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THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MAN LE MUSEE NATIONAL DE L'HC)MME
Material History Bulletin 9 Bulletin Whistoire de la culture materielle
OTTAWA, FALL-AUTOMNE,1979
BOARD OF TRUSTEES NATIONAL MUSEUMS OF CANADA
Dr . Sean B . Murphy Juge Rene J . Marin Mr . Gower Markle Mr . Richard M .H . Alway Mr . Robert G . MacLeod Monsieur Roger B . Hamel~ Madame Ginette Gadoury Monsieur Paul H . Leman Mr . Michael C .D . Hobbs M . Charles A . Lussier Dr . William G . Schneider
SECRETARY-GENERAL
Mr . Ian
DIRECTOR NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MAN
Dr .
CHIEF HISTORY DIVISION
CHEF DIVISION DE L'HISTOIRE
Dr . F .J . Thorpe
EDITORIAL BOARD MATERIAL HISTORY BULLETIN
Co-editors/co-redacteurs :
Barbara Riley Robert D . Watt
Gerald L . Pocius
T .D . MacLean Kathleen A . Kuusisto Gary Hughes Corneliu Kirjan
David Newlands Jean-Pierre Hardy Cornell Wynnobel Diana Matthews Frances Roback James Wardrop
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DIRECTEUR MUS~E NATIONAL DE L'HOMME
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CONSEIL D'ADMINISTRATION MUS9ES NATIONAUX DU CANADA
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SECRfTAIRE-GfNfRAL
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CONSEIL DE RPDACTION BULLETIN D'HISTOIRE DE LA CULTURE MAT9RIELLE
National Museum of Man Vancouver Centennial Museum
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Fortress of Louisbourg Halifax, N .S . New Brunswick Museum Direction de 1'archeologie
et de 1'ethnologie University of Toronto Musee national de 1'Homme Lower Fort Garry Western Development Museum Glenbow Museum British Columbia Provincial Museum
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THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MAN LE MUSEE NATIONAL DE L'HOMME
Material History Bulletin n Bulletin d'histoire de la culture materielle
TABLE OF CONTENTS - TABLE DES MATIERES
Articles
An Evaluation of Iconographic and Written Sources in the Study of a Traditional Technology : Maple Sugar Making Anita Campbell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Reviews - Comptes rendus
Patricia Baines, Spinning Wheels, Spinners and Spinning (Reviewed by Judy Keenlyside . . . . 37
Bus Griffiths, Now You're Logging (Reviewed by Robert Griffin) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
David L . Newlands and Claus Breede, An Introduction to Canadian Archaeology (Reviewed by Dianne Newell) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
D .R . Richeson, ed ., Western Canadian History : Museum Inter retations (Reviewed by Alan F .J . Arti ise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Vancouver Centennial Museum, "The World of Children : Toys and Memories of Childhood" (Reviewed by Zane Lewis) . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . 51
Musee du Quebec, "Cordonnerie traditionnelle" (Compte rendu d'Yvan Chouinard) . . . . . . . 61
Notes and Comments - Nouvelles breves . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Contributors - Collaborateurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
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OTTAWA, FALL-AUTOMNE, 1979 ISSN 0703 - 489X
MATERIAL HISTORY BULLETIN
The Material History Bulletin is designed to meet the needs for a publication to encourage and disseminate research on Canada's material history . It publishes short articles, research notes and comments, and reviews of exhibits, publications, and historic sites . The Bulletin aims to reach, both as authors and subscribers, an audience which includes historians, museum curators, historical archaeologists, and others interested in the material evidence of Canada's history . Submissions should be sent to either of the co-editors or to one of the regional editors .
The Material History Bulletin is published twice a year, in late spring and late fall . Two pilot issues, which appeared as History Division Papers Nos . 15 and 21 in the National Museum of Man's Mercury Series, are now out of print . Beginning with the tenth issue the Bulletin is available on a subscription basis at $4 .00 for two issues annually or at $2 .50 for a single issue . Bulletin no . 8, a special issue containing the papers presented at Canada's Material History : A Forum is available for 5 .00. Subscriptions or individual copies may be obtained by forwarding a cheque or money order in the appropriate amount payable to the Receiver General for Canada (Special Account) . Mail to :
Order Fulfilment Publishing Division National Museums of Canada Ottawa, Ontario . KlA OM8
BULLETIN D'HISTOIRE DE LA . CULTURE MATERIELLE
Le Bulletin d'histoire de la culture materielle vise a encourager et a faire connaitre la recherche sur 1'histoire de la culture materielle du Canada . I1 publie de courts articles, des notes et des observations de recherches, des critiques d'expositions et de publications, ainsi que des etudes de lieux historiques . Le Bulletin cherche a atteinc:ire le plus grand nombre d'auteurs et d'abonnes, notamment les historiens, les conservateurs de musee, les archeologues et les autres personnes interessEes par les vestiges materiels de 1'histoire du Canada . Les demandes doivent etre envoyees a un des deux redacteurs en chef ou a 1'un des redacteurs regionaux .
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AN EVALUATION OF ICONOGRAPHIC AND WRITTEN
SOURCES IN THE STUDY OF A TRADITIONAL
TECHNOLOGY : MAPLE SUGAR MAKING
by Anita Campbell
L'auteur evalue 1'utilite des sources iconographiques dans 1'etude des techniques traditionnelles, en comparant un ensemble de ces sources avec des documents traitant de la fabrication du sucre d'erable . Les deux types de references fournissent des donnees precises et detaillees, les sources iconographiques 1'emportant en ce qui concerne la description des outils (style, forme) mais le cedant aux textes pour ce qui est des instructions relatives aux methodes et techniques . L'etude a demontre que les competences de 1'artiste ou de 1'auteur revetaient une plus grande importance que le type de reference comme tel . De plus, dans 1'etude des techniques traditionnelles, il est evident que le chercheur a interet a consulter la .plus grande variete de sources possible .
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the contribution of iconographic sources to the study of a traditional technology, maple sugar making, by comparing information from such sources with information from written sources . The eight iconographic and seven written sources chosen for the study date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries except for one from the early twentieth century . A number of these sources are of special interest in that they refer to or illustrate innovations in the traditional methods of maple sugar making . The comparison is
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Fig . 1 . Cornelius Kreighoff, Cabane a sucre au Canada . (Photo : Public Archives of Canada, neg . no . C-11041 .
This lithograph by Krieghoff appears to represent a family group employed in all the steps of maple sugar production . Sap runs from a long, undetailed spile into a wooden trough . A man or boy empties a trough into a wooden bucket while another man empties a bucket into a large wooden reservoir barrel located immediately outside the cabin . The cabin, portrayed as a three-sided, plank structure supported by a frame of poles, has a slightly sloped roof with a hole through which the smoke and steam escape . Inside the cabin a large kettle with a bail handle is suspended over the wood-burning fire . The handle is looped over a horizontal pole which in turn rests on the forked ends of two vertical poles, one of which is placed on either side of the fire . A man, possibly the father, is tending the contents of the kettle with a long-handled utensil while a woman, possibly the mother, is holding a bowl from which she appears to be extending, with her free hand, some of the bowl's contents . Outside the cabin are an axe and a few pieces of wood while to the left a child is in the process of transferring the contents of a wooden bucket into sugar moulds with a short-handled, wooden ladle . The bucket and four square wooden moulds, one of which is divided into four sections, rest on an improvised bench .
3
based on four steps in the maple sugar process : tapping the
tree, transporting the sap from the tree to the location of
boiling, boiling down the sap to syrup and sugar, and moulding
the sugar .
Icon ographic Sources
Of the numerous iconographic sources which depict the
traditional methods of maple sugar making, eight works were
chosen because they portrayed contemporary techniques and
equipment . Although several later artists such as Clarence Gagnon, Horatio Walker, and J . Edmond Massicotte also depicted the fabrication of maple sugar, their works were not included
because they tended to illustrate techniques which were no longer
contemporary but considered traditional at the time .
The earliest iconographic source to be described is Kreighoff's Cabane a Sucre au Canada (fig . 1) . Except for
uncertainty concerning the activity of the woman, who may be
testing the readiness of the sugar or simply illustrating its
consistency, the artist's rendition appears to be accurate .
Kreighoff has been criticized for being a townsman and thus not
intimately familiar with the subject of his works and for
incorporating European culture and articles into his paintings .l However, European prototypes of maple sugar equipment did not
exist to copy and Krieghoff's accurate depiction implies that he had a good knowledge of the process .
Six of the iconographic sources, all dating from the 1870s,
are from the Canadian Illustrated News and L'Opinion Publique , English and French editions of a journal printed by a Montreal publisher . 2 The artists working for these journals were illustrators employed to draw accurate renditions of newsworthy events before photography was commonly used . We can assume that in many cases the illustrator was at the site, as indicated in an article which accompanied figure 2 and stated that "our artist having occasion recently to be present at one of these sugar-making ;
5
in the bush at Ste . Genevieve took the opportunity of making a
few sketches which we reproduce . . . ." . 3 All of the illustrations
were full-paged, black and white etchings or engravings of the
artists' sketches . It seems likely that the illustrations were
published soon after being sketched as all of them appear in the
sugar-producing months or shortly afterwards .
Figure 3 is confusing in that it presents several possible
interpretations . First, the two kettles may be an attempt to
represent two steps in sugar production : the boiling down of the
sap over a fast fire and the boiling down of the syrup to sugar
over a slower fire . However, perhaps Edson was simply illustrating
the presence of two kettles which, in turn, revealed two types of
suspension or one suspension frame which was out of order . The
presence of the cabin with kettles placed in the open is also
confusing . Edson may have been attempting to illustrate the
replacement of old types of equipment with new, an interpretation
supported by the kettles' unused appearance and the presence of
Fig . 2 . Anonymous, "The Maple Sugar Season -- Manufacturing the Sugar in the Bush at Ste . Genevieve" in the Canadian Illustrated News (6 May 1871) . (Photo : Archives du CgLAT, Universite Laval, neg . no . D .C .8 C123 .)
The lower illustration shows a man tapping a tree with a brace-and-bit or auger . Sap is running from long spiles into troughs . One man is emptying a trough into a bucket while several other men are carrying buckets by hand towards the sugar cabin . The cabin is depicted as a crudely constructed structure of poles and planks which appears to be enclosed on all sides and to have a peaked roof . The upper scene portrays the interior of the cabin . A man is emptying a bucket into a wooden reservoir barrel which is located next to the door . Three medium-sized kettles hanging over an open fire are being tended by a man holding a long-handled utensil . The kettles are suspended by wooden brimbales hooked over a horizontal pole which rests on top of the cabin wall . Smoke and steam are escaping from the open area below the peaked roof . An axe rests against an unidentified stone structure next to the fire . A small scene in the upper right corner, entitled "Moulding the Sugar," depicts a man pouring syrup from a small kettle into a large, rectangular-shaped mould resting on the ground .
6
Fig . 3 . Allan Edson, "A Sugar Bush" in the Canadian Illustrated News (11 May 1872) . (Photo : Archives du CELAT, Universitd Laval, neg . no . D .C .8 C293 .)
In the centre of the scene a substantial, permanent sugar cabin and a smaller auxiliary building are illustrated . The cabin appears to be built of planks and has a steeply sloped, peaked roof which supports a built-up chimney or vent . Pails or buckets are suspended from some trees and in the background a man appears to be carrying two buckets by means of a yoke . Outside the cabin are two kettles, apparently not in use . One kettle is suspended from a three-sided pole frame, as in figure 1, while the other is suspended by a slanted pole resting on a tree stump . The means of suspension is indicated by a thin line which may represent a chain . Grouped in the same area are other buckets or pails, a trough, and an axe in a wood pile .
an unused trough . Again, he may have been trying to illustrate both the exterior of the cabin and the activities inside . Although
Edson's depictions of the equipment and the cabin appear to be correct, it is difficult to determine the techniques used because
of the ambiguity of the artist's rendering .
E . Haberer's depiction of the tapping process is also
confusing (fig . 4) . One tree has several small tubs or buckets
at its base . A small receptacle appears to be attached to the
tree over one of the tubs but this could also represent the end
of a larger receptacle placed at the base of the .other side of
the tree . A man at another tree is pouring sap from a small tub
into a larger tub or wooden bucket . There may be a spile
projecting from this tree but if a receptacle is present under it,
it is hidden from view . The artist's depiction of,the sugar cabin
is ambiguous . It is shown as a very crude pole and plank shelter
which is open at the roof and at least one side . Two kettles
appear to be sunken as only their handles are visible while the
means of their suspension is not evident . A wooden reservoir
barrel outside of the cabin is also slightly sunken . The confusion
in this illustration suggests that Haberer viewed and illustrated
a procedure which he did not entirely understand . This may explain
the poorly defined cabin as well as the proliferation of vessels
below a tree which has no definite evidence of spiles . However,
nothing is obviously inaccurate and the man-drawn sledge is very
clearly depicted .
Figure 5, like figure 3, offers several possible inter-
pretations . The presence of the kettle as well as the feu de
roche may be an attempt to illustrate the replacement of old
techniques by new . However, it may also illustrate two steps in
sugar fabrication, the boiling down of the sap to syrup by means
of the feu de roche and the boiling down of syrup to sugar in a
small kettle over a smaller fire . The last example from the
Canadian Illustrated News , by illustrator J . Weston (fig . 6), is
an attempt to portray all the steps in sugar production . Except
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Fig . 4 . E . Haberer, "Making Maple Sugar in Canada" in the Canadian Illustrated News (20 March 1875) . (Photo : Archives du C LAT, Universite Laval, neg . no . D .C .9 C67 .)
