Before grocery stores stocked shelves with jugs of cider, making apple cider in the Northwoods

was a community effort.

Families would haul bushels of apples to a shared press, often set up in barns or near

farmhouses. The process was simple—apples were crushed into a pulp, then squeezed to release

their juice. Some would drink it fresh, while others would let it ferment into hard cider, storing it

for the long winter ahead.