I am happy to share a recent article I wrote on the origins and unique history of the use of a round metal can for packing maple syrup in the province of Québec. Unlike the United States and most other Canadian provinces, where syrup was packed in rectangular shaped metal cans for many years, in Québec the use of a round can was introduced in the 1950s and has continued to be used ever since, eventually becoming an iconic cultural symbol identifed with Québec.
The article was published by Fédération Histoire Québec in Volume 30, Number 1 of their imagazine Historie Québec. As an article focused on a decidely Québecois topic, this article is written in French. You can download a PDF copy of the article at this link or by clicking on the image or the article above. Or you can view each of the three individual pages of the article below.
You can read my latest maple history contribution from the June 2024 issue of the Maple Syrup Digest newsletter at this link or by clicking on the adjacent image of the syrup bottle. The Maple Syrup Digest is the official quarterly publication of the North American Maple Syrup Council.
This article takes another look at the origins and development of the oval-shaped maple syrup bottle with little handle on the neck that is unique to the maple syrup industry. Some readers might recognize that I’ve previously written and posted an article on this website about the history of this unmistakable syrup bottle. This article presents an updated version of this research with a deeper look into where this bottle design came from and the 20th century evolution of glass bottles used for maple syrup.
You can read the article at this link or by clinking on the accompanying images.
The Summer 2024 newsletter of the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association features an article written by me to launch a new regular feature in the newsletter called “The Maple History Corner.” I hope to contribute regular articles to the newsletter’s “Maple History Corner” and share bits and pieces of Vermont maple history.
Unlike my usual stories and historical vignettes, this particular article is more of a commentary and words of encouragement to Vermont sugarmakers to preserve and document their own personal maple histories.
You can read the article at this link or by clicking on the image to the left.
This article looks at the role Minnesota played as the place where the commercial manufacture of reverse osmosis technology for the maple syrup industry got its start. In 1969, Dean Spatz created a Minnesota-based company called Osmonics, Inc. for the manfacture of reverse osmosis machines and membranes. Maple producers in the 1970s and 1980s gradually began to adopt the technology for concentrating maple sap in making maple syrup. As the only manufacturer at the time, syrup producers relied on Osmonics to help get reverse osmosis off the ground for the maple industry.
A great new, handsomely illustrated book has been published documenting maple syrup and sugar making as was carried out in Québec in years past. Titled, La route des sucriers: Quand on faissit les sucres en noir et blanc au Quebec, this paperback book is entirely in French and is the work of noted maple historian and sugarmaker Jean-Roch Morin, who hails from Saint-Zacharie, Québec. At 240 pages in length, La route des sucriers contains around two hundred rarely or never before published black and white photographs of maple sugaring related scenes. The images date from the late 1800s through the 1990s, with the majority dating to the first half of the 20th century.
I cannot emphasize enough my feeling that readers should not be intimidated by the book being in French. With the convenience of translation apps on our mobile devices and computers, it is quite simple to open the door to an entire world of maple history publications from Québec written in French, with this book as a wonderful place to start.
Sample pages from “La route des sucriers.”
The format of the book is one image per page with accompanying descriptive and contextual text. The book is divided into six different chapters by covering the sugarhouse and the syrup maker, preparing for the season, gathering maple sap, making sugar and syrup, maple parties, and the end of the sugaring season. A nice feature of the book is a glossary of words related to syrup and sugar making gathered and defined by the author. Of course, the glossary is in French, but it always helpful to see and document the unique language of maple production.
Sample pages from “La route des sucriers.”
This is the second maple history related book written by Jean-Roch Morin, with his first book being published in 2016 jointly in French and English with the title, Spouts, Patents and Sugar-Making Objects from Yesteryear. This book is published byLes Editions Conifére, a new and energetic publishing company out of Québec City that is interested in expanding their portfolio to include additional titles that share Québec and maple industry history.
Sample pages from “La route des sucriers.”
In researching this book, Jean-Roch Morin spent many years visiting local historical societies, museums, libraries, and private collections across the Beauce region of Québec discovering previously unpublished and unknown photographs of maple sugaring activities in years past. The focus of the locations of the scenes in the images is primarily the Beauce region, but most of the scenes depicted could have been anywhere in the maple syrup producing region of Canada and the United States. Many of the scenes depicted are candid, unposed action scenes, taken in the moment in the sugarbush and at the sugar house. These are especially important in their capturing a moment in time, both from the technological and historical perspective but also in preserving the place and experiences of individuals and community of sugaring.
