By
Kelli Huggins, Education Coordinator
I
grew up in maple syrup country (no, not Vermont- but, the Catskills have a lot
of it, too), so I’ve always been a fan of the stuff. None of that fake butter-flavored nonsense
for me- sacrilege! This is why when the
fine folks at Tanglewood Nature Center asked us to put together a small history
of maple syrup exhibit for their pancake breakfast, I jumped at the
chance. As it turns out, we have a lot
of syrup/breakfast items in our collections!
Enjoy and try not to get too hungry reading this.
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| Syrup pitcher, circa 1845 |
The
history of maple syrup and sugar making dates back to early Native American
history. According to one Iroquois
legend, a hunter accidentally discovered the syrup when he accidentally boiled
in his cooking pot some sap from a broken maple branch. Early European settlers
in the Northeast used wood spouts to tap maple trees. The sap would collect in wooden buckets. When boiled over a wood fire, the sap turned
into maple sugar or syrup. The maple
sugar was a good alternative sweetener for those who could not afford to
purchase cane sugar. By the mid-1800s,
maple syrup production increased as the technology changed. Metal spouts and evaporator pans made maple
syrup making more efficient.
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| Wooden sap bucket |
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Sap trough and spill used by Nelson Rosekrans of Erin, NY
|
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| Sap spout, circa 1860s |
S.B. Rogers and Son was a local maple syrup producer and dealer
in the early 20th century. In
1917, they were fined $25 by the United States Department of Agriculture for
misrepresenting the weight of their ½ gallon cans of syrup.
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| Receipt from S.B. Rogers, 1908 |
During World War I, sugar was rationed. However, an article in the Elmira Telegram proposed a suitable
solution: maple sugar. Maple production
had fallen out of fashion as cane and beet sugars became more readily available
and affordable throughout the 19th and 20th
centuries. Yet, as the war raged on,
people realized that a return to maple sugaring could provide sugar for the
home front, thus freeing the easily shippable cane and beet sugars to be sent
to the troops. Producing maple syrup
became a patriotic duty!
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| Metal sap bucket |
No discussion of maple syrup is complete without talking
about what you put it on: pancakes and waffles.
Enjoy a look at some of the griddles and waffle makers in our
collections.
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| Early waffle iron |
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| Pancake griddle |
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| Stovetop waffle maker |
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| Early electric waffle maker |
A historical topic with which almost anyone can identify. Thanks.
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