9
for the confusion presented by the vaguely portrayed trough,
this illustration clearly and accurately depicts the fabrication
of maple sugar . Henri Julien's illustration in the 31 May 1877
issue of L'Opinion Publique (fig . 7) is similar in style to
Weston's .
These illustrations indicate that in spite of problems with
interpretation iconographic sources contain much information on
all aspects of maple sugar production . Several sources indicate
that the tree was tapped using an axe or a brace-and-bit, while
figures 6and 7 provide good illustrations of the sloped gash .
Although spiles are often shown, their small size makes it
difficult for the artist to show details of shape or material .
Krieghoff (fig . 1) and the anonymous illustrator (fig . 2)
represent the spiles as long, thin lines while Weston (fig . 6)
sketches what may be long tongues of wood and Barraud (fig . 5)
depicts short, round-looking spiles . Julien, however, manages
to provide excellent illustrations of spiles in both his works :
thin, slightly hollowed tongues of wood in figure 7 and long,
wooden, trough-shaped spiles
hollowed wooden troughs used
illustrated and Weston (fig .
in figure 8 . The placement of
for collecting the sap is abundantly
6) shows details of their construction .
Figure 4 depicts the use of wooden tubs in place of troughs . The
first illustration to show a pail or bucket suspended from the
tree is Edson's (fig . 3) and he may have been trying to emphasize
the new method by also illustrating an unused trough . The sugar
camp depicted by Barraud (fig . 5) appears to be open to innovation,
as indicated by the feu de roche and the used of buckets, together
with short spiles, suspended from the tree . However, Julien
depicts the use of a trough in the twentieth century (fig . 8) .
In summary, although a brace-and-bit were used to tap the tree
by some sugar-makers, the hatchet was still common in 1880 .
Wooden tongues or trough-shaped spiles were also common but
shorter spiles seem to have
buckets . Troughs made from
the twentieth century while
in the early 1870s .
been used with suspended pails or
hollowed, split logs were used into
suspended,wooden buckets were used
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Fig . 5 . A .T . Barraud, "Maple Sugar Making" in the Canadian Illustrated News (26 April 1879) . (Photo : Archives u C LAT, Universite Laval, neg . no . D .C .9 C327 .
In the foreground a small, unsheltered kettle is suspended over a wood-burning fire by a short chain which is attached to a slanted pole resting on a short, Y-shaped, upright pole . In the centre ground is a feu de roche . The arch is made of stone while the chimney is of bricks with a cylindrical, metal flue . Resting on the arch, is a shallow evaporating pan as well as a square-shaped, sap-feeding container . The structure is protected by a crude plank roof . A man appears to be feeding a log into the end of the feu de roche from a small plank structure which apparently houses the firewood . Nearby a man is shown chopping wood . A wooden reservoir barrel is located next to the feu de roche . Also depicted in the illustration are short spiles and wide-bottomed wooden pails suspended from the trees .
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Fig . 6 . J . Weston, "Sketches in the Sugar Bush", in the Canadian Illustrated News (17 April 1880) . (Photo : Archives du C LAT, Universite Laval, neg . no . D .C .9 1231 .
"Manufacturing Troughs" (upper left) shows one man splitting logs while another, who is holding a small axe or hatchet, displays a completed trough . The presence of hollowed and unhollowed, cut and split logs further demonstrates the technique . In "Tapping Trees" (lower right) a man is using a mallet or hammer to strike what can assumed to be a spile into the base of a sloped gash in the side of a tree . An axe and a trough rest at the base of the tree . "Gathering Sap" (lower left) shows a long, undetailed spile projecting from a gashed tree and a man emptying a trough into a wooden, tub-like bucket . "Gathering Sap on Snow Shoes" (upper right) depicts a man on snowshoes transporting two barrel-shaped wooden buckets by means of a yoke . In the background a man is pouring the contents of a bucket into what appears to be a large, long trough . The central scene, "Boiling the Sap," illustrates a crude three-sided plank shelter . The top of the walls appear to be open and the vent on the sloped roof is built up . Within the shelter two large and one smaller kettle are hooked by brimbales to a horizontal pole which rests on two vertically placed forked poles . Outside the cabin are two wooden reservoir barrels, a man chopping wood, and possibly a reservoir trough .
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Methods of transporting the sap from the collecting receptacle to the boiling-down container are well illustrated and depict several techniques . The earliest and simplest method, emptying the trough into a wooden bucket and transporting it by hand to the reservoir barrel, is illustrated in figures 1 and 2 . Figures 3 and 6 imply that sap was transported in the same manner but with the aid of a yoke . Figure 4 depicts the transfer of the sap from a small collecting tub to a larger tub, to the upright barrel on the man-drawn sledge, and finally to the reservoir beside the shelter . Julien's 1877 illustration (fig . 7) shows the transfer of the sap from the trough to a wooden bucket, to a horse-drawn reservoir,and finally to the reservoir by the cabin, while his later work (fig . 8) depicts the same methods but with the additional use of the yoke .
The illustrations also provide details about the objects used foi transportation . The containers in figures 4 and 6 resemble wooden tubs more than buckets while figure 7 is the first to provide definite evidence of the use of a metal bucket . Figure 7 also portrays in detail the yoke and the special buckets used with it ; the barrel-shaped buckets in figure 4 may also be a special type . Although not numerous the examples of man- and horse-drawn sledges are clearly illustrated in some detail . A large wooden barrel, which is assumed to serve as a reservoir for collected sap, is shown in all sources except figure 3 . The use of a long trough-shaped reservoir is suggested in figure 6 .
The iconographic sources provide some evidence of an evolution in the means of transporting sap : hand-carried buckets, a yoke, man-drawn sledges with unstable, vertically-placed reservoirs, and finally a horse-drawn sledge with a horizontally-placed reservoir . Also, the sources reveal that metal buckets were used in 1877 but that wooden ones were still in use in the twentieth century . However, details about the objects are often lacking and illustrations such as figures 2 and 3 make it impossible to determine what the objects are made of . As well,
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it has been necessary to make several assumptions during the
interpretation of the procedures which may not be correct . For
example, the viewer cannot be certain that the large barrel so
frequently illustrated is a sap reservoir . Also, when several
modes of transportation are illustrated, the viewer can only
assume the order of their use or that no other unillustrated
steps were used as well .
The first item to be analyzed in the boiling-down process
is the sugar cabane . Most sources depict the boiling-down
procedure taking place inside or immediately outside the cabin
or shelter . The three-sided plank shelter appears to be a popular
variety and is shown by the earliest source as well as the latest
(figs . 1 and 8) . These crudely built shelters all appear
impermanent in nature . The one in figure 4 is similar in its
appearance of impermanence and its crudeness although-it is of
indeterminable shape and may be sunken . Figure 5 shows only a
roof protecting the feu de roche . The cabin in figure 2 is the
first enclosed, permanent-looking shelter illustrated though it
too is crudely constructed from upright planks and poles . Figure
3 is the only source in which the cabin is depicted as a permanent,
well constructed building . Figures 3 and 5 both illustrate
auxiliary buildings which probably were used to store wood .
The cabins and shelters were used to protect the fire, to
provide storage, and, as illustrated in figure 7, to house the
sugar-makers . All were constructed of planks and pole frames,
materials abundantly available in the sugar bush, and had means
to let the smoke and steam escape . Several styles are illustrated
although the simple, three-sided shelter appears most frequently .
The style of shelter constructed seems to have been dictated by
desire or need rather than date since a substantial cabin is
depicted in 1872 (fig . 3) while a three-sided shed is illustrated
in 1907 (fig . 8) . However, it should be noted that the three-
sided shelter as well as the roof in figure 4 allow the artist to
show the inside and the outside of the shelter at the same time
and it is possible that this would affect his choice of cabin style .
Fig . 7 . Henri Julien "Fabrication du sucre d'erable en Canada" in L'Opinion Publique (31 May 1877) . (Photo : Public Archives of Canada, neg . no . C-65854 .)
In one scene a man is tapping a tree with what appears to be an axe or hatchet held at a slant while another man holds the spile to be inserted in the gash . In another small scene a man empties a wooden trough into what appears to be a metal bucket while a child watches . A third scene depicts a man emptying the contents of a bucket into a hole in a horizontally-placed wooden reservoir barrel mounted on a horse-drawn sledge . In another two women are shown filling moulds ; one is pouring sugar from a large spoon into a rectangular-shaped, six-sectioned wooden mould . To the side is a small fire consisting of a Y-shaped, upright pole on which rests a slanted pole . From this hangs a hook but the kettle seems to have been removed from the fire and placed on the ground by the women . A man appears to be resting in a three-sided shelter depicted in the background . A wooden reservoir barrel and three kettles suspended over a stone-surrounded fire are portrayed outside the shelter . The major central scene illustrates the shelter and the fire in more detail . Outside the shelter two kettles are suspended by wooden brimbales to a three-sided frame of horizontal and vertical poles . The fire is surrounded by rocks . A man is depicted chopping wood . Hanging from or resting by the cabin walls are a rifle, powder horn, basket, bag, metal bucket, wooden trough, mould, and a long-handled skimmer with a perforated, disc-shaped head . At the bottom of the page are grouped various tools and articles : large metal kettle, metal pail or bucket, frying pan, six-sectioned wooden mould, long-handled skimmer which appears to be of metal, wooden testing spatula with a hole in its centre, hatchet or hammer, wooden trough, knife, large spoon, wooden spiles which are long and slightly hollowed-looking in shape, and provisions including eggs and bread .
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Fig . 8 . Henri Julien, "Le temps des sucres" (1907 ; Collection Jacques Simard) in Robert-Lionel Seguin, "Petite et grande histoire de la cabane a sucre," Vie des Arts 45 (hiver 1967), p .42 .
This is particularly interesting because it clearly shows a yoke used in transporting sap . The wooden buckets appear to have been specially constructed for use with a yoke since instead of bail handles they have wooden pegs to which the yoke can be securely hooked . Also well illustrated are long, trough-shaped wooden spiles, wooden collecting troughs, and a horse-drawn sledge carrying a horizontally-placed collecting barrel . Indistinctly displayed in the background are a shelter, a reservoir barrel, two kettles, and a man chopping wood .
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Variations are less frequent in illustrating the fire and
kettle . All the sources show large, footed or unfooted kettles
which vary from one to three in number . Figures 6 and 7 seem to
illustrate the use of several sizes of kettles at the same time .
There are two suspension systems . The first and most prevalent
consists of a frame made from two vertical Y-shaped poles on
which rests a horizontal pole . Figure 2 portrays a variation in
which the horizontal pole rests on top of the cabin wall . The
other system, shown in figures 5 and 7, consists of a kettle
attached to a slanted pole which rests on a short Y-shaped pole .
The fire used here seems to indicate, especially in figure 7, the
further boiling-down of syrup to sugar as a separate step . This
second step may also be indicated in figure 3 where a similar
two-sided frame is portrayed . Brimbales , usually wooden in
appearance, are the most frequently illustrated means of suspension although chains also appear to have been used . Krieghoff (fig . 1)
illustrates the awkward arrangement of suspending the handle of the bucket directly on the horizontal pole . The importance of
maintaining the fire is emphasized by the frequent presence of a
wood pile and axe or of a man chopping wood . The large rocks
surrounding the fire in figure 7 and the fact that it may be
sunken in figure 4 suggest various ways of protecting the fire . Finally, the feu de roche in figure 5 clearly indicates that by 1879 this system was well developed but may have been used in
conjunction with the open fire and kettle arrangement .
The only good representation of the tools used in the boiling-down process are found in Julien's 1877 illustration (fig . 7) which depicts in detail the long-handled metal utensil with a large, perforated, disc-shaped end probably used as a skimmer . He also illustrates a palette which has a hole in its centre for testing the readiness of the sugar . Julien is also the only artist to illustrate eggs which were sometimes used as a clarifying agent . Other illustrations indicate the use of a
long-handled utensil for stirring the contents of the kettle,
but usually the ends of these utensils are hidden from view as they are immersed in the kettles .
18
The iconographic sources offer general information and
some details on the boiling-down process . Information about
the sugar cabane has already been summarized . The feu de roche
was in use by 1879 but the use of a large kettle suspended over
an open fire continued into the twentieth century . The kettles
were most frequently suspended by using a three-sided pole frame
and wooden brimbale , objects which could be easily obtained in
the sugar bush . All of the illustrators indicate the importance
of the fire . Several of the illustrations imply that two steps
were involved in the boiling-down procedure, that of boiling sap
to syrup and, in a smaller kettle over a smaller fire, boiling
syrup to sugar . Except for the two shown in detail in figure 7, the tools used in the boiling-down procedure are not well illustrated, nor is it possible to determine the material and
volume of the kettles .
The moulding process is well illustrated in figures 1, 2, and 7 which all depict approximately the same process . In one
instance (fig . 1) a child fills the moulds while in another (fig . 7) it is the work of two women . This work is done on the ground or on an improvised bench . Figures 2 and 7 imply that the sugar is still in the kettle in which it was boiled down, while figure 1 shows the sugar in a wooden bucket . A wooden ladle and a spoon
are used in figure 1 ; in figure 2 the sugar is poured directly
from the kettle into the mould . Square- or rectangular-shaped moulds, sometimes sectioned into four or six parts, appear in
figures 1 and 7 . The large, rectangular-shaped mould in figure 2 appears to be of bark rather than wood . Two types of sugar are implied -- that which is liquid and poured into the moulds to form cakes and a granulated form which must be ladled into the
moulds .