Sample pages from “La route des sucriers.”
I have three personal favorites from the book: the photos that show the end of the year sap pail washing and drying, the photos showing the important use of horses and even dogs for pulling sap gathering sleds and tanks, and the photos of the sugar on snow gatherings at the sugarhouses.
Sample pages from “La route des sucriers.”
Maple sugar and syrup making was hard forest and farm work to be sure, but it was also a kind of work that was unique in how it was also a part of a larger sense of local identity and cultural connectedness of the community. That truth is well represented in the pictures and text of this book. One can almost hear the laughter in the scenes of revelry and cheer and sugar on snow parties along with the flirtatious tradition of smearing soot from the bottom of the evaporator pan on the clean faces of partiers, especially the ladies. Other photos portray the variety of construction elements in sugarhouse construction, emphasizing the vernacular nature of these structures. The history and evolution of the technology and tools of sugaring are both directly and implicitly displayed and discussed in the photos and text.
The book starts off with a pair of prefaces, one written by maple educators Stéphane Guay and Edith Bonneau, publishers of the website Érable & Chalumeaux; and a second preface by yours truly, Matthew Thomas.
Jean-Roch Morin, the author and connoisseur of maple flavored ice cream.
In all fairness and the spirit of full disclosure, Jean-Roch Morin is not only a professional colleague, but also a personal friend of mine. Therefore, I may be a bit biased, but I deeply enjoyed this book and am impressed with the effort that went into its creation. Jean-Roch Morin provides a short introductory chapter to set the stage for what he has assembled and described. In addition, the book also features a bibliography and lists of references that were important in researching and writing the book and directs readers where to go for more information.
Jean-Roch Morin with copy of “La route de sucieres” and his recently announced Lés Prix du Patrimoine award.
Jean-Roch Morin was recently awarded Lés Prix du Patrimoine by the MRC Etchemins for his efforts at cultural and historical interpretation and dissemination with the publication of this book. The MRC is one of fifteen regional administrative units of government in Québec and each MRC conducts a competition every two years to recognize the efforts and important works of its residents to protect and promote the heritage of the province. As an indication of his tireless and valuable work in preserving history, this was the fourth time in the last ten years that Mr. Morin has been awarded Lés Prix du Patrimoine!
I encourage maple history fans to add this book to their libraries and make the effort to translate the French text. The book is an important record of maple sugaring in the past. At the very least, it is easy to appreciate, study, and learn from the amazing array of photographs assembled in this book.
The book can be ordered online at the Conifére website for shipment to both the Canada and the United States. Go to this link at the Coniféresite to learn more. The cost of the book is listed as CAN$34.95 which equals about US$25.50, plus shipping costs.
The sugar devil, also known as a sugar auger or fruit lifter, is one of those sort of maple sugar related antiques that really catches your attention, both for the simple elegance of its design and symmetry and for its frightening appearance as some sort of medieval weapon or torture device. It should come as no surprise that sugar devils are highly desired by collectors of maple sugar related items.
Maybe it is just the attention grabbing name “sugar devil” that makes folks want to own something that feels a little bit taboo or dangerous. The equally popular names “sugar auger” or “fruit lifter” provide a bit of insight into how and for what these giant corkscrew-like tools were put to use. Sugar devils were used to break up the dense, dried, and hard sugar and fruit that was once packed tightly in casks, kegs, or boxes in much of the 19th century.
Image showing the variety of the shapes and styles of sugar devils and fruit lifters. Photo courtesy of Bob Roger.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, maple sugar was often sold packed into wooden casks. When the sticky sugar had sufficiently dried, it formed a nearly impenetrable cement that required a strong tool to break up into smaller chunks that could then be further reduced into usable pieces for granulation or dissolving in water to make a syrup. Sticky, sugar-rich, dried fruit that was similarly packed in casks, required a powerful tool to permit access to manageable amounts when purchasing from a store or cooking at home.
Bob Roger’s guide to fruit lifters and sugar devils.
For those wanting to learn more about sugar devils, a very useful guide to the varieties and patent history of different shapes and styles of sugar devils or fruit lifters has been put together by tool and corkscrew collector Bob Roger. Mr. Roger has kindly permitted me to share his most up to date version of this guide here, with the request that any use be purely for educational purposes.
