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 Roger’s guide was posted in 2007 on the website The Daily Screw, an interesting but no longer active website dedicated to the corkscrew collector.
Image of the book “Sugar-Bush Antiques” with original artwork on the dust jacket by East Aurora, NY artist Rix Jennings.
For collectors of maple sugaring antiques, artifacts, and material culture, there is one book that stands out as a kind of beginners’ guide and check list to the many different items one might come across and chose to collect. That guide is the book Sugar-Bush Antiques by Virginia Vidler. The book was published in 1979 by A.S. Barnes and Co. a New York based textbook and encyclopedia publisher at the time.
Sugar-Bush Antiques was Vidler’s second guide book on antiques, following on the 1976 release of American Indian Antiques: Arts and Artifacts of the Northeast, also published by A.S. Barnes. She also later published a book in 1985 on collectibles and souvenirs related to Niagara Falls.
Virginia Vidler in her element searching for sugar-bush antiques at a New York sugarbush.
Although Virginia Vidler’s name is on her books as a sole author, in reality, all of her books were a joint project of Virginia and her husband Edward Vidler. As an amateur photographer, Ed Vidler’s main contribution was in providing the many black and white and color images of artifacts, antiques, sugarhouses, and sugaring accoutrement in this well-illustrated book. Vidler asked local East Aurora and Buffalo artist and illustrator Rixford “Rix” Upham Jennings to do the color painting to provide a unique and original cover design.
Image from the frontispiece of “Sugar-Bush Antiques.”
Virginia Vidler was interested in local New York and new England history and served as the historian for the Town of Aurora. Her interest in maple sugaring and sugar-bush antiques primarily came from her fascination and interest in researching and documenting history. Virginia and Ed Vidler’s son Don Vidler shared that they were not a family of maple sugar makers, although there was a great deal of sugaring in the countryside around them. According to son Don, it was common for the Vidlers to head out on the weekends for sugarhouse and antique hunting expeditions in western New York.
Image showing the well illustrated pages of “Sugar-Bush Antiques.”
More than simply a collection of photographs of old maple sugaring items, this book traces the history of the maple industry from Native Americans to early pioneers, and into the modern era. With a focus on the material remains of maple sugar and syrup making, there is a special emphasis on the changing technology of production and packaging as well as the change of materials from wood to metal as well as ceramic and glass. From the smallest and humblest wood or tin maple sugar mold to the large kettles, evaporators, or gathering tanks and onto the finest cut glass syrup pitchers, there is little that has been overlooked. Photographs, paintings and prints, and other printed ephemera like postcards and industry guidebooks and reports are also examined.
Additional example of pages from “Sugar-Bush Antiques” showing the many maple sugaring artifacts illustrated and described in the book.
According to Don Vidler, Virginia and Ed Vidler’s son, the Vidlers amassed a reasonably big collection of maple related antiques, some of which appeared in the photos in the book. Mrs. Vidler recognized that what is considered common place today, will someday be an antique and of interest to the collector. She was quoted in a 1985 newspaper article where she gave a bit of advice on her collecting strategy, noting “when you go to an auction at a farm in the sugar bush country, be sure to check out the items in the barns and behind the old sheds. That is where you will find the authentic sugar bush antiques that no one else seems to recognize.”
When the Vidlers were not running around the countryside visiting sugarbushes and sugarhouses, collecting antiques, or taking photographs, they spent most of their time running Vidler’s 5 and 10 in East Aurora, New York, a short distance from Buffalo. Vidler’s 5 and 10 was started by Ed Vidler’s father Robert Vidler in 1930 before brothers Ed and Bob Vidler took it over in the 1940s. Today, Vidler’s is known as the world’s largest 5 and 10 store. Virginia passed away in 1986 and Ed Vidler in 2019.
Sugar-Bush Antiques presents a good general overview of the wide range of tangible items that someone might consider collectible or of interest that represent or is related in some way to the business and activities of making, packaging, and selling maple sugar and maple syrup. Most sugar-bush antique collectors end up specializing in a few select areas or types of items like spouts, packaging tins, or sugar molds and develop a detailed knowledge of those items far beyond what one will find in this book; however, it is still enjoyable to sit down with a book like this and have a virtual museum tour at your fingertips. Fortunately, it is still possible to find used copies of the book through various online book sales websites.
