In the last few years a handful of interesting books have come out showcasing maple sugaring collectables and antiques, most notably spouts, taps and spiles from the 1800s through about the 1960s. These books include abundant photos and descriptions of the many spouts commercially produced over the years as well as images of their original designs patents. The first of these books to appear was Hale Mattoon’s Maple Spouts Spiles & Taps published in 2013 and available directly through Hale Mattoon by mail at 274 East Randolph Road, Chelsea, Vermont 05038.
This book is focused specifically on spouts and is organized by the state or province of the inventor, patentee, or manufacturer. For collectors of maple spouts, this volume is an indispensible reference. True to the eye of a seasoned collector, the book goes into the finer details and differences between and among what otherwise appear to be virtually identical spouts. Early plastic spouts both for pails and tubing that appeared in the late 1950s and into the 1960s are also included with limited information, with the bulk of the book focused on formed sheet metal and cast metal spouts.
The next book in this grouping is an interesting book from Jean-RochMorin titled Spouts, Patents and Sugar-Making Objects from Yesteryear, published in 2015 by La Plume d’Oie in Quebec. I purchased my copy of the book through the catalog listing with Lapierre Equipment in Swanton, Vermont.
Jean-Roch’s book has many similarities to Hale’s 2013 book with a focus on antique collectable spouts, a heavy presentation of patent images, and an organization by state and province. Where Jean-Roch is the most different is in the fact that the text of the book is wonderfully presented in both French and English. The book also includes a strong representation of Canadian patent images as well as American patent images. Other nice additions are the inclusion of relevant vintage graphics and advertisements for sugaring equipment. The book also looks at more than just antique spouts and also displays images, patents, and advertisements for early pails and buckets, bucket covers, sugar molds, sugaring tools, paddles, and pans and evaporators. The beginning of the book starts with a short history of maple sugar and ends with detailed description of maple sugaring in 1876.
Lastly, Hale Mattoon has followed up his first book with an expanded and updated version titled Maple Spouts Spiles Taps & Tools, published in 2017 also available directly from Hale by email or snail mail.
Taking advantage of access to a number of friends and colleagues in the community of collectors of maple sugaring objects Hale’s “new and improved” maple spouts book goes beyond the scope of the first book by adding photographs and patent images for a wide range of additional maple sugaring objects, such as pails, tapping tools, gathering pails, and sap regulators. Like the Morin book, the 2017 book from Mattoon also includes an abundance of well dated vintage advertising and catalog images and select text providing relevant and useful historical background and context. There are also examples of spouts not found in Hale’s 2013 volume. One particularly unique artifact featured in the book are the many images of the cast iron front pieces to a wide variety of boiling arches most of which display their manufacturer’s name in bold lettering and design.
All three books are very well illustrated with excellent black and white photographs and should be of interest and value to any collectors of maple sugaring antiques or ephemera as well as to those interested in the history and technology of the maple industry.
On a side note, an additional, not so recent book that would interest similar audiences is the 1979 book Sugar-bush Antiques by Virginia Vidler, available through used book sellers like AbeBooks.com and Amazon. I will feature the Vidler book in an upcoming post about earlier books related to maple industry collectables and artifacts.