Ice cutting

Rare today, it was common (see ice trade) before the era of widespread mechanical refrigeration and air conditioning technology.

Alternatively, if the temperature is cold enough, a snowy surface could be flooded to produce a thicker layer of ice.

[5] Ice cutting was a considerable export industry for northern countries in Scandinavia and North America during the 19th century.

It started in the United States around 1800, and spread to Scandinavia around 1820; by the mid century Norway had become a major exporter to England, Europe, the Mediterranean, and as far away as Kingdom of Kongo, Egypt and New York.

From the 1850s onwards ice cutting took on large-scale industrial proportions in Germany with Berlin as a key market.