A somewhat unique partnership between two giants in the maple industry occurred at the turn of the last century when the G.H. Grimm Company produced a specially designed sap pail cover for the Horse Shoe Forestry Company. The Horse Shoe Forestry Company was a new endeavour of Brooklyn millionaire Abbot Augustus Low. Low had purchases tens of thousands of acres of forest around Horse Shoe Lake in the Adirondacks with the intent of developing a large-scale modern and efficient maple syrup operation. Low also happened to be an experienced inventor with dozens of patents to his name, who, when faced with a problem or an opportunity, tried to make an improvement or come up with an entirely new design. In the case of maple sugaring, the lowly sap pail cover did not escape Low’s attention.
As one of the leading equipment manufacturers of the time, G. H. Grimm was the company chosen by A.A. Low and the Horse Shoe Forestry Company for purchase of many new evaporators, sap pails, spouts, and sap storage tanks. Numerous newspaper accounts from the late 1890s and early 1900s describe with awe the sheer size of the equipment orders placed with G.H. Grimm by the Horse Shoe Forestry Company. By the height of their operations, the Horse Shoe Company had built three large sugarhouses, factories really, to enclose as many as 15 of the very largest evaporators the Grimm Company made at the time.
Low and the Horse Shoe Company were such good customers for G.H. Grimm, the Grimm Company used their name as a selling point in their advertising. Noting in a 1907 ad to sell their sap spouts, that the Horse Shoe Company, touted as the world’s largest sugar maker, had purchased 50,000 of the Grimm spouts. No other sugarbush was even close to that large in scale and that number of spout begs the question were there also that many Horse Shoe-Grimm sap pail covers in use at Horse Shoe as well?
Although produced primarily for the the Horse Shoe Company, the Horse Shoe-Grimm sap pail cover was not for the Horse Shoe Company’s exclusive use. Grimm made the cover available for anyone to purchase and use. An undated G.H. Grimm promotional pamphlet informs readers that for twenty-five cents they will send you a a sample of a hookless No. 1 Grimm sap spout and Horse Shoe sap pail cover.
A series of photographs taken by George A. Baldwin for the Horse Shoe Forestry Company in 1900 or 1901 includes examples of Low’s Horse Shoe – Grimm sap pail cover in action. One particular set of these images was hand colorized by Baldwin and depicts both the red and yellow sap pail covers in use in the Horse Shoe sugarbush.
A.A. Low applied for a patent on his sap cover invention on June 6, 1900, before being awarded patent number 668,313 on February 19, 1901. The cover itself was made
from two sheets of metal molded such that they formed a raised shape surrounded by a flat rim. The core in the center of the two raised sides was supposed to serve as an insulating air-pocket to help keep sap in the pail cool. The raised center also served to position the cover in the pail with the wide rim extending over the sides of the pail to keep debris and moisture from entering. It was necessary to use a hookless spout like the Grimm Spout No. 1 that would fit into the hole on the collection pail.
As a strong self-promoter and regular use of advertising and trademarks, the Horse Shoe – Grimm cover did not escape the hand of A.A. Low. Every Horse Shoe cover was embossed on both sides with the Horse Shoe Forestry Company name and logo as well as the G.H. Grimm and Co. name and location of Rutland, VT. Interestingly, the embossing also notes patent applied for, suggesting that the Grimm Company began producing the covers sometime in the second half of the year 1900.
Ever thinking of improving efficiency in his sugarbush, Low had his sap pail covers painted red on one side and yellow on the other. The idea was that on each sap gathering run, the covers would be turned over after the pail was emptied. The two colors allowed the men gathering sap to see from a distance which pails had been collected and which had not. The G.H. Grimm promotional pamphlet noted that each cover is painted on both sides to prevent rusting, although it does not note the two color scheme.
The photos on the left from the collections of the Adirondack Experience are examples of the bright red and yellow colors used on each side of the Horse Shoe – Grimm sap pail covers. Note the hanging hole near the rim. This was not originally part of the A.A. Low design and was likely added at a later date by another maple syrup maker.
For those interested in the history of A.A. Low’s Horse Shoe Forestry Company maple syrup operation, check back in for additional posts on other aspects of the story including new, never before seen site maps and photos from the field. Eventually this research will be compiled and shared in the publication of my second book. For the time being, I am deep in the throes of field and archival research documenting and detailing the exact locations of Low’s maple syrup operations at Horse Shoe and recounting the broader history of use and development of Low’s estate.
And should anyone know the whereabouts of one of these Grimm-Horse Shoe Forestry Company sap pail covers that might be for sale, I would very much like to hear from you!