You can view and download a PDF copy of Mr. Roger’s guide titled Fruit Lifters (a.k.a. Sugar Devils) by clicking on THIS LINK or by clicking on the image above. An earlier version of Mr. Roger’s guide was posted in 2007 on the website The Daily Screw, an interesting but no longer active website dedicated to the corkscrew collector.
You can read my latest maple history contribution to the December 2023 edition of the Maple Syrup Digest newsletter at this link or by clicking on the image of the article. The Maple Syrup Digest, it is the official quarterly publication of the North American Maple Syrup Council.
This article looks at the short ten-year history of a unique laboratory constructed in Burlington, Vermont by the United States Forest Service. Named in honor of Vermont Senator George D. Aiken, the lab was created for the purpose of conducting research and outreach on topics important to the growth and promotion of the maple syrup industry. Staffed with foresters, biologists, and economists, this lab focused its attention on improvements in marketing maple products and developing more efficient technologies and methods for processing sap and syrup.
You can read the article at this link or by clinking on the accompanying image.
Maple history fans might be interested in Lanark County Kitchen: A Maple Legacy from Tree to Table, a recently published book about maple sugaring families in Lanark County, Ontario.
Written by Arlene Stafford-Wilson, this 2023 book presents a series of short and concise histories of thirteen legacy maple producers, families that have been making maple products for many generations in Lanark County. Stafford-Wilson is the author of a number of books on life and times in Lanark County, with more information on those available at her website www.staffordwilson.com.
This pocket size book (4.75” x 8.0”) spans 165 pages and covers a range of sugaring families and stories from small homegrown hobbyists to the big names in the county, such as Wheeler’s Maple with their large sugarbush, pancake restaurant, and famous maple and logging museums. The book starts off with a few brief introductory chapters presenting basic details about maple sugaring, syrup grading, and syrup judging that serve as useful contextual materials for the later chapters and histories. There are no illustrations in the book, it is only text, but each family’s chapter includes one or two maple-related recipes that were provided by those families.
Each family history is as much a record of their local genealogy as it is a recounting of the history of their maple operation, with most of the families sharing a common thread of being the descendants of Irish or Scottish immigrants that arrived in Ontario in the early to mid-1800s. Another common thread in almost all the histories in the book is a retelling of the devastating effects and subsequent recovery from a severe ice storm in 1998, as well as a derecho wind storm in 2022.
Like the well-known Wheeler’s Sugar Bush, another notable chapter covers the story of Brien and Marion Paul’s sugaring operation. The late Marion Paul is an especially notable figure in Ontario maple history as the only woman from Ontario and the only producer from Lanark County in the International Maple Hall of Fame.
It is great to see the documentation and publication that highlights local maple sugaring stories and families. The one thing that surprised me in reading the book was no mention of Claudia Smith’s book When the Sugar Bird Sings: The History of Maple Syrup in Lanark County.Admittedly, When the Sugar Bird Sings was published 25 years ago; however, it is still very much worth finding a used copy and having on the maple history shelf in one’s library. It is not common that a single county in the United States or Canada has one book written specifically on the history of maple sugaring in that area, and now Lanark County has two! Stafford-Wilson’s Lanark County Kitchen adds another layer of detail to the history of Lanark maple sugaring, especially when combined with When the Sugar Bird Sings.
Individual copies of Lanark County Kitchen: A Maple Legacy from Tree to Table cost CAD$25.00 may be ordered from the United States and Canada by contacting Arlene Stafford-Wilson directly at – lanarkcountybooks@gmail.com.
Example of Old Colony Maple Syrup label from Quebec Maple Products, LTD, 1934 trademark registration.
In the history of maple syrup brand names, “Old Colony Syrup” was a label used for over one hundred years by as many as six different companies in both the United States and Canada. The Old Colony brand was first used in the early 1900s by two unrelated syrup blending companies in Chicago and Boston. The name was later used in Canada and the United States from the 1920s to the early 2000s, handed down through a series of related companies.
Printing block for Scudder’s Syrup Company’s Old Colony Syrup label (image reversed).
