Haehnles Hygenic Ice

Back in the days before electric refrigeration you had an ice card posted in your window. Depending on the number that you posted that was the number of pounds of ice that was delivered to you every week by Horse and wagon. As you can see in the photograph two company workers are delivering a chunk of HAEHNLES hygienic ice!

This is an interesting photograph of Casper Haehnle 2 with his family and the workers in the back of the original wood structure Brewery. There was an ice pond and they used to harvest ice. As you can see in the photograph they cut the ice blocks and stored them in the barn and packed in sawdust which insulated the ice. It kept cool in the summer and actually shipped all the way as far as the Gulf of Mexico. When the ice business grew larger they had to resort to cutting ice in lakes. They used to cut ice on Devils Lake and constructed an “ice house” or storage facility next door on Manitou beach, Michigan.

It is hard to imagine today a society without electric refrigeration but around a 100 years ago it was just that. If you wanted something kept cool it had to be stored in an ice chest. This meant that you had to have ice on a consistent basis especially for the summer time. Haehnle not only produced beer but also hygienic ice. Most of this ice was harvested in lakes. Haehnle actually had a small ice pond in the back of the brewery but on a larger scale had to cut ice from Lakes. And Devils Lake was one of the lakes that Haehnle harvested ice from. This ice was either cut by hand with saws or on a commercial scale as the years went by they had ice cutters rotary ice cutters that were also used. The pictures show HAEHNLE workers cutting ice from Devils Lake.

Workers load blocks of ice in storage building for the summer.

Lightning struck ice house in 1920 started a fire and burned down the structure. Amazing how the ice still remained in tact!

Clipping from The Michigan Manufacturer and Financial Record of 1920.

Casper capitalized on the ice business before and during the prohibition. He founded the City Consumers Ice Company from Jackson, Michigan. He also produced ice in Battle Creek. It was called the City Ice and Cold Storage Company of Battle Creek.

Couple of ice picks from city consumers.

And we know cold alone is not enough! This is a heating pad from the 30s. .

Consumers Ice of Jackson was one of the largest distributors in Michigan. It could hold 17 thousand tons of ice.

Construction of the Manitou Beach plant

Construction of the building for City Consumers in Manitou Beach on Devils Lake

Of course in the early days of the 1900s you started the industrial movement which moved the process of cutting ice forward. This is an example of a motorized rotary ice cutting machine. A far cry from hand cutting it with a saw!

Transporting ice was difficult especially in the winter time! The roads were slick and dangerous.

Export Beer

A vintage Peninsular Brewery advertisement from the late 1800s. One of the earliest advertisements from Casper Haehnle 1. There is an old trade card with the same verbage.