19
Written Sources
Writings on the exploitation of maple sap are numerous
and date as early as the seventeenth century . 4 Of the seven
chosen for comparison with the iconographic sources, four are
excerpts from memoirs of visitors to Canada, two are memoirs
of North American inhabitants, and one is a journalist's report . 5
The earliest is the memoir which Peter Kalm, a Swedish professor
of natural history who visited Canada in 1749, presented to the
Royal Academy of Sweden . Another is the journal of an uniden-
tified French soldier, known as J .C .B ., who lived in North
America from 1751 to 1761 and who is noted for presenting the
view of an ordinary person . Also chosen were the memoirs of
Isaac Weld, an educated Irish traveller who visited Canada from
1775 to 1777 . A critical observer, Weld not only described maple
sugar fabrication but also suggested how it could be improved .
The fourth memoir, by Lieutenant W .O . Carlile and Colonel
Martindale, dates from the late nineteenth century . Accounts
written by North American inhabitants are by Elizabeth Therese
Baird on maple sugar production on the Detroit River and by
Nicolas-Gaspard Boisseau who lived from 1765 to 1842 . Boisseau's
memoirs provide information which is "presque exactement le
procdde en usage jusque dans les dernit~res annees du dix-neuvieme
siecle ."6 The last source is an unidentified Canadian reporter
who quoted extensively from Bouchette in a 1871 issue of the
Canadian Illustrated News .
The method of tapping tree is well described by almost all
the writers . Three refer to axe-produced gashes . J .C .B . states
that "on fait une entaille au bas, a la hauteur de trois pieds
environ en forme de talus ;"7 Carlile and Martindale mention a
"deep slit through the bark of the tree about two feet from the
ground," 8 while Boisseau states that "ils font avec leur hache
une entaille oblique de quatre pouces sur deux ."9 Weld states
that "piercing a hole with an auger in the side of the tree, of
one inch or an inch and a half in diameter, and two or three
20
inches in depth, obliquely upwards" 10 was the preferred method since the less mangled tree lasted longer . However, he adds that the most common method was to cut a gash with an axe since the sap flowed faster and the busy farmer could finish his sugar making in less time . The descriptions of Peter Kalm and the CIN reporter imply the use of a brace-and-bit or an auger instead of an axe . 11
The name and description of the spile vary . Kalm mentions the incision of an auget . J .C .B . describes it in more detail, mentioning the incision of "une lame de couteau ou un morceau de bois taille de la meme maniere,"12 while Boisseau refers to "un petit morceau de bois de huit pouces de long, sur un de large, qui est fait en faCon dalle (qu'ils appellent goudrilles )," 13
Weld describes the placement of a spout, apparently wooden, at the bottom of the cut . The CIN reporter refers to a "slender spigot" while Carlile and Martindale describe the more modern use of a "small, semicircular tin trough" although they add that small wooden spouts were still used in some sugar camps .
Unlike the spile, the sap-collecting receptacle is not well described . It is termed a " grand vase " by J .C .B ., a " chaudiere " by Kalm, and simply a "vessel" by Weld . References to the use of . a wooden trough are more frequent and precise . Weld suggests the . use of a "small wooden trough" and Boisseau provides a short description of its fabrication -- "ils font des auges de deux pieds de long, sur dix pouces de large ."
14 Carlile and Martindale
again mention the use of new modes of equipment : "In many sugaries small wooden spouts and 'dug-out' wooden troughs are used instead of the tin troughs and buckets ." 15 They also refer to "tin buckets and tubs" with "close-fitting covers ."
In summary, the written sources provide a good description of the tapping procedure . A drilled or augered hole was used as early as the late eighteenth century although axe cuts, often on a slant, were still made in the late nineteenth century . The approximate distance of the cut from the base of the tree and the
21
exact measurement of the size of the cut or the hold drilled are
indicated . Spiles were found in the form of a small trough, a
knife blade, or wooden slabs shaped like knife blades ; wooden
spiles are mentioned several times while the first reference to
metal spiles is in 1873 . The eighteenth century sources are
vague in their descriptions of sap-collecting receptacles and
imply the use of everyday vessels . The use of a wooden trough
is first mentioned in the late eighteenth century and it seems
to have been the most common receptacle used for the purpose
until the 1870s when reference is made to tin troughs or large
buckets .
Baird does not describe how the sap is transported and Kalm and Carlile and Martindale mention it only briefly . Boisseau
states that "sur les cinq heures apr6s-midi, ils charoyent 1'eau
dans des seaux, a leur cabane, et ce en raquette ."16 Weld
indicates that the common practice of transporting the sap by
hand hindered profitable sugar production and he suggests
improvements such as the use of wooden troughs, wooden tub
reservoirs scattered throughout the grove, and cleared avenues
through the trees which would allow the passage of carts carrying
a collecting vessel . Weld indirectly refers to the use of horses
in discussing the problem of carrying food into the woods ;
Boisseau, however, states the impossibility of using horses :
lice Cprovisions7 qu'ils transportent sur une petite traine a
leur cou, etant impossible d'y aller avec des chevaux ." Modern
collecting techniques are inferred by the CIN reporter who
mentions the use of tubes of bark or saplings to transport the
sap . The only direct reference to the use .of a reservoir for sap
storage is by Boisseau who states that "ils mettent cette eau
dans des cuves ou bariques ." To summarize, the written sources
indicate that transporting the sap was a problem,that it was
often carried by hand, and that snowshoes were sometimes needed .
Since maintaining horses was difficult and in some places
impossible, man-drawn sledges were sometimes used . However,
22
improvements were being considered in the late eighteenth century and by the 1870s it seems that piping or tubing systems were starting to appear .
The sources describe a variety of structures in which maple sugar making took place, including the use of one's home, crude temporary shelters, and large permanent cabins . They were constructed from materials readily available in the sugar bush and frequently had roof openings to allow for the escape of smoke and steam . Weld implies that families who made maple sugar some-times boiled it down in their homes while his suggestions for improvement involve the construction
boil down the sugar and the erection
workers . Boisseau briefly describes
"le haut au milieu est a jour de the steam and smoke . He implies
of "mere sheds" in which to
of a "few huts" to house the
a small, round cabin in which
deux pieds"17 for the escape of that it was about twenty feet in
area and, from the context, it is assumed to be temporary . Baird describes what seems to be a permanent cabin which houses the sugar making as well as the sugar makers and is constructed of poles and small trees enclosed with sheets of cedar bark . This cabin, approximately thirty feet by eighteen feet, has a large door at each end, platforms, an open, peaked roof, and a large, central fire-which extends to within six feet of the doors .
Carlile and Martindale refer to rough sheds made of branches, birch bark, and fir tops ; they also mention "log huts ."
The actual production of maple syrup and sugar is described in detail in the written sources . Weld, J .C .B ., the CIN reporter,
and Carlile and Martindale all basically state that the sap is boiled down until it becomes syrup . If a sugar loaf or cake is desired it is boiled longer and poured into a mould . If granulated sugar is desired the syrup is boiled even longer and constantly stirred .
According to Baird the boilingrdown of sap to syrup takes twenty-four hours and a brisk fire must be kept going at all times . Two women tend the process and their major concerns are to keep
23
the sap from boiling over and from burning ; the first is
accomplished by dipping a hemlock branch in the kettle and the
second by transferring the contents of each kettle to another
kettle when it is boiled down halfway . The syrup is stored in
barrels until it is time to make the sugar . It cannot be done
in one step because boiling sap to syrup requires a brisk fire
while boiling syrup to sugar requires a slow fire . For sugar
cakes three gallons of syrup are boiled down and poured into
moulds . For granulated sugar two gallons of syrup are cooked
and stirred for a longer time and then packed in a "mocock"
while warm . 18
first
point
until
Kalm describes two methods of boiling down the sap . The
is to boil the sap until it is difficult to stir at which
it is removed from the fire and stirred energetically
"il n'est pas tout a fait refr.oidi ."19 The sugar is then
put in moulds . The second method is similar to the one mentioned
by Baird and consists of boiling down the sap in several smaller
kettles and then transferring the contents to one large kettle .
When the sugar is boiled adequately it is removed from the fire
and stirred continuously, so that the contents will not burn or
stick, until it resembles "un sucre brun farineux ou mouscouade ."
However, if loaves or solid pieces are desired, the stirring is
stopped while the sugar is still in a liquid state and poured
into the moulds .
Boisseau provides similar instructions . A full kettle is
boiled until it is reduced to syrup . To keep it from boiling
over it is stirred continuously with a " spatule ou palette "
until it becomes sugar . It is then quickly carried from the
fire, placed in the snow, and stirred until it stops boiling .
It is then placed into moulds with a "gamele ou cueiller ."20
Weld is the only author to mention the addition of
clarifying agents, including lime, egg whites, and blood, to
the boiling syrup . He also states that the addition of milk or
egg whites is agreeable to the taste . Kalm, on the other hand,
24
states that the sugar "n'a pas besoin d'@tre melange 9 aucune autre substance pour epaissir . I1 provient uniquement de la seve de 1'erable et est entierement pur ."21 Carlile et Martindale suggest passing the sap through flannel strainers to produce a purer product .
Several methods for testing the readiness of the sugar are described . Kalm mentions observing the foam diminish or cooling a small amount of the boiling sugar, but adds that a person with experience knows with ease the moment when the sugar is done . Boisseau describes the use of a special spatule or palette which has a hole in its centre . When one blows on the hole, the syrup will form a dry ball if it is cooked sufficiently . Carlile and Martindale state that the sap is ready if it becomes crisp and hard when poured on the snow . Baird does not describe a technique but mentions that boiling down the sugar was difficult work and was always done under her grandmother's immediate supervision .
The utensils and containers used in the boiling down
process are described in some detail while two of the authors
note the method of suspending the kettle over the fire . According
to Baird,
At each corner of the fireplace were large posts, firmly planted in the ground and extending upwards about five feet or more . Large timbers were placed lengthwise on top of these posts, and across the timbers extended bars from which, by chains and hoops, were suspended large brass kettles, two on each bar . . .22
The CIN reporter indicates that a beam from which to suspend the
kettle was made by a "spar laid across between the 'crotches' of
two neighbouring trees ." Both methods are based on the same
principle although Baird refers to a permanent arrangement while
the reporter describes a temporary one .
Kalm refers to an iron or copper "chaudron " in various sizes as the vessel used .in boiling down the sap . J.C .B . mentions
25
" grandes chaudieres " and Boisseau states that a " grand chaudron
de 10 seaux " was transported into the woods . Baird writes of
the use of "four large brass kettles," the reporter describes
the use of a "potash kettle or other convenient utensil," and
Carlile and Martindale mention "large iron boilers ." Evidently
one or several large kettles of to boil down the sap. However, problems of interpretation . It "potash" kettle is of cast iron
copper, brass, or iron were used some of the descriptions present can only be assumed that a and that a "grande chaudiOre" is
a chaudron . Also, a boiler could be interpreted as either a
kettle or an evaporating pan .
Kalm refers to the use of a spoon for stirring and testing
the syrup . Baird states that the stirring was done with a long
paddle which looked like a "mush-stick" while Boisseau provides
a description of a " spatule ou palette de bois franc . . :qui est percee au milieu ."
23 He also mentions the use of a1 a
g mele -- a
pannikin or tin can -- or a spoon for transferring the sugar into
the moulds .
Moulds are described in all the sources . Kalm mentions the
use of "bols ou autres plats selon la forme desiree ."24 J .C .B .
states that the sugar was put in "des jattes de bois ofl elle se
durgit en forme de pain rond"25 while for sugar from the late
runs small, chocolate-like tablets were made . Although not
describing moulds directly, Weld states that the sugar was most
frequently seen in loaves or in thick, round cakes . The CIN
reporter describes wooden or birch bark vessels of various sizes
and adds that tin moulds were in general use . Boisseau and
Carlile and Martindale also refer to birch bark moulds of various
sizes . Boisseau adds that they were prepared by a boy and left
in the snow for about half an hour at which time the sugar forms
were removed and left to finish drying on nlanches aerees . Only
Baird refers to decorative wooden moulds : "for the sugar cakes
a board of basswood is prepared, about five or six inches wide,
with moulds gouged in, in the form of bears, diamonds, crosses, rabbits, turtles, spheres, etc ."26
26
Comparison of the Iconographic and Written Sources
Both iconographic and written sources provide abundant, though different, information on the techniques and tools used in the traditional methods of maple sugar fabrication . They indicate that the axe and the brace-and-bit or auger were both
used in tapping trees and that the axe continued to be used at least into the 1870s . However, the written sources give more detail -- the dimensions of the cut, the size, depth, and angle
of the drilled hole, and the distance of the cut from the base of the tree . The iconographic sources can provide only an
approximate idea of the size of the cuts or their distance from the base of the tree and information such as the upward slope of the drilled hole is impossible for them to depict . The writers
also provide more information on the shape, dimensions, and material of the spiles, since objects that small were difficult
to depict in detail, with the exception of Julien's close-up (fig . 7) .
Collecting troughs are well described in both sources with the written sources also giving dimensions and the number of troughs made . Less precise information is available about other
containers though the written sources imply that everyday vessels were used as sap-collecting receptacles earlier than troughs and Carlile and Martindale refer to covers and tin troughs and buckets . However, the illustrations do inform the viewer that these other containers were made of wood, were varied in style, and were sometimes suspended from the tree .
The important step of transporting sap from the tree to the boiling-down container is hardly mentioned by the writers, except for Weld and Boisseau, while it is a popular subject for
the artists who have illustrated several modes of transportation
in detail . The writers do not mention the use of a yoke and
even descriptions such as "petite traine a leur cou" or "ils
charoyent 1'eau dans des seaux . . .et ce en raquette" give no
information on the type of sledge or toboggan, .the type or
27
material of the seaux , or the style of the snowshoes . Even
Weld's account is largely a suggestion for improvement, not a
description of what he observed . Only the CIN reporter in
1871 mentions the use of piping or tubing, an innovation which
is not depicted in any of the illustrations, even those dating
after 1871 . Julien's 1877 illustration (fig . 7) is the only
source to indicate the use of metal pails or buckets for
transporting sap .
The presence of a wooden barrel close to the fire is
illustrated by all but one of the artists and is almost ignored
by the writers . However, the viewer can only assume that this
illustrated barrel was a sap reservoir ; it might also have been
used for storing syrup, as mentioned by Baird .
Two authors give detailed descriptions of the sugar cabin --
the shape, dimensions, and materials used, the presence of a roof
vent, and the interior arrangement . Reference to the use of the
sugar maker's home is also found in the written sources . However,
the variations in shape and size of the cabin and the methods,
materials, and general crudeness of construction are more clearly
indicated by the iconographic sources even though they are not
well drawn in many cases . The same is apparent in comparing the
means of suspending the kettle . Baird and the CIN reporter
provide excellent descriptions of the procedure, yet the
illustrations provide the same information more accurately and
with much less possibility of confusion .
The iconographic sources clearly depict large, footed and
unfooted kettles~but do not indicate either their material or
volume . The written sources are more specific in these details
but tend to be ambiguous when terms such as "potash" or "boiler"
are used .
Although the writers mention a "slow," "brisk," or " bon "
fire, they seem to take the fire for granted . The artists not
only depict the fire, including the use of the feu de roche , but
also emphasize its importance by illustrating a wood pile or a
man chopping wood .
28
The procedures followed in boiling down maple sap to syrup
and sugar are much .better described in the written sources . Boisseau, Kalm, and Baird in particular provide information on the length of the process, precautions taken to avoid boiling over or burning, ways of testing the readiness of the sugar, the production of two kinds of sugar, and various other procedures . The use of clarifying agents is also discussed .
In comparison most of the iconographic sources simply
portray one or more kettles being tended with a long-handled
utensil . Additional information must be inferred and is open
to interpretation . For.example, the suspension of more than one
kettle over the fire, especially when they are of different sizes
as in figure 6, may indicate the process of emptying partially
boiled-down kettles into other kettles, as described by Baird and
Kalm . On the other hand, the artist may simply be illustrating the presence of several kettles over the fire . As another example, figure 5 and possibly figure 3 may indicate the practice of boiling
down the sap to sugar in two stages, requiring two fires, as described by Baird . However, the presence of two fires in figure 3 and the portrayal of both a feu de roche and a kettle in figure 5 could also have other interpretations (see pages 5, 7) . Julien more definitely indicates the use of a fast and a slow fire in his illustration of moulding (fig . 7), but the eggs shown in the same work could be interpreted either as a clarifying agent or as provisions for the sugar makers .
Most of the information available on tools used in the boiling-down process is provided in Julien's 1877 close-up (fig . 7) . Many writers adequately describe the tools but Boisseau's reference to a " spatule ou palette de bois franc . . .percee au
milieu . . ." is not as informative as Julien's illustration of the
same thing . However, Julien has not informed the viewer how and for what purpose the tool is used . Problems of interpretation are
again present in Baird's description of a "long handled paddle
which looks like a mush-stick ." Without knowing what a mush- stick looks like the description is of little value .
29
Interestingly, both types of sources indicate that moulding
the sugar required little experience since Boisseau mentions that
a young boy prepared the moulds while Krieghoff illustrates a
young child filling the moulds . Both sources also indicate that
the sugar could be poured or spooned into the moulds . The methods
shown in the illustrations suggest two kinds of maple sugar --
loaf sugar which could be poured and dry, granulated sugar which
had to be placed in the moulds with a utensil . Written sources
describe different kinds of moulds including bowls, birch bark
vessels of various sizes, basswood boards with gouged-out shapes,
and tin moulds . The iconographic sources do not indicate the
same variety but do provide details of a sectioned wooden mould .
Both iconographic and written sources indicate that new
modes of fabrication were being introduced long before the end of
the nineteenth century and that sugar producers were at least
thinking of improvements in the late eighteenth century .
The artists illustrate the use of the feu de roche and of
metal pails or buckets while the writers mention tubing and
piping, tin moulds and troughs, covered containers, and the use
of felt to strain the syrup . Since innovations are shown or
mentioned in conjunction with traditional methods and traditional
methods continue to be described long after references to
innovations, it is evident that the traditional and the new
were used simultaneously and that the adoption of new methods
was gradual and inconsistent .
Neither source provides detailed information on the type
of sugar camp represented and the personnel involved in sugar
making . Figure 1 seems to illustrate a family group while figure
7 may be suggesting it by the presence of women and a child .
Weld refers to families who were involved in sugar production .
Baird implies the presence of a family group augmented by many
of the local inhabitants but also adds that three men and two
women were employed to do the work . Baird describes a five-mile
journey to a permanent sugar camp while Boisseau refers to an
30
impermanent camp some distance in the forest . The illustrations suggest both permanent and impermanent sugar camps and the presence of a man-drawn sledge may indicate the camp's inaccessibility . However, little else can be extracted from the iconographic sources on the type and location of the camps represented .
Evaluation of Sources
Iconographic sources have several important limitations
which hinder their usefulness in studying a traditional techno-logy . A major hindrance is the artistic rendition itself . No matter what the medium, the depiction of details or the repre-sentation of texture or material is difficult . The problem is reinforced if engravings have been made from the sketches as is the case in the illustrated news .journals . Distortion is increased even more if the researcher is working from a reproduction of the original, especially if it is a black and white reproduction of a coloured original or if the original has been reduced in size in the reproduction . Artistic liberties, such as exaggeration of size, affect the information presented . For example, the observer cannot be sure if the three-sided shelter was a very common style or if the artists preferred it in order to portray
simultaneously both the inside and the outside of the cabin .
Another limitation is the inability to illustrate small objects or details and objects which are not entirely visible . For example, the viewer is not informed of the shapes of utensils shown dipped in the kettles . Nor is it possible for the sources to indicate that the hole drilled in the tree slants upwards .
The iconographic sources are limited in the information they can provide on volume and exact measurements and dimensions . Only relative or comparative information is available on size and
distances and this is affected greatly by the artist's technique
and use of perspective . Also, it is possible that an artist may increase the size of a small object to aid in its depiction . Such distortion may be evident in some of the illustrations of spiles .
31
Another obvious shortcoming is the difficulty of depicting
types of material . The presence of wood is often successfully
shown but it is not possible to indicate the type of wood used .
In the same manner metal can be successfully illustrated, as in
figure 7, but a specific type of metal is not possible to
represent, at least not in a black and white illustration . In
many cases, however, it is not even possible to determine whether
an object is made of wood or metal .
The major limitation of iconographic sources is in inter-
preting the objects and procedures illustrated . This problem is
very apparent in the various interpretations which can be made
from figures 3 and 5 . Further, to interpret correctly the various
steps and procedures portrayed the researcher must have previous
knowledge of maple sugar fabrication . For example, even though
figure 7 carefully illustrates a palette with a hole in it, its
function cannot be properly interpreted unless it is known from other sources that it was used to test the readiness of the syrup .
It is of interest that the short titles used in figure 6 aid in
proper interpretation .
However, the iconographic sources also have advantages for the researcher . Most important is the information they contain
on shape, style, method of construction, and arrangement and
relation of parts of an object, details which can be described
in written sources only with difficulty . The use of artistic
devices such as close-ups also assist the viewer . Finally,
iconographic sources do provide evidence about the procedures
and techniques involved in a traditional technology although
intelligent interpretation is necessary to extract the information .
Written source :t also have a number of limitations . Even a
very detailed written description of an object cannot indicate
its exact style and shape and may even confuse the reader . This is apparent to some extent in the descriptions of the cabin or
of the means of suspending the kettle . Writers also tend to
forget to mention the obvious or everyday, a very serious limitation
32
in understanding a traditional technology . For example, the importance of transporting the sap or maintaining the fire is , almost ignored in the written sources . Although the written sources are capable of providing exact dimensions or measure-ments, or information on the type of material used, more often than not the writer does not include these useful details . The interpretation of very general words such as "vessel" or "utensil," or of very specific but uncommon words such as "mocock" or "mush-stick" is another problem .
On the. other hand, written sources provide time and
duration . We are informed by two precise, though contradictory
statements that it takes twenty-four hours for the sap to boil
down to syrup and that "il faut deux bonnes heures de cuisson
pour la former en sirop et deux autres heures pour le sucre . . . ."27
The sources indicate when the sap season occurs as well as very specific~times such as the transportation of the sap to the place of boiling at five o'clock .
The written sources are also able to describe processes
which are difficult if not impossible for the iconographic sources
to depict and to describe them in proper order . For example,
Boisseau informs the reader that the cabin is built first, then
the troughs are made, and when conditions are right the trees
are tapped .
Cause and function are also more evident in written material
which, for example, may not describe the man-drawn sledge in
detail but can inform the reader why it was used . Similarly the
writers explain why the axe continued to be used even though the
auger or brace-and-bit was less harmful or why it was necessary
to stir the sugar constantly . The urgency of the process, the
need for care and cleanliness, the necessity of hard work, and
the proper weather conditions are also described in written sources as are other aspects of maple sugaring such as the uses and marketing of the final product .
33
The sources chosen for this study may not always have
depicted or described the subject clearly, but nothing appears
to have been intentionally distorted . It should be emphasized
that a more random selection of sources could have lowered the
overall quality of the content and thus greatly altered the
final evaluation . Only sources which were judged to be fairly
accurate and detailed were considered in the initial selection
while a number of others of dubious value were discarded . In
many respects both iconographic and written sources are equally
helpful to the researcher studying a traditional technology,
the degree of usefulness depending not on the type of source
but on the ability of the individual artist or author .
It is apparent that iconographic sources can include large
amounts of detailed and accurate information on the tools and
techniques of a traditional technology . Although written sources
can describe many more aspects of a technology and can more easily
provide information on procedures, iconographic sources are more
useful in describing the objects used . It is also apparent that
when studying a traditional technology the researcher should use
as many types of sources as possible since each has its weaknessess
as well as its advantages .
NOTES
1 . Raymond Vezina, Cornelius Kreighoff (Ottawa : tditions du Pe1ican, 1972), pp-185, 188 .
2 . Marius Barbeau, Henri Julien (Toronto : Ryerson Press, 1941), p .39 .
3 . Canadian Illustrated News, 6 May 1871 .
4 . Benjamin Sulte, Melanges Historiques (Montreal : G . Ducharme, 1921), p .38 .
34
5. Pierre Kalm, Memoire adresse A 1'Academie Royale de Suede . Cited in Joseph-No8l Fauteux, Essai sur 1'Industrie au Canada sous le regime frangais . , vol . 2 (Quebec : Proulx, 1927) ;
J .C .B ., Voy age au Canada dans les Nord de L'Ameri ue Septentrionale fait depuis L'An 1751 1761 (Quebec : Leger Brousseau, 1887) ;
Isaac Weld, Travels through the States of North America, and the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada during the years 1795, 1796 and 1797, vol . 1 (1807 ; reprint New York : Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1968) ;
Lieut. W.O . Carlile and Col . Martindale, Recollections of Canada (London : Chapman and Hall, 1873) ;
Elizabeth Therese Baird, Reminiscences of Early Days on Mackinac Island, 1802 . Cited in Marius Barbeau, "Maple Sugar : Its Native Origin," Royal Society of Canada Transactions , 3d ser ., vol . 40, section 11 (1946), pp .83-86 ;
Nicolas-Gaspard Boisseau, Memoires de Nicolas-Gaspard Boisseau (Levis : n .p ., 1907 ) ;
Canadian Illustrated News (hereafter CIi1 ), 6 May 1871 . (The work cited may have been Joseph Bouchette, A Topographical Dictionary of the Provinces of Lower Canada [London : Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman, 18327 .)
6 . Fauteux, Essai , p .400 .
7 . J .C .B ., Voyage , p .150 .
8 . Carlile and Martindale, Recollections , p .45 .
9 . Boisseau, Memoires , p .82 .
10 . Weld, Travels , p .381 .
11 . Fauteux, Essai , p.258 ; CIN , 6 May 1871 .
12 . J.C .B ., Voyage , p.150 .
13 . Boisseau, Memoires , p .82 .
14 . Ibid .
15 . Carlile and Martindale, Recollections, p .45 .
16 . Boisseau, Memoires , p .82 .
17 . Ibid .
35
18 . Barbeau, "Maple Sugar," pp .84-85 .
19 . Fauteux, Essai , pp .397-400 .
20 . Boisseau, Memoires , pp .81-83 .
21 . Fauteux, Essai , p .398 .
22 . Barbeau, "Maple Sugar," p .84 .
23 . Boisseau, Memoires , p .82 .
24 . Fauteux, Essai , p .400 .
25 . J .C .B ., Voyage , p .100 .
26 . Barbeau, "Maple Sugar," p .85 .
27 . Boisseau, Memoires, p .82 .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
In addition to the sources mentioned in the notes and captions, the following works were also consulted :
Barbeau, Marius . Painters of Quebec . Toronto : Ryerson Press, 1945 .
Brissot de Warville, J .P . New Travels in the United States of America 1788 . Translated by M . Soceanu Vamos and D . Ec everri.a . Cambridge, Mass . : Harvard University Press, 1964 .
Chateaubriand, Franrois-Rene de . Travels in America, 1791 . Translated by R . Switzer . Lexington, Ky . : University of Kentucky Press, 1969 .
Dupont, Jean-Claude . Le Sucre du Pays . Montreal : tditions Lemeac, 1975 .
Fellows, Myrtie . Maple-Sugaring, The Way We Do It . Brattleboro, Vt. : Stephen Greene Press, 1972 .