The earliest example of the use of the Old Colony was a blended cane and maple syrup from the Scudder Syrup Company of Chicago, Illinois. The Scudder Company offered a variety of brands of blended cane and maple syrup starting in 1894, with Old Colony Syrup first appearing around 1896. The Scudder Company was one of many syrup blending companies operating in Chicago at this time and the Old Colony brand was one of their minor labels compared to more widely sold Scudder’s Canada Sap Syrup and later Scudder’s Brownie Brand Syrup.
Undated paper label for Old Colony Brand Cane & Maple Syrup from Bay State Maple Syrup Company.
The next early example of the use of the Old Colony name as a syrup brand comes from the Bay State Maple Syrup Company owned by C.M. Tice, operating out of Boston, Massachusetts. Like with the Scudder Company, the use of Old Colony by the Bay State Company was a minor label among other more prominent and popular syrup brands, such as Verhampshire, Fleur-de Lys, Mount Washington, and Mount Mansfield syrups. Since research has only uncovered examples of the label and no dated advertisements or other references, there is little information on the Bay State Company’s use of the Old Colony name and what years it was in use. We do know that the Bay State Company was most active from around 1905 to 1920.
However, the most long-lived and significant use of the Old Colony brand for packaging maple syrup began in 1920 with the Canada Maple Products Company in Toronto, Ontario. Unlike the first two examples of Old Colony Syrup, which were blends of cane and maple syrup, the Old Colony Syrup of the Canadian Maple Products Company was 100% pure maple syrup.
Maples, LTD., advertisement for Lion Brand Pure Maple Syrup from Toronto Daily Star, March 19, 1912.
The Canadian Maple Products Company was a syrup packing and maple products company that began around 1911 under the name of Maples, LTD. Initially, the company sold pure maple syrup and maple butter under the name of Lion Brand, which was only available in Canadian markets. Beginning in 1915, they changed the name of the maple butter to “Old Tyme Maple Butter.”
Early advertisement from Canadian Maple Products, LTD, for Old Colony Maple Syrup – Canadian Grocer, December 16, 1921.
In 1920, the Thornton Huyck family purchased Maples, LTD. and changed the name to the Canadian Maple Products Company, LTD. At this time, the company introduced the name Old Colony syrup name along with a colorful label featuring a yellow background, blue bands, and a splash of red maple leaves.
Advertisement for Old Colony Maple Syrup and Old Tyme Maple Butter – Canadian Grocer. April 1,1921.
In 1929 Thornton Huyck sold Canadian Maple Products Company, LTD., and its Old Colony and Old Tyme brands to the Cary Maple Sugar Company from St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The Cary Company was undertaking a massive expansion in Vermont and Québec, buying smaller syrup companies and expanding their footprint across the region. One of the Cary Company’s efforts was the construction of a modern three-story plant in Lennoxville, Québec for the processing and bottling of maple sugar and maple syrup. In preparation for operating the Lennoxville plant, the Cary Company also acquired a number of other maple syrup businesses from the surrounding Eastern Townships region of Québec, including the Boright Brothers and the Jenne Maple Syrup and Sugar Company, both from Sutton, Québec. As part of their sale to the Cary Company, the Boright Brothers and the Jenne Company sold their syrup manufacturing and bottling equipment and shipped it to Lennoxville. In addition, both Robert M. Boright and Frank Jenne became managers and key employees of Cary’s new Lennoxville plant.
Three story Cary Maple Sugar Company plant in Lennoxville, Québec circa 1929.
The Cary Company’s rapid expansion became a factor in the firm becoming over extended, contributing to the Cary Company’s colossal failure and bankruptcy in 1931. With the Cary Company in the midst of a reorganization, Robert Boright was elevated from general plant manager to the role of President of the entire Cary Company in the United States and Canada. With Boright’s shift to President, Frank Jenne become the Lennoxville plant manager.
Colorful 1930s-era one gallon round can for Old Colony Pure Maple Syrup from Québec Maple Products, LTD.
After a year of year of overseeing the operations and getting the Cary Company back on its feet, Robert Boright resigned his position as President and in late 1932 started his own company called Québec Maple Products, LTD. Conveniently, the newly constructed Cary Company plant in Lennoxville was for sale, which Boright purchased along with the former Canadian Maple Products Company brands of Old Tyme and Old Colony Syrup, with Frank Jenne continuing on as plant manager and a minor partner to Boright.
Early Québec Maple Products, LTD. glass bottle for Old Colony Maple Syrup next to February 28, 1935 – Windsor Start advertisement.
