Spy Pond is one of many ponds in Massachusetts. It is not particularly unique to be called a tourist attraction. However, to me it holds a special significance. During the early 90s, I lived in Arlington. When I had my first daughter, we often visited Spy Pond to watch the geese and get some of the lake breeze.

Years later, as I was completing a Masters degree at MIT, I took a course of Disruptive Technologies, taught by professor James Utterback. He alluded to this pond in one of his lectures.

Spy Pond has an interesting back story too. Fifty thousand years ago, Spy pond was part of the Wisconsin Glacier. As the ice receded, if left craters in the area. These craters were initially filled by glacier water and then run offs from storm water. Ultimately the craters or “kettelholes” combined to form the pond.

I wrote an post in my earlier blog about Spy Pond. Here is my post from August 11th, 2007.

Spy Pond in Arlington is a nice scenic locale and a decent picnic spot. I’ve made many visits to it when I lived in Arlington a decade ago, particularly after the birth of my first daughter.

A recent visit to this venue, brought back another fond memory from not very long ago. It reminded me of Professor Utterback’s performance(I call it a performance because it was more than a lecture.) about Boston’s thriving Ice industry of the 1800s.

Before the advent of the modern day refrigerator, ice making was an expensive proposition. Boston was the world’s ‘ice headquarters’. During the frigid Massachusetts winters, Ice was ‘harvested’ on its many lakes and are shipped all over the world.

It was America that taught the rest of the world how to keep wine cold and make ice-cream, a novelty reserved for only the elite, in Europe .As time went on,the Europeans responded by producing their own ice.

Ice was shipped to Europe and even Calcutta, India. A thank-you memento for ice delivery from the mayor of Calcutta to a Boston ice distributor still resides in the Peabody Museum.

Spy Pond was one of the places, where ice was harvested and shipped all over the world. Utterback, showed us old black and white film footage showing how ice was ‘manufactured’ during the winter. During Massachusetts winters, the ice on the surface of the pond was extracted, cut into blocks and then packaged and distributed locally and throughout the world. Professor Utterback has one of the old axe-like implements used by workers to cut the ice in his office.

In the early days, in the absence of refrigerators, there were special metal ‘cupboards’ used to store ice. Utterback showed us photos of these ice boxes, revealed that they bore a striking resemblance to modern fridges. The ice blocks were placed in the top shelf.

The early refrigerators were modeled to look like these cupboards, to enable an easier transition to the newer technology. This was the reason why freezers are located at the top shelf of modern fridges.

References

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_Pond#