If there's one thing Northern Michigan has in abundance, it's ice! And that was helpful, because home refrigerators were not invented until 1913. The icebox was the predecessor of the modern refrigerator. And of course, the icebox needed ice to do its job. The ice saw would be used to cut the ice, and then the tongs would be used to pick it up. (We all know what happens if you pick up ice with your bare hands!) Ice was actually an export in the Straits area. It would be cut and shipped to waiting iceboxes all over Michigan.