Québec Maple Products, LTD. soon after was offering Old Colony maple syrup to Canadian customers in 16- and 32-ounce circular glass jars and one gallon size tall round cans. The earliest of Québec Maple Products’ Old Colony labels were based on Canadian Maple Products’ earlier Old Colony Syrup design, with the yellow background, red text, and red maple leaves.
1950s era one gallon can with a winter sugaring scene for Old Colony Maple Syrup from Québec Maple Products, LTD.
In 1935, Québec Maple Products, LTD. began its own expansion and formed a subsidiary firm in St. Albans, Vermont called American Maple Products Corporation. With this expansion, Frank Jenne moved from the Lennoxville plant to St. Albans to be the Vice President and general manager of US operations. With the expansion across the border, it was easier for Québec Maple Products, through American Maple Products, to access American markets and introduced the Old Colony brand to a new group of American customers.
Two 1950s examples of early label designs for Old Colony Maple Syrup from American Maple Products Corporation.
American Maple Products Corporation moved from St. Albans, to Newport, Vermont in 1940. Two years later in 1942, Jenne and Boright bought out one another’s interests in Québec Maple Products, LTD., and American Maple Products Corporation. Boright took sole ownership of Québec business and Jenne took over American Maple Products with both continuing to use the Old Colony brand with their separate companies.
American Maple Products Corporation’s Old Colony Maple Syrup label from the 1960s.
Under Jenne’s ownership and later that of his son-in-law Sherb Doubleday, American Maple Products Corporation expanded the company’s variety of maple products and introduced its own designs for its Old Colony labels and containers. Over the next 50 years American Maple Products redesigned its Old Colony label at least four times.
Two versions of American Maple Products Corporation’s Old Colony Maple Syrup labels from the 1970s and 1980s.
American Maple Products Corporation continued to sell syrup under the Old Colony brand into at least the 1980s. American Maple Products Corporation closed its doors in 1994 when Roger Ames, the son-in-law of Sherb Doubleday and owner of the company, was accused and pled guilty to selling syrup labeled as pure maple syrup when it had been adulterated with beet sugar syrup.
Example of advertisement and bottle design for Quebec Maple Products’ Old Tyme Syrup from October 30, 1958 – Windsor Star.
Boright continued as owner of Quebec Maple Products until 1958 when he sold his company to the Canada Starch Company, LTD., and its best Foods Canada Division, with Old Colony and Old Tyme syrups continuing as the company brands. Best Foods was sold to Unilevel Company in 2000 and Unilevel sold the Old Colony and Old Tyme brands to ACH Foods in 2002. Old Colony Syrup continued to be available in Canadian markets until at least 2004 and their blended Old Tyme Pancake Syrup until around 2015.
Enjoy the rare opportunity to have an expert historian personally transport and guide you through a unique chapter in the history of Vermont and the Northeast Kingdom and learn about the people and places responsible for St. Johnsbury, Vermont being named the Maple Center of the World.
The tour will be led by maple industry historian and author Dr. Matthew Thomas, the leading expert on the history of the Cary Maple Sugar and Maple Grove companies.
Travelling by bus, participants will enjoy a narrated tour that will visit over a dozen locations in and around St. Johnsbury that are important in the history of the Cary and Maple Grove Companies. As a special souvenir, participants will receive a one-of-a-kind companion guide authored by Dr. Thomas, that features historic images and information on the sites visited on the tour.
This tour is offered as special event during the Kingdom Maple Festival in downtown St. Johnsbury.
Details: Advanced registration is required. Limited to the first 50 registrations! Please note that your registration is not complete until you checkout and pay the Tour fee. Thank you!
Cost: $75.00
Date: Saturday, April 20, 2024
Time: 1:00 – 4:00 pm
Location: Starting and Ending at the St. Johnsbury Depot
Download this flyer to share information about this event.
I am happy to share a recent article I wrote on the origins and unique history of the use of a round metal can for packing maple syrup in the province of Québec. Unlike the United States and most other Canadian provinces, where syrup was packed in rectangular shaped metal cans for many years, in Québec the use of a round can was introduced in the 1950s and has continued to be used ever since, eventually becoming an iconic cultural symbol identifed with Québec.
April 20, 2024 – St. Johnsbury, Vermont
