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Ice Displays

A new field is opened up for the owner and operator of soda fountains, who wishes to add to the attractiveness of his establishment. Nothing goes further in making a place popular than clever and novel advertising, as we'l as good service, and here you have an opportunity of offering to your patrons a work of art as well as a curiosity wrought in ice. A harp, the national emblem of Ireland, was prepared for St. Patrick's Day, March 17th. It was made from a solid piece of ice 5 feet high, frozen green. The harp was cut out of this block, a cupid's head, bust and wings formed the front and top of the instrument, green ribbons were used for strings and crême de menthe cherries for the eyes. It was mounted on a square of natural ice and the date, March 17th, cut in the side facing the street. It made a fine window display. Use a solid, clear block of ice for base and carve your initials on front side. Cut out two fruit bowls and fill one of them with oranges, bananas and lemons and the other with eggs. Take a large square of ice and hew out either a pitcher or a vase. A pronged chisel should be used first for the rough carving and then an ordinary inch chisel will smooth off the edges nicely. This work looks more difficult than it really is. Select a good shaped vase or pitcher and a fruit bowl and place them beside the block of ice you are working on. Get the proportions and the rest will be easy. This makes a fine display for an opening. For Easter a large rabbit, cut from natural ice or from white ice, is appropriate. Red cherries in for eyes, mount on a cake of ice and carve "Easter, '07," on it. If you are in a town where artificial ice is made you have unlimited resources for this kind of work. Easter lilies may be frozen into a large square transparent block of ice, a hole may be hewed out of the bottom of the cake and an electric incandescent, blue, green, red or yellow, inserted. This gives an exquisite coloring to the ice and adds greatly to its beauty. An egg may be carved out of a block of ice with very little trouble and a small colored light inserted from underneath. The ice will not melt as quickly as you think, and if an electric fan is placed near the figure it will aid greatly in its preservation. Ice is not difficult to carve, and with a little practice one may have splendid results. Fourth of July, with its demands for patriotism, furnishes a splendid opportunity for a novel ice display. If you are in a town that has an artificial ice plant have a block of ice frozen in three colors, red, blue (use coal tar colors), and make white with oxide of zinc. Have the blue very strong. Divide the quantity of water that may be contained in the ice mold into three parts. First lower the blue water into the tank and through a tube carefully pour in the white, then the red. If proper precaution is used these colors will not blend. It will take about forty-eight hours for this ice to freeze well. Colored ice is not a necessity, but it produces a better effect. Put your block on a large tin tray, get your design ready and with a sharp chisel cut out the cannon, being careful to outline shape on either side equally as a guide to work by. This is not difficult to do. On the lower block cut the letters July 4, and in front of the cannon, under the nozzle, place a pile of eggs to represent the balls. If this display be placed in the window a good effect would be to drape the background with an American flag. At the base of the gun mount a red incandescent. The electric wire will carry out the idea of the fuse. In the window may be placed a placard announcing a Fire Cracker Fizz, a Fourth of July Sundae, or some special that may be suggested by the occasion. Fire crackers may be strewn about the floor of the window, a few toy pistols, flags, etc., will assist in the decoration. An appropriate early summer display is the cornucopia. It is made from a solid piece of ice resting on a square block. Chisel one end round and gradually taper it in a slight curve until the desired shape is obtained. Cut out a hole in the large end and smooth both inside and outside, then fill the hole with brilliant fruits, using bright red cherries.