The ice box and winter works

The ice box is built of a wooden structure and of cement walls, and is filled with blocks of ice during winter. Those blocks are covered with sawdust, which keeps them through summer and part of the fall. Once winter is back, the cheese-maker harnesses his horse to the sleigh and goes on the Saint-Jean lake to “make ice”.

Note that before 1950, the cows would not produce much milk in the winter, so the production of cheese would only be from the months of May to September. That’s why, the cheesemaker would use that time to cut wood, to repair and maintain his building, tools and equipment.

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