I’m not as familiar yet with Bradbury (though I recall now that I did read, several years ago, The Illustrated Man and many short stories) so I don’t know his use of metaphor or symbolism in story, but it’s pretty obvious that the block of ice meant to hold the world’s most beautiful woman means more than just that. Both the lightning rod salesman and Will’s father are fascinated by it, as it sat in the empty store window.
And then, the night the carnival comes, Will’s father, walking home from the library, stops in front of it:
Inside stood two abandoned sawhorses. Between lay a pool of water. In the water floated a few shards of ice. In the ice were a few long strands of hair.
Charles Halloway saw but chose not to see. He turned and was gone. The street was soon as empty as the hardware-store window. (p. 54)
Bradbury has taken us here many times, building up to the implausible effect of a woman being encased in the ice. Now that possibility doesn’t exist for Halloway to see; but was she there? Did he miss it?
And what else, what was he hoping for, and what did he miss?
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology