Photo of a window card from the Belle Ewart Ice Company that would be displayed in a front window of the home, which indicated the amount of ice a customer wished to have delivered that day. This particular card displays a 25 with 100 below it. The 25 indicates 25 pounds of ice, and cards such as these were typically reversible and had the number 50 on the other side. 50 pounds was the most common request. This particular card also likely could be rotated to have the 100 on top, indicating 100 pounds. Ice delivery workers would cut the desired amount, judged by eye, from larger blocks on their trucks and then transported the ice by tongs or a canvas shoulder bag into the customer's home. The practice began to decline in the 1930s with the advent of artificial icemaking and refrigeration, and eventually the Belle Ewart Ice Company, the Lake Simcoe Ice & Fuel Company, and the Knickerbocker Ice Company all closed, although a few small family-run businesses continued to operate out of Belle Ewart to service the local area until the early 1950s.