Seguin, Robert-Lionel . La Civilisation Traditionnelle de L'"Habitant" aux XVII et XVIII si cles . Montreal : Fides, 1967 .
36
Seguin, Robert-Lionel . Les Moules du Quebec . Musee National du Canada, Bulletin no . 188 . Ottawa : 1963 .
"Petite et Grande Histoire de la Cabane a Sucre ." Vie des Arts 45 (hiver 1967), pp .40-45 .
Snell, J .F . Maple Sap Products and the Canadian Standards . London : Vacher and Sons, Ltd ., 1914 .
Spencer, J .B . L'Industrie du Sucre D'trable au Canada . Ottawa : Ministere Federal de 1'Agriculture, 1913 . .
Vaillancourt, C . Nos trablieres . Quebec : Ministere de 1'Agriculture, 1927 .
37
REVIEWS - COMPTES RENDUS
Spinning Wheels, Spinners and Spinning . Patricia Baines . London, B.T . Batsford, 1977 . 252p ., illus . ISBN 0-7134-0821-9 . Z7 .50 Reviewed by Judy Keenlyside .
One's immediate impression upon reading through a book
such as this is one of pleasure -- the pleasure of digestion,
of chewing through the depth and breadth of details, ideas, and
descriptions . Upon reaching the final page the lasting
impression is one of immeasurable respect for the hours of
research and writing which the author must have devoted to this
work . This scholarly treatise uses every possible source in
assembling data on spinning, spinning wheels, and spinners in
Europe since the advent there of the wheel-driven spindle :
first-hand inspection of the artifacts of spinning ; early
paintings, drawings, and engravings of spinning, spinners, and
their effects ; original or primary documents on spinning and
textile concerns ; early records and comparative descriptions of
the conditions, methods, preferences, organization, and results
of spinning in various regions of Europe ; previous studies of
wheels and spinning ; folklore, oral traditions, and linguistic
evidence ; and the author's own practical knowledge of spinning .
The information which Patricia Baines can extract from
an illustration is a lesson for everyone . A woman pictured at
a spinning wheel becomes a mine of data for the author who
examines not only the wheel, its orientation, height, setting,
and accessories but also the arrangement, appearance, and
location of the unspun fibre, the spinster, her clothes, her
chair, her position, the way she holds her arms, turns her body,
and uses her hands and feet . Baines's talent for pulling
together such a variety of data from illustrations reflects the
strongest feature of her study -- her ability to observe and
38
reconstruct a composite of artifact, fibre, and spinning
technique when attempting to establish a temporal, regional,
or situational framework . Throughout the book there is a
continuing and implicit assumption that the artifact -- the
spinning wheel -- is merely a material manifestation of the
process of hand spinning on a wheel . As a machine the spinning
wheel was and is part of a complex of tools ; it has an operator
the spinner, a manufacturer -- the spinning wheel maker, some-
thing to operate on -- the fibre, and something to produce --
the final yarn . This yarn is produced under domestic or
industrial conditions and, being a primary product, has a final
destiny which involves secondary (domestic or industrial)
manufacture such as knitting, weaving, netting, lacemaking, etc .
All these considerations are incorporated in the book . As
Baines states in the preface :
In writing this book I have attempted to give some indication of the evolution of the spinning wheel, some of the differences in its design, something of the people who used them, and some of the techniques that have been used . The history of the spinning wheel is closely linked to the various textile industries in which its efficiency as a work tool was of first importance . However, it has been no less valuable in domestic life, and both spheres have contributed to its evolution, the two often interdependent .
By virtue of the book's theme, cross-referencing,and
careful use of myriad sources the author has attempted to portray
the spinning wheel in context . In tracing the origins of European
spinning wheels, the author emphasizes the evolution of a
process . How a wheel was used, for what purposes, and by whom
are details recognized as having a history of regional and
cultural variation as great and as important as the wheel itself .
Quite apart from the basic thrust of the study, Baines
must also be complimented on her finely honed abilities in
morphological description, always a problem area for anyone
39
writing in material history . The clarity and precision of the
author's descriptions of the shapes, parts, composition, and
appearance of individual (and usually unique) spinning wheels,
distaffs, or what-have-you, are beyond criticism . At several
points the written description precedes an accompanying
illustration ; each time I was astonished to find that the image
conjured up in my mind by Baines's careful prose matched almost
exactly the black and white image on the following page .
In the event that this book may be gaining a reputation
for perfection, it is necessary to note some errors . On pages
130 and 131 two plates are mislabelled ; figure 50 actually
refers to the photograph on page 130 and figure 49 to the photo
in the upper, left-hand corner of page 131 . Also, alas, there
is a typesetting error in which line 10 should be line 13, 11
should be 14, 12 should be 15, 13 should be 10, 14 should be 11,
and 15 should be 12 . These particular lines focus on a doubled
band drive flyer wheel and its mechanism for drawing in the
twisted yarn . The point is made that the greater the difference
in circumference between the bobbin and spindle whorls, the
greater the strength of draw-in . Though the author uses the
term ratio in this context she relies on absolute figures in her
examples, stating, for instance, that a difference of 1 .3
centimetres would give a slow draw-in whereas a difference of
7 .5 centimetres would give a strong draw-in . It would have been
more accurate and more meaningful to have expressed this
difference in relative terms and emphasized the two speeds
(i .e ., circumferences) as a ratio . .
One point of organization which I question is the inclusion
of the Picardie wheel as one of five principal types of flyer
spinning wheels . Essentially Baines's typology is based on a
combination of two traits : first, the wheel's arrangement of
essential parts (wheel and flyer mechanism), of which there are
basically two forms -- a vertical or a horizontal orientation,
and secondly the construction of the frame (legs, supports, and
other parts exclusive of wheel and flyer mechanism), of which
40
there are also basically two forms -- a frame or a stock (base) construction . These traits combine to give four main categories : horizontal spinning wheel with stock, horizontal spinning wheel with frame, vertical spinning wheel with base, and vertical spinning wheel with frame . Since these four were not formulated with data derived from the flyer mechanism itself, the categories could be equally well applied to spindle wheels* (which lack
flyers) or even to bobbin winders or other non-spinning, wheel-driven machines . The three different types of flyer drive (outlined earlier in the book), along with other details of the wheel such as tensioning and treadling, are referred to within the confines of these four main categories . Only the Picardie wheel is isolated for special treatment . Actually it is a horizontal spinning wheel with stock and one expects to find it discussed in this category . In addition, the mechanics of its flyer drive falls within Baines's three-point classification system . (The Picardie has bobbin drag ; the other two drives are flyer drag and doubled band drive .) The only point of departure from other flyer wheels is that the Picardie wheel does not incorporate the flyer mechanism between the two maidens (spindle supports) but outside them . However, one expects this singular and interesting characteristic to be discussed as an important feature of a wheel that otherwise fits into the author's classification system . The creation of a special, fifth category
for the Picardie wheel strains an otherwise workable and inspired system .
The final chapter of the book -- a how-to-spin section --is followed by appendices on sheep breeds and on choosing and sorting wool . This section might be considered by some readers as a separate theme and indeed these last forty-six pages could well stand on their own .
In sum, the student of spinning and spinning wheel history is treated to a book crammed cover to cover with well-documented
* This, however, is not done in Baines's study .
41
and well-organized detail . Those wishing to make instant
diagnoses of specific wheels may be disappointed at the
organization of the detail, but such is obviously not the goal of the publication . While any attempt to reduce or abbreviate the information in this study would be almost sacrilegious,
a sampling of pertinent information includes the following
points . We learn, among much else, that the earliest known
representation of a spinning wheel is a hand-turned, rimless
wheel from China dating from 1270, and that rimless spindle
wheels, common also to India, are not unknown in Europe,
specimens being noted from such places as Greece, Bulgaria,
Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Scandinavia .
Hoop rim spindle wheels on legs have been recorded pictorially
from the early 1300s in Germany and England . Hand-turned flyer
wheels have been known from at least 1480 (doubled band drive
type) in Germany, while Dutch and Flemish examples of the bobbin
drag Picardie wheel are depicted as early as 1513 . The author
finds no direct evidence for the addition of a treadle to the
spinning wheel prior to the seventeenth century and notes that
the earliest known treadle flyer wheel, dating from 1604, is a
vertical frame type . She thinks spindle wheels may have arrived
in Europe associated with spinning cotton and silk but were very
soon adapted for wool . Flyer wheels appear to have been used
for wool and flax equally . (Early illustrations leave no doubt
that wool is being used though in some countries flax came to
be more closely associated with flyer wheels .) The author makes
the interesting speculation that self-winding flyer and bobbin
mechanisms -- particularly the flyer drag system -- may have
been influenced by Italian silk-throwing machines which employed
similar principles at a very early date . In spite of the long
history of wheels in Europe the author believes that "the
majority of spinning wheels still in existence date from not
earlier than the second half of the eighteenth century and
mostly from the nineteenth century ."
42
The association
methods with specific
to Canadian trying to
spinning technologies
of Baines's study and
of certain wheel types and spinning areas of Europe is of particular interest trace the evolution and diffusion of in this country . The scope and methodology the scrutiny and integration of the
artifactual as well as the documentary material make this worthwhile example for any curator or student of material history .
a
Now You're Logging . Bus Griffiths . Madeira Park, B .C ., Harbour Publishing, 1978 . 124p ., illus . Cloth ISBN 0-920080-40-5, $15 .95 . Paper ISBN 0-920080-38-3, $10 .95 . Reviewed by Robert Griffin .
Recently a number of books and papers have been published on British Columbia's forest industry . Most of these efforts are mediocre and of little value to the serious researcher studying British Columbia's forest history . Now You're Logging is an exception, an enjoyable story of the past glory of truck logging when all a logger needed to dream about was cutting a "forest full of trees ." Bus Griffiths was a logger who loved working in the woods ; it was a work he learned and remembers cell . His delightful drawings portray not some strange imaginative tale but rather a part of the life he and his friends lived during the 1930s . The story, initially written in the 1940s as a comic book, is based on a high rigger Griffiths knew . This man possessed the qualities of daring and adventure personified in the book's two central characters, A1 Richards and Art Donnegan .
The story opens with Al and his friend Red starting work at a logging operation where Al is trained in the mysteries of logging . Following a shutdown, caused by the injury of two bosses, A1 and Red go on a fishing trip during which Al not only finds his
43
"dream-girl" but also the timber upon which to build his future . The researcher will find this aspect of the story frustrating as much of the text is spent on inconsequential dialogue at the
expense of solid, logging facts . The story suffers because of
its two-part purpose . The author has attempted to write an
interesting adventure-love story, while at the same time provide
the reader with a view of logging practice during the 1930s and
early 1940s . As might be expected, he is not entirely successful .
The logging story, partly as a result of the romantic story, is
somewhat disjointed ; necessary information occasionally .comes
after the page upon which it is first required, a-case in point
being that falling and bucking are described near the end of the
story when it is the first job undertaken by the logging crew .
The most significant aspects of the book are the explanations
of logging technology and the accompanying illustrations . If one
wants to understand how to top a spar tree this is the book to
examine . Written descriptions are frequently comprehensible only
to the initiated but illustrations such as Griffiths provides
make the explanation clear and simple . It is unfortunate that
space and story did not permit detailed descriptions, similar to
those on topping a spar tree, falling and bucking, and the duties
of the whistle punk, for all aspects of logging . It is necessary
to examine the story and each related illustration closely in
order to make the whole panorama of a 1930s truck-logging show
come clear . Griffiths has filled each panel with splendid detail,
from the caulk boots, to Molly Hogans (the logger's cotter pin),
to shattered trees and other debris . Thus the text and illustra-
tions together portray many facets of logging, including such
procedures as rigging a spar (though even here certain points,
such as the reason for tree shoes, are left to the reader's
imagination), setting chokers, and moving donkeys . Many other
aspects, however, must be detected solely in the illustrations
without the aid of text : the necessity of falling and bucking
well in advance of the yarding crews ; the frequent use, during
the 1930s, of steam yarder and gasloader combinations ; the
44
difficulties of road construction ; and the neatly piled loads
of logs carried by the trucks to the dumps (unfortunately we do not see the dump) . The detail in the illustrations is so exceptional that each panel should be examined several times .
One very regrettable element is the almost total neglect
given to the social life of a logger . We are only allowed one
brief glimpse of the cookhouse and a vague reference to town but
are told nothing of the frequent bouts of rough fun or the hard living conditions . The men present a tough joviality but it is
only seen at work . Even the several scenes in which we see A1 Richards relaxing always take place at his girl friend's isolated camp and not at the logging camp .
A very necessary part of the book are the concise definitions
which Griffiths supplies for the many logging terms used . However,
these must be approached with caution as there is no differentia-
tion between terms such as "skidroad," which originated in the
industry, and terms such as "donkey engine" and "bulldozer" which
originated outside the industry and were sometimes more commonly
used in other economic spheres . Nor can the terms he uses be
accepted as final . "Bunch it," meaning to quit, is only one of
several such expressions ; "pull the pin," "catch the boat," "mix
it up" all had the same meaning as "bunch it" and were in equally
common usage .
Such cautions are of relatively small concern when weighed
against the total worth of the book and are meant more for the
researcher than the general reader . The story is not a complete
portrayal of logging but many aspects are covered and, perhaps
more importantly, Griffiths creates the atmosphere and feeling
of the times . The bulk of the logs hauled to the coast during
the 1930s was moved by the big railroad outfits such as Bloedel,
Stewart and Welch Ltd . ; in this book, however, we witness the
struggles of a small operation using the early gas technology
which, following development in the 1920s, revolutionized
British Columbia logging .
45
An Introduction to Canadian Archaeology . David L . Newlands and Claus Breede . Toronto, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1976 . 151p ., illus . ISBN 0-07-082339-1 . $8 .95 . Reviewed by Dianne Newell .
An Introduction stems from Newlands's and Breede's concern
for the practice and teaching of historical archaeology in Canada .
It is a primer of sports, a Canadian layman's manual on certain
aspects of belowground historical archaeology similar in scope
to Ivor Nodl Hume's 1969 classic, Historical Archaeology .
The book's success as an introductory text depends on what
level we examine it . As a widely distributed handbook on Canadian
archaeology it is, of course, unique . In terms of its design and
presentation it is exemplary . When it comes to a question of
substance, however, this book has a number of problems . An
Introduction is supposed to be a guide for those breaking into
the field and as such the authors can mislead readers as much by
what they leave out as by what they put in . This book excludes
any discussion of why archaeology is valuable, why artifacts and
their spatial context are worth recording in the first place, and
also excludes all reference to current thinking in the field .
This failure to discuss archaeology as a discipline somewhat
limits its potential as an introductory text or work of reference .
Some archaeologists will be critical of the "how to" aspect
of this book because only a single excavation technique is
described . Whether that technique is widely .accepted within the
profession or not is a matter for archaeologists to debate, but
an introduction to a discipline should at the very least outline
the range of techniques available to its practitioners . If such
a list on .the real world of archaeology had been included it
would reflect the growing concern among archaeologists about a
basic fact of excavation -- that it effectively destroys the
site excavated and hence an essential aspect of the archaeological
record . Recognition of the destructive aspect of excavation has
led in the past decade to considerable rethinking about what,
,
46
when, and how to dig . Indeed, some of the work of North American
archaeologists is devoted to identifying and preserving archaeolo-
gical sites as cultural and historical resources, excavating them
only as a last resort . Often excavation undertaken as a last
resort falls into the category of salvage archaeology, where
front-end loaders are more practical than the toothbrushes
required by more tranditional procedures . Newlands and Breede
could also mention the research potential of standing, or above-ground, remains to archaeological inquiry . As a final note on
significant omissions in this book, Canadian historic sites
archaeologists will be justifiably surprised by its exclusive
reference to museum-related archaeology . Specifically, it over-
looks the extensive archaeological projects and important
publication series, Canadian Historic Sites : Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History, sponsored by Parks Canada .
The book's real strength lies in the thought and details poured into those chapters which precede and follow the ones on field work and excavation, for it is in them that Newlands and Breede surpass the routine contributions of Canadian historio-graphy . The information on historical sources and on the preparation of illustrations and reports is commendably generous
and detailed . Where else does a material culture researcher or
a local historian, let alone an archaeologist, learn of the
background to land records in Canada or what nineteenth-century mercantile reference books are all about . Even here, though,
I qualify my praise : the authors do not go far enough . For one thing, they are remarkably uncritical in their presentation .
They do not discuss the built-in biases and limitations in any
type of historical evidence, including artifacts . For another,
the importance of historical sources to archaeological research
will change with the questions being posed . Newlands and Breede
mention (p .7) the value of asking questions of a site . Examples
of the sorts of questions archaeologists raise and the historical
sources appropriate for answering them would have been welcomed .
47
An Introduction is enterprising -- in that it was under-
taken in Canada at all -- and intellectually promising . It also is timid and unfinished . We need a revised and somewhat expanded version of this book, one that brings us up-to-date with the
field and one that is willing to discuss the full potential of archaeology -- below, on, and above the ground -- for advancing our understanding of what happened to people in the past .
Western Canadian History : Museum Interpretations . D .R . Richeson, ed . Ottawa, National Museums of Canada, 1979 . National Museum of Man Mercury Series, History Division Paper No . 27 . 158p ., illus . ISSN 0316-1900 . Reviewed by Alan F .J . Artibise .
It is a fond assumption of academic historians that the
public read their books . It is not a very accurate one . Best-
sellers in the field of scholarly publishing are volumes that
sell in the neighbourhood of 5,000 copies . Since one of the major
goals of historians is to interpret and present a society's past
to all its citizens, concerned practitioners of the craft of history must look to other means to get their messages to the
general public . There are many ways that this goal can be
achieved . Some historians are frequent public speakers ; others
act as consultants for films and television . In recent years a
significant number have contributed to Canada's Visual History ,
a joint project of the National Film Board and the National Museum of Man . This series produces slide sets which are now in use
all teaching levels, providing the results of recent academic
research to large numbers of primary, secondary, college, and
university students . Yet, in terms of impact and of numbers
reached, museums remain the most effective way to reach the
at
general public . For this reason alone, academic historians can no longer afford to ignore these institutions .
48
In western Canada historians have particularly strong opportunities to work with and learn from museums . Not only are there numerous museums, but many institutions -- ranging from the large, government-sponsored, provincial museums to small, privately operated, local museums -- are still relatively flexible in terms of their programmes of artifact collection and research, the delineation of exhibit themes, and the provision of background publications . In each of these areas cooperation between museum curators and professional historians would be of benefit to both the curators and the historians, and, most importantly, to the museum visitors . A key area where cooperation is needed is in the provision of synthesis . Provincial and local museums, by their very nature, concentrate on limited geographical areas and the theme of interdependence between the West and the rest of Canada, or between the West and the rest of the world, is dealt with only rarely . While it is probably neither feasible nor desirable to deal with such broad themes in particular institutions, the exhibits that already exist or are planned can be supplemented and complemented by audio-visual presentations or attractive publications . Professional historians can act as partners in museum work by orienting their research in specific directions and by,preparing material that relates directly to museum exhibit.s . (A not unimportant side benefit is that if such publications find their way into museum bookshops, the historian will have greatly expanded the market for his work .) But if such cooperation is to take place, historians have a good deal to learn about museums . Fortunately, there is now an excellent place to start this education in the most recent addition to the National Museum of Man's Mercury Series . Not only is the volume distributed gratis, but it is a fine introduction to the West's major museums and it should be required reading for all historians .
Western Canadian History : Museum Interpretations consists of an introduction by the editor and six articles . The intro-duction, written by David Richeson who is Western Canadian Historian in the History Division of the National Museum of Man,
49
is an especially valuable summary of the reasons for a lack of
understanding between professional historians and museums .
Perhaps the key to the sharp separation of academic historiography
and museum historiography has to do with the use by museums of
artifacts . For most historians, material history is a new area
and, not surprisingly, it is either ignored or dismissed since
these approaches to it are more convenient than attempting the
difficult task of understanding . It is to be hoped that the
publication of this volume (together with the Material History
Bulletin itself) will break down some of the existing barriers
so that a point will soon be reached where material history is
seen to be as legitimate and as necessary a branch of the broader
field of human history as, say, cliometrics has become . Richeson's
introduction also contains an overview of the factors that affect
the development of museum exhibits (such as the quality of the
artifact collection, size of budget, and availability of resource
people), and a survey of the themes presented in western museums .
The introduction also mentions themes that are conspicuous by
their absence, including labour, education, religion, secondary
industry, commercial activity, and the service industries .
The editor's succinct overview is followed by six detailed
discussions of how segments of western Canadian history have been
presented in particular museums : "Exhibits as Overviews : The
Case of British Columbia Modern History," by Daniel T . Gallacher ;
"Vancouver Centennial Museum History Galleries : A Critique," by
Robert D . Watt ; "Glenbow's 'History of Western Canada' Gallery,"
by Hugh A . Dempsey ; "History Gallery Themes : The Provincial
Museum of Alberta," by Robert B . Davidson ; "A Survey of Trans-
portation in Saskatchewan : An Exhibit Storyline, Western Develop-
ment Museum, Moose Jaw," by Diana Matthews ; and "Interpretative
Themes in Socio-Economic History at the Manitoba Museum of Man
and Nature," by Philip L . Eyler . It is impossible in a few pages
to discuss each of these articles properly, but, taken together,
the contributions to this volume do suggest several overarching
themes that can be discussed .
50
All the articles mention the fact that museum curators do not see their exhibits as either definitive or static . Indeed, several of the authors offer frank critiques, pointing out existing weaknesses and omissions and delineating what remains to be done . Despite the fact that there is a continuing need for larger budgets and more gallery space, none of the articles dwells on these obvious facts or use them as excuses . In part, of course, this is a reflection of the museums discussed . All are relatively large and wealthy institutions . It would be
interesting to learn of the situation in regard to space and budgets in smaller, less wealthy museums . The point is, however, that the museums discussed in this volume are realistically
focusing on utilizing the space and resources they have, rather than sitting back waiting for increased funding to "solve" present problems . Indeed, the need to utilize fully existing resources -- in terms of space, staff, and artifacts -- may, in fact, be beneficial . Instead of rushing to fill new galleries with newly-acquired artifacts, and doing so without proper planning and research, the museums can concentrate on improving existing exhibits . The 1980s, then, will be an era of review and consolidation and this is to be welcomed . It is to be hoped, however, that the review process includes as wide a range of historical specialists as possible . .
Western Canadian History : Museum Interpretations is a stimulating volume that can be highly recommended . It most certainly will be welcomed by anyone interested in western Canadian museums and should be welcomed by everyone interested in western Canadian history . But as useful as this volume is, it does have weaknesses that deserve to be noted since this
collection should be followed by similar volumes that deal with other regions and other institutions . Since the volume suggests by its title that it deals with the interpretation of the history
of western Canada by museums, it would have been useful for the reader to have been provided with an annotated list of all western
museums, together with some analysis of how the ones discussed in
51
detail in this collection are or are not representative of the
larger, regional situation . A second omission, in all save the
article on the British Columbia Provincial Museum, are lists of
pamphlets, guides, books, etc . produced by the museums to
supplement their displays . Finally, a general bibliography
dealing with western Canadian museums should have been included .
"The World of Children : Toys and Memories of Childhood," Vancouver Centennial Museum . Curator: Ivan W . Sayers . Designer : Mary Paddon . Opened : May 1978 . No catalogue . Reviewed by Zane Lewis .
"The World of Children : Toys and Memories of Childhood"
opened at the Vancouver Centennial Museum on 26 May 1978 in order
to coincide with the International Children's Festival held in
adjacent Vanier Park . Originally scheduled to last for two months,
repeated requests from the public extended the exhibit to a year .
It was designed to be a random reflection on what it was like to
be a child with no attempt made to narrow the focus . A more
specific approach would have required access to a collection more
comprehensive than the Centennial Museum possessed . Instead, a
thematic approach was selected covering the major facets of a
child's world . Important gaps were filled by making some excellent
institutional and private loans . Because of the Festival, it was
also decided to include ethnological material from around the
world .
Captions were provided and some of the cases contained
appropriate poems but there was no storyline . This omission did
not adversely affect the exhibit since studies seem to indicate
that the majority of museum visitors prefer looking to reading .
I repeatedly asked myself if copy would have enhanced the exhibit
and concluded that because of its general nature it was unlikely
"Costume," "Manual Dexterity," and "Thrift" cases . (Photo : Vancouver Centennial Museum, uncatalogued .)
than an informative text could have been written . The theme of each case was clear . A text is often necessary to interpret the artifacts, but sometimes they can be left to speak for themselves .
The strength of the exhibit lay in its artifacts . The
staff successfully resisted the temptation to use only "artsy"
items at the expense of representative ones . While there were some rare and striking pieces they were balanced by others that
were mundane and plain . Objects from all social classes were
used, providing some interesting comparisons and contrasts . It
was not until I reflected upon the show that I wondered why some
of the museum's larger artifacts, such as a wagon or sleigh, were
53
not used . And yet, the exhibit captured my attention so that
I left feeling that I had been in a child's world .
The inclusion of ethnological material was frustrating.
The objects were fascinating, but once they aroused my interest
I became disappointed when there was not more to view . Additional
artifacts would have enhanced the educational aspect of the
exhibit by helping one to make some tentative conclusions
regarding the universal nature of children . Instead, I was left
with several unanswered questions : did the museum display all
its ethnological material? how representative were the artifacts?
how complete were the objects from a particular culture? By
including this material the viewer was invited to make comparisons
with the Canadian child, but was not provided with enough
information to do so properly . The one exception was the Northwest
Coast Indian section, which, as far as this non-specialist could
determine, was representative and complete .
There is an important lesson to be learned here for all
museologists . It appears that someone "suggested" that ethno-
logical material be included in the exhibit . Curators often assume
that they are free to choose the nature and content of the exhibit .
In reality, politicians, directors, administrators, and the public
often force the exhibit upon the curator . In addition, display
or conservation considerations often cause the exclusion or
inclusion of certain material since a desired artifact may be too
fragile to display or may be the wrong size . At times it may
even seem that the curator, who is ultimately responsible for the
exhibit, has the least to say about it . It is at this point that
the curator's attitude becomes of crucial importance ; an inferior
exhibit can be excused on the grounds that "it wasn't my idea"
or one can demonstrate that quality can be achieved under
difficult circumstances .
This was the dilemma facing the Centennial Museum's curator .
Ethnological material had to be included . Normally one borrows
or purchases needed artifacts, but objects of this nature are
very rare and difficult to obtain . It was decided, therefore,
54
to provide the viewer with a glimpse since the entire picture could not be shown . This was a valid decision, but a storyline or bibliography would have been helpful since the majority of museum visitors are not familiar with foreign cultures .
