Interests in studying maple history include tracing the development of the maple syrup industry from a simple disorganized seasonal farming activity to an organized and technologically advanced specialized agricultural product. One of the ways to outline that history is through a review of the arrival, departure, expansion, and consolidation of the many maple sugar and syrup equipment and evaporator manufacturers in the US and Canada through the late 19th and the first half of 20th centuries.
To that end this is a brief introduction to my plans over the next few months to present a series of short histories of the most notable maple equipment companies; outlining the major moments in their histories; tracing the beginnings, consolidations and mergers, and in some cases demise of each company.
The list of companies or evaporator brands I plan to cover, in no specific order includes:
– Vermont Farm Machine Company
– True and Blanchard
– Cook’s Patent Evaporator
– G.H. Grimm
– Dominion and Grimm
– Vermont Evaporator Company
– Small Brothers
– Leader Evaporator Company
– George H. Soule
– Waterloo
It is likely that some of my readers and connoisseurs of maple syrup history might have thoughts or suggestions for other additional companies I might want to consider – I am more than open to suggestions for additions. Please send your suggestions through the contact us section of this website. My focus in doing this series is not to highlight the history of individual products, inventions, or patents that are limited in scope, such as a particular model of sap spouts.
Rather, I plan to look at the companies and their founders and leaders that made a broader contribution to growing the maple syrup industry. I am also limiting my period of focus to companies that were formed and in business between the 1860s and the end of World War II (prior to the onset of the introduction of plastics to the maple industry).