Snow shoveling and civilization

We woke up Friday to more than a foot of heavy wet snow. All the schools were closed, but your federal government was open as usual. The first snowplow roared by at about 4:30 am. It was just getting light as I contemplated when to start shoveling out our car. There was a knock. “Do you need help getting out?” It was Anthony our next door neighbor with his large snow shovel. I thanked him, and said I didn't need to rush since I had no hearings. He should do his own driveway and we would work on ours. By the time we got outside Anthony had already cleared a space behind our car. I could hear the scrape of his shovel as he worked next door, piling the heavy stuff six feet high. All around we heard neighbors starting snowblowers. Cliff our neighbor from three houses up the street finished his driveway and slowly advanced down the sidewalk with his snowblower. He continued past our house, then turned back, nicely clearing the walks in front of five houses, including ours. Shortly we showered and headed downtown, a bit later than usual, exhilarated.

Before the industrial revolution I suspect snow was moved with a variety of implements. Merry remembers using a big wooden snow scoop to push snow when she lived in rural Vermont. See, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1914&dat=20000222&id=Nc0gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=p2oFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3257,3733551  I'm sure coal and grain shovels were also used to move snow. Most of the time farmers just stamped a path to the barn and let it go at that.

As cities grew in the snowy Northeast during the nineteenth century people wanted to make roads passable in winter. Horse drawn sleighs with runners were generally used, so rather than removing snow it was packed down in place. To combat heavy snowdrifts, big horse drawn snow rollers were used. In Brattleboro, Vt the DPW used a snow roller until the late 1920s.

The first patents for horse drawn snow plows were issued in the 1840s, but the first recorded municipal use of a horse drawn snow plow is from Milwaukee in 1862. As intercity steam train travel increased locomotives were outfitted with snow plows to clear the rails. Salt was used in a few cities, but was strongly protested because it ruined the streets for sleighing and damaged the shoes and clothing of pedestrians. The invention of the snow plow initiated widespread snow removal efforts in cities and created a basis for municipal responsibility in snow removal. Once automobiles became common, snow plowing became an essential government service.

Plowing created problems. It blocked the side streets and sidewalks with mounds of compacted snow. Merchants and pedestrians complained. Sleigh drivers also found fault with the plowing system because of the ruts and uneven surfaces it created. In response some progressive cities like New York hired horse-drawn carts and shovelers to work in conjunction with the plows, hauling away the plowed snow and dumping it into rivers. This not only cleared the mounds of snow, but provided thousands of temporary jobs throughout the winter season. For more of this history see “Have Snow Shovel, Will Travel” at http://nsidc.org/snow/shovel.html.

Special purpose snow shovels came into existence in the 1870s. The year after the great blizzard of 1888 Lydia Fairweather received the first patent for the prototype of the modern snow shovel that both scraped and scooped snow. The first plastic version was patented in 1939. Snow in America, Bernard Mergen, (Smithsonian,1997).

In our Strathmore neighborhood most homeowners quickly clear the sidewalks as well as the driveways after a snow storm. It's a matter of pride as well as public safety. It's a recognition that everyone uses the sidewalks. As I walk Joli I feel a distinct displeasure with my neighbors who only plow their driveways, but neglect their sidewalk. I have to assume they don't care if I slip or stumble. And what about the mail carrier?

This implicit recognition that other people are affected by the consequences of your personal choices is at the heart of civilization. When individuals take simple actions like shoveling their walk or refraining from littering it benefits the whole and makes our city a better place to live. Snow shoveling is not the most important part of living in a civilized world, but it's tangible evidence that most people care.