In the world of maple syrup collectibles and antiques, one of the most unique and sought after item is probably the miniature evaporator. Also known as salemen’s models, these little gems are scale models of full size maple syrup evaporators. From the perspective of maple syrup history, collectibles and collecting are a tangible way to literally hold history in our hands and miniature evaporators offer something to be learned about the history of maple syrup equipment sales.
Miniature evaporator with removable partitioned flat pan.
The use of miniature scale models was especially common with agricultural equipment salesmen, and one can find amazing and beautiful examples of all sorts of agricultural implements from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Miniature evaporator with top partitioned flat pan removed showing interior grates in fire box and faux painted fire brick lining.
Other similar functional scale-models were made as patent models to illustrate in miniature the design and operation of one’s invention and patent idea. While it is possible that a few of the miniature evaporators out there were made as copies of patent models, it is unlikely that they would have made it into circulation since such models were extremely rare. In some cases these scaled-down evaporators are referred to as toy or doll-house models or miniatures. It is possible that a few were simply made to be miniature examples for aficionados in the miniature collectibles community who enjoy recreating items from the past in smaller scales, somewhat akin to model railroading; however, the vast majority of these evaporators were made for and used as salesmen’s models by the major evaporator manufacturing companies.
Small miniature model of simple evaporator with front and back pans on a squared arch, probably not a salesman’s model.
Salesmen’s models were generally around 12 to 24 inches long although on occasion models were made a bit larger, on the order of three feet in length. Toy or basic miniature models tend to be smaller in scale.
The models were most often made completely of folded, soldered, and riveted sheet metal just like the full size evaporators that they were intended to illustrate. In the past, some maple syrup equipment companies employed travelling salesmen or arranged for local maple producers to work on the side as equipment dealers and product representatives.
Because of the large size and cost of most full-sized evaporators, with some as long as 15 to 18 feet in length, it was impractical for a travelling salesman to move around with a full-size floor model. However, most prospective buyers wanted to see in detail how the different evaporators were configured and constructed.
The salemen’s models were fully articulated with each individual component a separate piece, just like with a full-sized operational evaporator. They came with an arch for the base with moving doors and grates in the fire box.
Above were back pans and front pans, some flat, some with dropped or raised flues.
In some examples, the original wooden carrying case is still preserved.
Example of a Leader Evaporator Company miniature evaporator set with travelling case including settling tank, sap storage tank, and Monitor style sap gathering tank.
For the most part, salesmen’s models are pretty rare and highly sought after collectibles.
I’ve snapped a few photos of different examples over the years and found a few more searching online. In addition to evaporators, one can also find miniature sap gathering tanks and storage tanks.
Sugarmaker, maple antique collector and author Hale Mattoon of Chelsea, Vermont was kind enough to shared with me a few wonderful examples from his private collection.
Hall and Wright evaporator patented in US in 1889 (US patent 415635), 20 1/2 inches long from Hale Mattoon collections.Leader Special pans with drop flues from Hale Mattoon collection.Leader round bottom sap storage tank from Hale Mattoon collection.Monitor style sap gathering tank from Leader Evaporator Company, courtesy of Hale Mattoon collections.
A great part of studying and collecting maple sugaring antiques is also learning the stories of where they came from and how they were acquired. Hale Mattoon shared this story for how he added these Leader Evaporator models to his collection.
As Hale tells it:
I recall going with my father in the mid-1940’s to a business here in Chelsea operated by A.F. Sanborn and Son, who sold Leader Maple Sugaring equipment and supplies. Archie (A.F.) was an agent for Leader Evaporator Company and a good business man.
Archie passed away in 1955 leaving the business to his son Forrest Sanborn who was an agent for Leader, but for a short time. Forrest passed away in 1991, and shortly after Forrest’s widow sold the contents of the business and later the real estate. The new owner of the Sanborn house a few years after the purchase discovered a Leader sap bucket partially hidden in the basement of the house, to satisfy his curiosity he looked inside of the bucket and much to his surprise there was the model l evaporator, storage tank , gathering tank and pieces of literature on the storage tank and gathering tank, all Leader items.
The new owner of the house showed the models and literature to a friend of his and said, “What should I do with this?” The reply was, “A local maple sugarmaker should have these items!” Well, I was the lucky one to be contacted and invited to view these precious items, when I saw what I thought I was seeing, my heart rate exceeded all limits. After a nice visit for this purpose, it was time to negotiate a transaction of some sort, so I asked him what he would like for the Leader items. He replied.” I don’t want money as I’m interested in items from Tunbridge, Vermont (a border town south of Chelsea) as my ancestors are from Tunbridge and he asked if I had anything to trade. I could not think of anything I had right at the time, but told him I would check. Well, check I did and discovered I had an old wooden shipping box that had the lettering – RETURN TO E.C. SLEEPER-TUNBRIDGE, VERMONT. So I called the gent and told him I had a shipping box that was Tunbridge, related. He replied, “I would like to see it!” I took the box to show him and show him I did. E.C.SLEEPER was the gent’s great-grandfather. He jumped for joy thus a trade was made and two very happy people, too.