The major weakness of the exhibit was in its display techniques . In all fairness it must be remembered that the budget was only $1,500 and that there was a reluctance to go "all out" on an exhibit that was only going to last for two months . Consequently, the gallery was left painted black, and the false tin roof and trees, survivors of a 1968 exhibit, were retained . Some of this starkness was relieved by suspending rented merry-go-round horses from the ceiling -- an effect which I missed because the horses had been removed prior to my visit . There were twenty-eight cases ranging in size from four to forty-eight feet square ; many were five and six feet high . They had been designed for ceramics, rugs, costumes, furniture, and general household items, and were not ideal for most of the children's artifacts . Compounding these difficulties was the fact that the cases could not be arranged in the desired order . All this sounds very familiar ; display cases that are never quite right for the artifacts and inadequate budgets are endemic to museologists . Despite their banality, these problems must be tackled if one is to avoid surrendering every time such obstacles are encountered . I ignored the black walls, tin roof, and trees since I was more interested in the contents of the cases than their surroundings .
An artifact has to be particularly spectacular in order to overcome being poorly displayed . What confused me was that some cases appeared to be crammed while others were partly empty . For example, one case had so many Teddy bears that some of them were obscured ; conversely, a larger case contained a pram with a doll in it and a few other items insufficient to fill it . I have no expertise in display, but the obvious solution of adding or . subtracting items comes to mind . There are obvious difficulties in displaying a six-inch object in a case five feet high, but
55
- -.
"Animals" case . (Photo : Vancouver Centennial Museum, uncatalogued .)
unless a solution is found one is left with too much dead space .
This situation occurred with the display of cars and trucks ;
placed in too large a case they were only a few inches above
floor level -- an ideal placement for young children but one
which left four feet of disturbingly vacant space . This
emptiness was magnified since the walls were devoid of support
material such as photographs or posters . In addition, the cars
were unimaginatively arranged to remind one of a used car lot .
Assuming that it is impossible to avoid displaying small
artifacts in a large case, there are still viable alternatives .
Blocks can be used, for example, to create several visual planes .
This was effectively done with the doll collection ; blocks not
only covered a bare wall and provided several viewing levels,
>b
"Dolls" case . (Photo : Z . Lewis .)
but also isolated each doll, enabling the viewer to appreciate its uniqueness . I found this inconsistency perplexing . Why were some display problems inexpensively but adequately solved while others were allowed to triumph? One must constantly seek solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems if each exhibit is to be as effective as possible and if fellow museologists are to be provided with fresh answers to old problems .
The Centennial Museum's display difficulties illustrate the central weakness of many exhibits : lack of planning . Three hundred and eighty-seven artifacts were displayed in seventy-two hundred square feet of gallery . Why was such a large exhibit scheduled to last for only two months? Such a short display time would almost force the staff to adopt an attitude of "why bother?" . Those who apply pressure for more frequent temporary displays must be resisted diplomatically and educated to the fact that quality cannot be achieved if the staff is constantly taking down or setting up exhibits . I would suggest that a major exhibit be on display for a minimum of six months and preferably twelve .
57
Considering all the factors, one can empathize with the
museum's display problems, but not with the failure to practice
better conservation . Although I am not a conservator, I did
notice that adult-size hangers were extensively used to support
children's costumes . The hangers were made of extra thick wood
and gave sufficient support along the top of the shoulders, but
because they were too large their ends pushed out the sides of the
shoulders . Either the hangers could have been adapted to the size
of the costume, or supports should have been made so as not to strain the garment's seams and fabric . Proper conservation
practices should have been followed even if the exhibit was
scheduled to last only two months .
Despite its shortcomings, the "World of Children" was a
success . It was very popular with the public which is the
ultimate test for all exhibits . Even after my attempts to expose its weak points I must admit that I found it both informative and
enjoyable . It did succeed in its intention ; "memories of child-
hood" were evoked as I was led on a nostalgic trip into every-
one's past .
"Doll Furniture" case . (Photo : Vancouver Centennial Museum, uncatalogued .)
58
Ivan W . Sayers : Considerations on "The World of Children ."
In December 1977 the Vancouver Centennial Museum was invited to participate in the programme of the International Children's Festival planned for may 1978 . The museum decided to present a two-part exhibition dealing with various aspects of the world of children . The larger section of the exhibit was to use historical material from Canada and its parent western European cultures ; the smaller section was to contain ethno-logical material from around the world .
Drawing entirely from the museum's own collection the Ethnology Department was able to present an assortment of artifacts that represented each of the major cultural groups within the metropolitan Vancouver community . We hoped that neither local nor foreign visitors would see the display without finding at least one object with which they could identify .
Although the museum does possess many excellent toys and other souvenirs, the History Department's collection was not as comprehensive as that of the Ethnology Department . It was therefore necessary to borrow artifacts from individuals and organizations outside the institution . These lenders provided us with rare and valuable items which normally never leave private hands .
The ethnology cases were categorized by geographical area, the history cases by object or function : dolls, vehicles, collections, games, furniture, miniature figures, confections, animals, books, schooling, infancy, costume, thrift, manual dexterity, mechanical aptitude, "home-mades," theatre, and Shirley Temple and Walt Disney . We included everything from an invaluable seventeenth-century Italian figure of the infant Jesus to a valueless but very familiar pair of conkers .
Designing the exhibition was definitely a challenge . The gallery is a dark, forbidding room with a large suspended ceiling of corrugated tin, left over from an exhibition of farm machinery . To detract from the sombre dark brown walls all the cases were
59
painted bright yellow, orange, or green. The corrugated roof,
left as it was, became a platform supporting twenty-two prancing
horses from a 1902 merry-go-round . These horses were lit by a
turning mirror ball and spotlights ; calliope music played in the
background . The horses were a costly rental and had to be
returned after five months .
Each case was filled to capacity with artifacts . We hoped
that the large number of objects would impress the eye, develop
the circus atmosphere of the horses and music, and encourage the
visitor to return . Many people did come back not once but five
or six times .
Copy was restricted to a brief identification of each
object, its material, its origin, and its ownership . A text was
omitted as being unnecessary and frustratingly incomprehensible
to the many foreign adults and children expected to be in
attendance at the Festival . Strict visual communication had to
be chosen over literary communication .
The enthusiasm of the remarks in our four books for visitors'
comments proved the appeal of the exhibition and even now, when
the gallery has been cleared of the "World of Children" for
several months, there are daily inquiries about this display .
The ethnological material was included as a random complement
to the major section of the display, not as its equal or competitor .
The inclusion of a large number of Northwest Coast material was an
obvious choice since it represented our own native people and
since we possess a fine collection from which to draw . It should
be noted that this particular case also included Plains and Eastern
Woodlands material, this fact being noted on the labels .
Since the exhibition was designed with a very young audience
in mind the cases were kept at a low height whenever possible .
Steps were constructed in front of the taller cases to permit
even our youngest visitors to climb to a good viewing position .
The interiors of the cases were broken into various levels by
boxes or stands as necessary . The doll case was especially divided
60
so that these items, the rarest and most valuable of the entire exhibit, were each highlighted . This case was the only one in which the artifacts were placed in chronological order . Converse- ly, the transportation case was divided into only three levels to create a flat, sand-box effect, and the cars, trucks, and trains were arranged in rows and lines such as a child would create when playing with his own toys . Airplanes were suspended from the case ceiling to hover above the traffic jam below.
The physical problems of fitting so many artifacts into so few cases were seriously debated by the staff . The exhibit designer thought that far too many objects had been selected ; I believed, however, that "toy-box" clutter was essential to the success of the exhibition and therefore insisted on including all the artifacts selected .
The use of larger hangers to
was not considered harmful for the
of the exhibit . In fact the extra
the sleeves and made supplementary
support children's clothing original, eight-week
width of the hangers
support unnecessary .
duration extended Fortu-
nately, even after twelve months of exhibition, the costumes were not damaged by this arrangement .
"The World of Children" displayed many common and many rare souvenirs of childhood in a simple, chaotic style that entertained and occasionally educated . The exhibit was popular and a success in spite of its shortcomings
61
"Cordonnerie traditionnelle," Musee du Qu6bec . Ethnologue : Mine Merette . Date d'ouverture : octobre 1977 . Brochure . Compte rendu d'Yvan Chouinard .
Celine Merette a pr6pare
des expositions itinerantes du
exposition presentant tous les
le connaissait dans la periode
mobilier de 1'artisan jusqu'au
cette exposition pour le Service
Musee du Quebec . Il s'agit d'une
aspects de ce metier tel qu'on traditionnelle . Des outils et du produit fini, la chaussure, en
passant par des images illustrant la technologie de 1'artisan-
createur, rien ou presque n'a ete omis afin de faire connaitre
ce "petit" metier mieux connu de nos ancP-tres .
Metier du cuir par excellence, la cordonnerie a pour objet
la rEparation mais aussi et surtout la fabrication des chaussures .
A 1'epoque oa toutes les catdgories de chaussures etaient de
fabrication manuelle, aussi bien celles que 1'on portait au
travail, en foret, au champ ou a la peche, que les souliers fins
chausses par les demoiselles le dimanche matin pour se rendre a
la messe, 1'importance du travail de 1'artisan qui s'adonnait a
cette pratique prenait une dimension assez considerable . De
plus, la technique du cordonnier traditionnel se completait
souvent d'une pratique connexe qui etait celle de la sellerie,
art de confectionner et d'entretenir les attelages d'animaux .
Pour faire etat d'un metier comme celui-la, Celine Merette
a choisi de le presenter sous divers angles .
L'exposition
On trouve d'abord dans 1'exposition les outils du cordonnier .
De 1'alene pour coudre au ligneul jusqu'& 1'emporte-pi('~ce en
passant par le marteau et le tranchet, chaque extension de la
main de 1'artisan prend place dans les vitrines .
On y trouve egalement des modeles, des formes et des patrons
destines A reproduire les chaussures en dimensions precises et
exactes, ainsi que du mobilier directement relie au travail de 1'artisan comme le banc de cordonnier et la machine a coudre .
62
Chaussures artisanales et manufacturees de 1'exposition "Cordonnerie traditionnelle ." (Photo : Patrick Altman, non cataloguee .)
On y trouve enfin des chaussures . Une gamme extr6mement
variee de modilles montre la diversite du travail d'artisans dou6s
qui transformaient le cuir en souliers de boeuf, en bottes
sauvages, en bottes de drave, en "noeuds" de boeuf, en souliers
fins et meme en bottes-culottes pour pecheurs . Le tout pr6sente
en fait 1'essentiel de ce qui se portait aux pieds dans la soci6te
traditionnelle, autant pour le travail que pour la vie religieuse
et sociale .
Toutes ces pi6ces de culture materielle qui forment en
quelque sorte le noyau museologique de 1'exposition, proviennent
63
en tres grande partie des reserves du Musee national du Quebec .
Lorsqu'on connaft les richesses, voire les tresors de ces
collections (d'outils surtout), on ne s'etonne pas que Celine
Merette ait eu 1'embarras du choix pour son travail de
demonstration . Quelques objets, notamment des chaussures, sont
des prets consentis par des collections privees .
L'ethnologue Merette a cependant voulu aller plus loin que
le simple regroupement spatial d'objets relies a la cordonnerie .
Grace a une serie d'images selectionnees avec soin dans divers
fonds d'archives dont celui du Centre d'etudes sur la langue,
les arts et les traditions populaires (CELAT) de 1'Universite
Laval, et celui de 1'Inventaire des Biens culturels, elle a voulu
preter un peu de vie a une exposition quand meme relativement
statique . Ces images tentent en particulier de devoiler certains
aspects de la technique de 1'artisan . On y voit, entre autres,
des artisans d'autrefois pris sur le vif dans leur boutique, de
meme que de veritables artisans-cordonniers d'aujourd'hui qui
montrent comment le travail de confection se faisait a 1'epoque
en reprenant, pour 1'appareil-photo, la gestuelle d'antan .
Une innovation
Loin de se borner a 1'emploi de simples photographies
illustrant le travail de 1'artisan-cordonnier, cette ethnologue
du Musde du Quebec est allee jusqu'a inviter des artisans ages
qui ont connu 1'epoque de transition traditionnelle/pre-
industrielle du debut du sibcle et, surtout, des artisans qui
se servirent autrefois des outils de 1'exposition pour realiser
des chaussures egalement en montre a cette exposition . Elle en
a invites lors de presentations, d'ouvertures ou lors mdme du
deroulement de 1'exposition en province .
Nous avons eu la chance d'assister a une de ces seances,
au passage de 1'exposition a Baie-Comeau, oa un cordonnier de
82 ans etait venu de Grandes-Bergeronnes pour servir de personne-
64
ressource, et n.ous avons apprecA vivement les explications
simples mais passionnees que donna 1'artisan aux neophytes .
La brochure
Congue pour perpetuer 1'exposition (en raison de sa courte duree) une brochure 1'accompagne . Celle-ci explique les grands traits qui caracterisent le metier . Un aperqu historique pr6c6de diverses considerations essentielles sur 1'enseigne, la boutique,
les gens du metier, 1'apprentissage, la production artisanale,
1'emprunt des techniques industrielles et les paiements . Largement illustree de dessins et de photographies anciennes et actuelles, la brochure comporte de plus une breve bibliographie . Elle est
un document bien fait et sans pretention qui saura en compl6ter
d'autres .
Souliers de boeuf . Collection : Musee du Qu6bec . (Photo : Patrick Altman, non cataloguee .)
65
Petites difficultes
Malgre une presentation d'ensemble soignee, cette exposition a eprouve de petits probAmes de parcours . Justement a cause du fait qu'elle ait ete preparee pour se deplacer, elle a rencontre les difficultes inherentes a ce genre d'exposition, soit le transport lui-meme avec les risques de bris qu'il presente, le montage et le demontage frequent et surtout 1'adaptation nouvelle a faire a chaque fois, selon la salle ott se tient 1'exposition .
