filled.

In 1914, the ice business became competitive. Thomas Cogger had a new ice house on Guinea Road, which housed more than 1,000 tons.

Other ice harvesters saw an opportunity in the frozen richness and took the plunge. Nathaniel Batchelder turned the stream on the family's farm into an ice pond. Horace Batchelder later enlarged it. The Batchelders were well into the ice business as late as 1955.

The principal market for ice was the shops and restaurants along the beach. During the hottest days of summer, the ice men might make up to two deliveries a day at these businesses. Fishermen found the ice to be a necessity to help preserve their catch to keep it marketable.

Customers would simply place a card in a window to signal they wanted a delivery. The amount of ice to be delivered was dependent on how the card was turned.

The ice business with its houses, wagons, tools and horses is gone now. The last ice house was located on Woodland Road. It was owned by Eugene Leavitt and was destroyed by fire in 1963.

Refrigeration is a standard commodity in nearly every home in the region nowadays. The ice ponds once worked by hardy men on bitter cold days are now the venues of small skaters on flashing blades.

The ice age of Hampton is long past now, but it is a tribute to industry of that era.

To the Editor:

In your article "Ice Harvesting in Hampton," I would like to point out an inaccuracy.

Your article stated "Other ice harvesters saw an opportunity in the frozen richness and took the plunge. Nathaniel Batchelder turned the stream on the family's farm into an ice pond. Horace Batchelder later enlarged it. The Batchelders were well into the ice business as late as 1955."

As one who was born in 1958, I have many memories of walking to "downtown" in the middle of summer with my cousins from the west end of Towle Farm Road and stopping at Mr. Batchelder's ice house and going inside the icehouse to get cool then getting a big chunk of ice from Horace himself. He always said that he gave us just enough to "get to town."

This would have to have been in in 1966 or 1967 at the earliest. In light of that I submit that the Batchelder Ice House must have been in operation until that time. Perhaps one should check "The History of Hampton" .

Stephen J. Bowley
Hampton

{Post Script: The information on Batchelder's Ice Pond obtained by Mr. Bisceglia, came from Peter E. Randall's "Hampton: A Century of Town and Beach, 1888-1988", Chapter 15, Part 2, and it reads as follows:

(An excerpt:)

".......This pond was once just a tiny stream, but Nathaniel Batchelder scooped out a depression with horse-drawn equipment to make a small ice pond. Horace [Batchelder] later enlarged the pond and was cutting ice there as late as 1955. In more recent times, the Batchelders had ice-making equipment, and eventually the old icehouses were torn down."

For more from Randall's book, click here.