The Leader Evaporator Company headquarters in St. Albans has a few models on display including a larger version than I have seen elsewhere.
Miniature salesman’s model of Leader Evaporator on display at the Leader Evaporator Company plant in At. Albans, Vermont.Larger sized example of a miniature Kingbrand evaporator on display at the Leader Evaporator Company plant in St. Albans, VT.
One the most popular and enjoyable ways to learn and think about the history of maple syrup and maple sugar is through studying and collecting sugaring’s material remains. In other words, the artifacts, antiques, or collectables of maple sugaring, especially the portable and easily handled tools and equipment used by past maple producers. There is a small handful of books out there that can be helpful aids in the understanding and identification of the wide range and variety of maple sugaring antiques. In a previous post I highlighted a few more recent publications by Hale Mattoon and Jean-Roch Morin that emphasize the study and collection of spouts and spiles, as well as other maple artifacts.
Prior to the publishing of these excellent books, the best-known and most comprehensive guide to maple sugaring artifacts and antiques was the classic book Sugar-Bush Antiques by Virginia Vidler. This book is long out of print but can be found for sale used on Amazon and at www.abebooks.com.
Virginia Vidler’s book is well illustrated with photos and descriptions of all the different sorts of collectable maple sugaring items related to maple sugaring in years past. Everything from sap collection containers, gathering pails and tanks, to evaporator pans and wood and tin molds, to packing tins, bottles, and jugs, to skimmers and paddles and syrup pitchers to paintings, photos, engravings, postcards, written reports and historic documents. Of course the very popular spouts and spiles are covered as well as.
Tools and equipment are divided into chapters focused on wooden-ware, tinware, and glassware, and with most every imaginable sort of sugaring item described and illustrated. This book is not a catalog of all known sugaring artifacts. There will always be unique and obscure examples of different types and varieties of sugaring items that catch the eye and interest of the collector. While the book is a bit dated with a 1979 publication date, it is a great addition to the shelf of anyone interesting in the material culture and collecting of maple-related antiques.
For the collector with a more narrow focused on the study of maple sugaring molds, there is a great little book by R.L. Séguin, itself now an antique, published in 1963 by the National Museum of Canada titled les moules du Québec. Although the book is written entirely in French, it is very well illustrated with a great many examples of the kinds and types of molds one might find and collect from the past when making maple sugar was as much a part of the maple operation as making syrup.
Moules is the French word for molds, and the contents of the book includes all forms of maple sugar molds from the large multi-compartment trays to make small rectangular blocks, to tin and iron molds to make small cakes, to the artistic and block molds featuring animals and shapes, and other notable designs. Most interesting to me are the three-dimensional wooden molds that fit together like a locking puzzle to form solid blocks of sugar in the form of houses, books, bibles, fish, and birds. While a little more difficult to find than the Vidler book, this too is a great addition to the reference materials for maple antique collectors. Plus it is just neat to study the artistry and craft that went into handwork of making these molds where nearly everyone was individual and unique.
There is also an interesting, well-illustrated section on sugar molds in Michel Lessard’s 1994 book, also written in French, titled Objets Anciens du Quebec: La vie domestique, which translates to Ancient Objects of Quebec: Domestic Life.
Lastly, it is worth noting that one can find information, including ballpark prices and values for many maple sugaring related artifacts in the mainstream antiques collectors guides, such as Linda Campbell Franklin’s 300 Years of Kitchen Collectibles. Such guides are periodically updated for both content and price information, so it is best to find a more recent copy if using as a price guide. earlier guides are still great reference tools for recognizing and learning about various maple sugaring related artifacts.
Collectors will find that many artifacts and antique, especially specific to a brand or company are not represented in these guides. It is true that there is room for many more such guides and catalogs. Thankfully collectors like Hale Mattoon and Jean-Roch Morin have taken the initiative to assemble their collections and the collections of others into handy, useful, and informative books. Hopefully we will see more publications like theirs in the years to come.
