The new exhibit that will open at the Rochester Historical Society Museum this fall is ” The Tools and Industry that Made Rochester” and it is supported by the Rochester Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. The picture accompanying this article is one of the tools that will be part of the exhibit, and it is part of the museum’s permanent collection.
Since it’s a very warm day today, it’s nice to think about a tool used in the winter. This ice axe was donated to the museum by Fred Tripp. When I was a pretty, young child, my grandfather took some of us over to Snow’s Pond in the middle of winter. The pond was solidly frozen in a way that doesn’t seem to happen these days. It was a sunny day with a blue sky, and we were bundled up against the cold.
With Grandpa we walked out on the ice toward the center of the pond. After a yard or so, we stopped. I can still remember being in awe that we were standing on top of the water that we had been swimming in months before. The water was so clear that you could see all the way to the sandy bottom. I seem to remember seeing turtles hibernating on the pond floor.
Grampa told us that when he was growing up, there was no electricity to run refrigerators and people had ice chests to keep their food cold. He explained how men would use ice axes to cut blocks of ice out of the pond. It would be loaded on wagons or trucks on beds of sawdust from the mill and delivered to homes around town. It wasn’t until I was at the museum that I actually saw an ice axe.
We are looking for anyone who has an old tool that would/could have been used in Rochester’s past. It could be something used in farming, at one of the mills, in a dairy or used on a cranberry bog. Tools like the axe that were used to accomplish jobs around town are also welcomed. You can loan items for the length of the exhibit or donate them outright. If you have something that you are willing to share and that we are able to use, please, contact me at eshbach2@aol.com or call 508-763-5492 or 617-750-2818.
By Connie Eshbach
