By Laura Fitzgerald

The Community Foundation is proud to continue to protect a little slice of Port Huron’s history and the legacy of Mickey and Agnes Knowlton through its preservation of several turn-of-the-century ice wagons that are part of the larger Knowlton Ice Museum collection.

Used to deliver large blocks of ice to private homes and businesses in the early 20th century, these wagons are a piece of history and the ice industry that has gone by.  This story is part of a four-part series that will do a deeper dive into collection items, currently pristinely stored, that will be back on exhibit in 2027.

The wagons are part of a one-of-a-kind collection gifted by the Knowlton’s to the Community Foundation in 2020 that includes upwards of 10,000 pieces of ice-making and ice-cutting tools and artifacts. The Knowlton Museum, in its downtown Port Huron location, was created by Mickey and Agnes Knowlton in 2000, though the collection has been open periodically to the public since 1987.

The ice industry flourishes in Port Huron

Before the invention of modern refrigeration, homes and businesses depended on large ice boxes and blocks of ice to preserve their food. Port Huron was once home to this booming ice industry.

Dozens of warehouses stored huge blocks of natural ice harvested from the Black River.  

The iceman used large horse-drawn carriages to deliver blocks of ice to private homes and businesses, much like his more famous counterpart the milkman. “These workers knew how much ice to give each home by the delivery cards displayed in their windows”, said Emily Reitzel who was a co-lead on the museum’s inventory project. 

While the ice industry was once one of the largest in the U.S., it’s a little-known chapter in local history. Reitzel said by preserving these ice artifacts, this history is available to current and future generations.

“It’s an industry that was one of the biggest ones (in the U.S.) That ice harvesting industry is completely gone, so it’s something that people don’t remember anymore,” Reitzel said. “So, in order to preserve it, we have to display it, and talk about it, and share it.”

Preserving A Slice of Local History 

The vast ice collection first began in Mickey’s office, then moved to a property near the Party Time plant on Yeager Street. The first Knowlton Ice Museum of North America was officially opened in 1987. 

The Knowlton Museum moved to their current location in downtown Port Huron in 2000, continuing to purchase artifacts online to add to their already impressive collection that filled nearly 10,000 square feet of exhibit space. 

Mickey established the ‘Mickey and Agnes Knowlton Fund’ with the Community Foundation in 2008, beginning a strong relationship with the Knowlton family and an opportunity to give back to the community.

The Knowlton Museum Fund was then started in 2020 to provide for the long-term care and oversight of the collections and building that houses it.

Following the Foundation’s acquisition of the collection, Reitzel and Shelly David cataloged what is estimated to be upwards of 10,000 artifacts. The museum claims to be the largest collection of ice-making equipment and memorabilia in the U.S.

Quick Facts About the Wagons

Wooden horse-drawn ice wagon (1900):

• The front of the wagon features a small overhang where the driver sits. The driver has a storage bench, a long footrest, and a small hole possibly for viewing the back of the wagon.
• The wagon has a hitch at the back and hooks on the sides for hanging scales and tools.

Ice & Coal Izzo Bros. ice wagon (early 1900s): 

• Two horses can pull the wagon using a double yolk with chains to attach to the horses’ harnesses, and a large, wooden tongue attachment that runs between the horses.
• The wagon is painted brown and tan and features texts on both sides that say “Ice and Coal ISO Bros.”

Port Huron Ice Co. ice wagon (early 1900s):

• Green and white lettering on both sides of the wagon read, “Port Huron Ice Phone 560”. There is also a signature that resembles “Scott Farley & Herb Saddler”. Additional writing on the Wagon says, “Body No. 7478 Designed and Built by The Gustav Schaefer Wagon Co. Cleveland, Oh”. There is a logo of a diamond with the text “Schaefer Trademark We Lead in Style Quality and Workmanship”.
• A double yolk at the front of the wagon includes chains for two horses, and a very large, long wooden tongue attachment that runs between the horses.

Large wooden ice wagon (early 1900s):

• Similar in size and features of the other wagons, this one features two steel hooks on the sides for hanging scales and tools, as well as two C-shaped and chains on each side that fit into each other to secure other items.

Re Ice Co. ice wagon (early 1900s): 

• The wagon is painted all white, with red and black accents, and with a large painting on both sides of two people skating on a frozen with text above that reads, “Pure Ice Co.” the inside of the wagon and canvas is a green/turquoise color. 
• Horses can be hooked up to the wagon, via a large double yoke with chains attached in a very large, long wooden attachment that runs between the horses. Painted in red under the crossbar is: “Purchased in Piqua, Ohio 1962 Restored + Owned by L/Col. N. D. Stuckey”

The ice wagons are a treasure to behold, much larger than you would imagine, weighing hundreds of pounds before hundreds of pounds more of ice were added to them for deliveries.

More about Mickey and Agnes Knowlton

If not for Port Huron couple Norman ‘Mickey’ Knowlton and Agnes Knowlton, this chapter of local history might have been forgotten.

The lifelong Port Huron residents met at a skating rink, where Mickey worked as a skate boy. They married in 1942 when they were both in their early 20s.

Agnes was a staple in the community through her volunteer work with 4-H and memberships in the Hi-Tally Club and St. Stephen Catholic Church. She was a skilled cook and seamstress, and she enjoyed shopping, housework, driving her golf cart in the yard, and feeding neighborhood birds and animals, according to her obituary.

Agnes was a devoted wife, mother to five children, and grandmother to many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even great-great-grandchildren. She also assisted Mickey in collecting dolls, ice, artifacts, and dairy artifacts for the museum that the couple would eventually open.

Mickey got his start in the business as a home delivery milkman following his service in the Merchant Marines in World War II. He worked for Gannon’s Dairy, Wurzel Dairy Farms, and Westside Dairy, before starting his own employee-owned, Detroit-based distributorship, Twin Pines Dairy.

In the 1950s, after successfully fighting a city ordinance that required a higher inspection fee for dairy businesses operating more than five miles from City Hall, Mickey was able to expand his business in the area to include five routes, multiple delivery trucks, and more drivers. 

Mickey set out on a new business venture once large supermarkets started taking over the dairy delivery business by founding Party Time Ice Co. in 1967. He started by using ice machines he already had in his garage that once held milk. He hand-scooped ice into small paper bags.

With the help of the Knowlton’s son, Chuck, Party Time grew to become the largest manufacturer and distributor of ice in the state, producing thousands of tons of ice per day. The company was sold to Arctic Glacier in 2004, when Mickey was 85 years old.

Mickey and Agnes passed away at the ages of 94 and 93, respectively, in July 2014. They enjoyed 72 years of marriage before their deaths only 16 days apart.

All of the treasures at the Knowlton Museum were collected from around the country by Mickey and Agnes. The Community Foundation is proud to help the Knowlton family preserve these treasures and periodically bring them out for the public to enjoy as much as Mickey and Agnes did at the Knowlton Museum. While the collection is stored, we look forward to bringing you another story about unique collection items you’ll see come out again.

The Knowlton Museum Inventory Project Co-Leads were Emily Reitzel and Shelly David who received master’s degrees in Library and Information Science from Wayne State University. This is where they learned how to describe, research and preserve historical objects, papers, and photographs for display in museums and libraries. They led the inventory of the entire Knowlton Museum collection.

Learn more about the Knowlton Museum here.