Preserving and telling the maple history story as complete and accurately as possible relies on a wide range of sources of information, artifacts, and contributors. Sugarmakers have always had a strong affinity for collecting and preserving the material objects and antiques that help tell the history of maple syrup and sugar. There are a number of great museums specifically dedicated to housing and presenting myriad tools, devices, and equipment, as well as honoring those that have made significant contributions to the industry. What we have seen less of is the sharing and organized preservation of the documentary history; the photos, written and paper records, and past publications. I would argue there is a growing need for greater consideration and attention to creating, maintaining, and contributing to an archive or archives focused on the maple syrup industry.
It is easy to say or think that one’s old records or files or photos or even objects are not really important or of no interest to anyone in the near or distant future. But you’d be surprised what folks miss after its gone. Such items, be they from a small mulitple-generation maple producer or a large corporate packer or equipment manufacturer, become the bedrock of the industry’s history. While it may seem like people understand and know their history and someone will always remember the past, memories fade and change, and people come and go, figuratively and literally. You can’t and don’t necessarily want to preserve everything, the challenge of course is knowing and deciding what is valuable and might be worth preserving.
Archival materials related to maple history most certainly do exist and can be found in varying amounts in the archives of most state historical society libraries in the maple producing regions. Although I am less familiar with the archives in adjacent Canadian provinces, having never heard of an archive dedicated to the maple industry, I assume that the situation is somewhat similar to in the U.S. In some cases local county or community historical societies have provided space and resources for the storage and access to maple related archives and select collections. As an example, the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium and later the St. Johnsbury History and Heritage Center have provided preservation services and access to the George C. Cary Papers in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, keeping this important collection in the same town where George C. Cary’s maple sugaring empire flourished.
In the mid 1980s, the Vermont Maple Industry Council worked with a collection of people mostly affiliated with maple research at the University of Vermont (UVM) to form a Maple History Committee and tasked them with compiling “historical information on the folklore, production methods, and economics of the Vermont maple industry and make it available . . . for use in teaching children and others”. A great deal of material was collected and put on file in the Special Collections and Archives at the UVM Bailey/Howe library with a particular focus on the research contributions of individuals associated with the University of Vermont. This committee was a great idea and a great start but it was too short lived. Unfortunately, the individuals that formed the backbone of the committee at UVM moved on to retirement and in many cases passed away and in time the committee was no longer active.
More recently, the University of Vermont libraries Center for Digital Initiatives in conjunction with the UVM Proctor Maple Research Center has taken a more modern approach to preserving a part of their history and some of the materials of the Maple History Committee by scanning and putting online a Maple Research Collections. This includes digital copies of the many articles, reports, and photographs that stemmed from the years of research at the Proctor field station as well as digital copies of maple related reports that appeared in early editions of the University of Vermont Agricultural Extension Bulletins. This is a great example of using digital means to preserve and share a portion of the archives from UVM’s important maple research legacy.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting with folks at the Leader Evaporator Company in Swanton to discuss maple history and learned of their own long term project to review their many historic business records, catalogs and reports and document their corporate history. It was fantastic to see that they were tackling such an important project since the Leader Company’s history is in many ways an overview of the history of maple equipment manufacturing and dealers in the United States. In discussing their work, I asked what they thought they might do with all the historic, largely paper material they had assembled about the company, to which they said, “that’s a good question and we haven’t really thought about that yet”. This really hit home that not only is there a need to provide resources and space for the safe and organized preservation and study of the documentary record of the maple industry, there is also a need to recognize its equal value and importance alongside the preservation of the maple industry’s historic places, artifacts and objects, and stories.
Museums dedicated to maple history do a relatively good job preserving, displaying, and interpreting the material remains and objects of sugaring. For the most part their focus has not been in the area of preserving the paper, photos, and other ephemera found in most archives. Preserving such materials takes the right kind of space, as well as financial resources and human resources, not to mention a way of making these materials available to researchers and interested people. After all, that is the point, preserve these materials so we can study and know and tell the maple history story. However, maintaining an archives may not fit within the means or the varied missions of these museums.
Is this a call for a dedicated maple history archives? Not necessarily, although the idea has merit. Perhaps there is simply a need to improve the understanding and integration and access to what already exists in established archives and to push for more concerted effort to curate, preserve, and share those records that remain and continue to be discovered out there amongts the maple syrup community. This is the history and legacy of individuals, families, companies, institutions, and an entire industry. As with a lot of things, one has to ask oneself what is it worth to preserve the history of an industry and who should be the ones doing it?
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.
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.