Par ailleurs, on peut deplorer une certaine faiblesse du
c6te des identifications des objets contenus dans les vitrines .
En effet, les plaques sur lesquelles on lit le nom et la fonction
des objets se trouvaient sur la base des vitrines, de sorte qu'il
fallait se plier litteralement en deux ou s'accroupir pour en
prendre connaissance .
Enfin, 1'identification d'une serie de photographies a laisse
une mauvaise impression . Certaines de ces images, faussement
attribuees a 1'origine, ont ete corrigees a la main par la suite .
Ces ratures, bien que necessaires, auraient pu etre eliminees en
cours de route, en remplagant tout simplement les cartons
d'identification alteres . Compte tenu de la periode de temps
assez longue que met une telle exposition a faire le tour de la
province, ce mauvais coup d'oeil aurait du disparaitre .
Diffusion . . . . . . itin6rante
La "Cordonnerie traditionnelle" de Celine Merette a circule dans les centres et les musees regionaux au cours de 1978 et de 1979 . Dans un sens, cette formule, qui presente de petits inconvenients, n'en demeure pas moins privilegiee puisqu'elle
permet une diffusion exceptionnelle de 1'exposition et des
connaissances que celle-ci vehicule .
Somme toute, il faut feliciter celle qui a prepare et documente cette exposition . Non seulement a-t-elle su toucher
66
a - tous les aspects directement
de la matiere de base, du de 1'artisan, mais elle a du milieu pour ajouter un parfaitement un evenement
relies au metier, qu'il s'agisse produit fini, de 1'outil ou du geste su innover en invitant un representant element dynamique qui compAte comme celui-la .
67
NOTES AND COMMENTS - NOUVELLES BREVES
WAR MEMORIALS IN CANADIAN COMMUNITIES
The goal of this project has been to gather as much
information as possible concerning the origin, history, artistic
aspects, and present state of war memorials in Canada and to
offer an interpretation of their significance . In response to
information requests in Heritage Canada magazine, the Royal
Canadian Legion's journal, the Archivist's Newsletter and other
publications, hundreds of letters from individuals and institutions
have reached me . During the summer of 1978 I travelled over
16,000 miles from Newfoundland to British Columbia gathering data
and photographing memorials .
To date I have documented about 1,200 individual monuments .
For some memorials only a picture or description has been found
while for others fairly extensive background material is available .
This includes the records of memorial committees, correspondence
with sculptors, newspaper accounts, and my own interviews with
people who were involved in the construction of the memorials .
I have published several articles in both scholarly-journals and
the popular press based on this research and the National Film
Board is considering a film on the subject . I am now preparing
a book, heavily illustrated and intended for a wide audience,
that will describe the people who built the monuments, why they
did so, and what meaning memorials had then and continue to have
now .
When these projects are completed the collection, consisting
of file cards of each monument by place name, ten volumes of
cross-referenced subsidiary material, and a few thousand pictures,
will be placed in the Public Archives of Canada . It will constitute
the only extensive compilation of information on the subject of
Canadian war memorials .
68
I first began work on monuments after leaving the Armed Forces in 1976 . My visual fascination with monuments as subjects for drawing and painting combined with my historical background and desire to write when I found out that virtually nothing had ever been said about memorials in Canada . This seemed particu-larly odd in light of their omnipresence in our towns and cities .
A great deal of understanding about Canada can be gained by studying and interpreting the material aspects of our past . It is hoped that the articles and the book will stimulate further investigation in the fields of art and architectural.history, community planning, social history, and popular symbolism .
I 'have been helped immeasurably by the efforts of : Explorations Programme of the Canada Council ; Writers' Assistance Programme of the Ontario Arts Council ;
Ian Montagnes, Editor, University of Toronto Press ;
the countless people who have talked to me on the main streets of the country and who have taken .the time to write and send me information ;
my friends .
Robert Shipley
PARKS CANADA, PRAIRIE REGION
Historical Research Division
The Historical Research Division of Parks Canada, Prairie Regional Office in Winnipeg, was established in 1975 as part of the decentralization of Parks into five regions . The headquarters division in Ottawa retained responsibility for research on national themes, while the regional offices were to work closely with the sites and the parks on site-specific research .
69
The Prairie Region has responsibility for sites in Manitoba,
Saskatchewan, and northern Alberta as well as in the Yukon and
the Northwest Territories . The geographical distribution of sites
does not conform absolutely to political divisions since both the
Gold Rush Trail and Wood Buffalo Park straddle provincial
boundaries . The region has four National Historic Parks : Fort
Battleford, Fort Walsh, Lower Fort Garry, and Prince of Wales'
Fort . Its jurisdiction also includes several historic sites :
the S .S . Klondike , the Gold Rush Trail, and Klondike National
Historic Sites (including Dawson City and surrounding gold creeks) ;
Batoche, Fish Creek, the Motherwell Homestead, Wood Buffalo Park,
and the Grey Owl Cabin Site in Saskatchewan ; Prince of Wales'
Fort, York Factory, Lower Fort Garry, St . Andrews Rectory, the
Red River-Assiniboine River Junction, and Riel House Manitoba .
In addition, historic plaques and markers are scattered throughout
these provinces and territories . The designation of new sites is
an ongoing process which occurs through the auspices of the
Historic Sites and Monuments Board .
The Prairie Region has seven staff historians and a .research
assistant, each with thematic responsibilities :
Dr . Frits Pannekoek, Chief of the Historical Research Division ;
Ian Clarke, Head of Northern Site Research --history of northern mining .technology ;
Dr . Richard Stuart, Regional Structural Historian structural and materials history ;
Lyle Dick -- Motherwell Homestead and the post-fur trade prairie West ;
Walter Hildebrandt-- Fort Walsh, Fort Battleford, the R .C .M .P . ;
Diane Payment -- Batoche, Riel House, Metis and native history ;
Greg Thomas -- fur trade sites with special reference to Lower Fort Garry ;
Laura McLauchlan, Research Assistant in charge . of the Historical Research Photograph Collection .
70
Contractors also have been engaged for specific projects . In
general staff historians carry out work involving continuing
liaison with other divisions, such as Planning, Interpretation, and Engineering and Architecture while contractors tend to
concentrate on thematic studies rather than structural or
materials histories .
Recently a five-year plan has been developed in order to integrate the resources of the division with the development of sites . The plan also attempts to define the various types of appropriate historical research such as structural, land use,
materials, contextual and background, and to set standards of research depending upon the proposed level of site development . The plan attempts to bring to the planning and development of National Historic Sites the same rigour that has influenced the
natural parks .
All research undertaken has an applied function, whether it be land acquisition, planning, restoration, or interpretation . All research is designed to support Parks Canada's mandate to identify, protect, understand, and use Canada's historic resources .
Such directed research, however, does not mean that what is done
is merely utilitarian "house history ." Although the immediate
audience must of necessity be other divisions within Parks Canada,
attention is also paid to the community at large . Papers have
been presented to the Manitoba Historical Society, Canadian History Association of Winnipeg, Northern Plains Conference,
Canadian Historical Association, Society for the Study of
Architecture in Canada, and Institute for Popular Culture .
Articles have also been published in Saskatchewan History , The
Beaver, and Prairie Forum .
Further to the publications listed below, the following
historical research projects are in progress :
a) Northern History
Ian Clarke, "At the Jaws of the Bear : A History of Bear Creek Mining ."
71
Richard Stuart, "The British North America Bank Building, Dawson : A Structural History ."
, "The Annex to the Commissioner's Residence, Dawson : A Structural History ."
, "Three Structural Histories : The 'Red Feather' Saloon, The N .W .M .P . Married Officers' Quarters, and the K .T .M . Co . Warehouse ."
, "The S .S . Klondike Cargo Hold Material History ."
Hal Guest, "Four Essays on Dawson ."
Richard Friesen, "The Yukon River : Historical Themes and Resources Study ."
Ken Coates, "The Northern Yukon : Historical Themes and Resources Study ."
b) Twentieth-Century West
Lyle Dick, "Motherwell : A Social History of the Abernethy District, 1880-1920, Historiography, Methodology and Bibliography ."
Lyle Dick and Jean-Claude Lebeuf, "Social History in Architecture : The Stone House of W .R . Motherwell ."
Sarah Carter, "Motherwell Material History ."
c) National Parks
Allan Wright, "The History of the Kluane Park Region ."
Barry Potyondi, "Wood Buffalo National Park : An Historic Overview ."
James Shortt, "Grey Owl : A Biography ."
d) Metis
Diane Payment, "Riel House : Home and Lifestyle at St . Vital ."
Brian Dawson, "The Clergy at Batoche to 1885 ."
e) Fur Trade
Rodger Guinn, "The Forts at the Junction ."
72
Rodger Guinn, "An Historical Assessment of Four Structures in the Canadian National Railways East Yards, Winnipeg, Manitoba ."
Gregory Thomas, "The Bake Ovens at Lower Fort Garry."
Michael Payne, "Prince of Wales's Fort : A Social History ."
f) R .C .M .P .
Walter Hildebrandt, "Fort Battleford Officer's Quarters ."
, "Meaning in Architecture : The Building of the N .W .M .P . at Fort Battleford ."
, "Fort Battleford Social History ."
, "The Materials History of the Commissioner's Residence, Fort Walsh ."
Roger Letourneau, "A Structural History of the Commissioner's Residence, Fort Walsh, circa 1880 ."
Archaeological Research Division
The division carries out the archaeological research
programme in the Prairie Region and is responsible for historic and prehistoric remains in all National Parks and National
Historic Parks and Sites in the region . It ensures that all
archaeological remains are properly protected and managed ; it conducts research to meet regional needs relating to land acquisitions, planning, development, interpretation.,and manage-ment ; and it maintains a research facility capable of handling all archaeological research functions .
At present the staff consists of nine archaeologists and
archaeological assistants and three material culture researchers under the supervision of John Combes, Chief of the division .
Generally each archaeologist is responsible for a project
involving research of a specific area or site . One archaeologist
is also designated to handle emergency or salvage situations .
Research is currently underway on York Factory, Batoche,and
Dawson City and vicinity . Archaeological surveys are also being
carried out in Kluane National Park and the Arctic, the latter
73
Excavated foundation of a small building at Lower Fort Garry, Manitoba, which illustrates the extent of structural remains which can be found as well as a variety of more recent disturbances to which they can be subjected . (Photo : Prairie Regional Office, Parks Canada, neg . no . 1K-833M .)
in cooperation with the Polar Continental Shelf project and the
Northwest Territories Government . An archaeological assessment
in the northern Yukon Territory is scheduled . Research under-
taken in the past concerned the sites of Fort Walsh, Lower Fort
Garry, Riel House, and the Motherwell Homestead . Archaeological
surveys have been made in Nahanni National Park, Prince Albert
National Park, Riding Mountain National Park, the Chilkoot Trail
area, and the Churchill area . The division has also supported
studies of the linear mounds area in southwestern Manitoba and
74
the Gray site, a large prehistoric burial area in southwestern
Saskatchewan .
Material culture research is conducted on the large number
and variety of artifacts recovered by the various projects and
is organized into major categories based on material -- ceramic,
glass, and metal . Some research has been done on contract and
some collections have been loaned out for study .
The research facility maintained by the division includes
large quantities of notes, drawings, and photographs created by
each project ; the photographic collection, for instance, now
exceeds 7,000 items . These serve not only as a basis for the
preparation of project reports but remain available as sources
for any future research questions .
The results of such archaeological research, whether in the
form of an environmental impact statement, a report on an intensive
excavation, or a report on a collection of artifacts, are prepared
primarily in support of Parks Canada activities . They are,
however, also shared with the larger professional community and
the general public through papers presented to organizations such
as the Manitoba Historical Society, Manitoba Archaeological
Society, Association of Manitoba Archaeologists, Southwestern
Manitoba Archaeological Society, Saskatchewan Archaeological
Society, Canadian Archaeological Association, Society for
Historical Archaeology, and Yukon Heritage and Museums Association .
Publications
I . Manuscript Report Series (on deposit in the Public Archives
of Canada and the provincial archives) .
MRS 171 Robert Gosman, "The Riel and Lagimodiere Families in Metis Society, 1840-1860 ; Riel House, St . Vital, Manitoba ." 186p .
MRS 196 W .D . Addison and Associates, "Nahanni National Park Historical Resources Inventory ." 2 vols . 649p .
75
MRS 203 Richard J . Friesen, "The Chilkoot : A Literature Review ." lOlp .
MRS 204 Gregory Thomas, "Lower Fort Garry Warehouse Building : Structural and Use History ." 131p .
MRS 205 David Spector, "Field Agriculture in the Canadian Prairie West, 1870-1940, with Emphasis on the Period 1870-1920 ." 174p .
MRS 219 Ian Clarke, "Motherwell Historic Park Landscape and Outbuildings - Structural and Use History ." 274p .
MRS 236 Richard J . Friesen, "The Chilkoot Pass and the Great Gold Rush in 1898 ." 224p .
MRS 237 D .M . Loveridge and Barry Potyondi, "From Wood Mountain to the Whitemud : An Historical Survey of the Grasslands National Park Area ." 565p .
MRS 239 James Shortt, "A Survey of the Human History of Prince Albert National Park, 1887-1945 ." 173p .
MRS 241 H . Guest, "Dawson, San Francisco of the North, or Boomtown in a Bog : A Literature Review ." 160p
MRS 243 Orysia J . Luchak, "Prince of Wales Fort in the Eighteenth Century: An Analysis of Trade, Construction, and Sloop Voyages Northward ." 297p .
MRS 246 Gregory Thomas, "The Men's House, Lower Fort Garry : Its Furnishings, and Place Within the Hudson's Bay Company Post Environment ." 151p .
MRS 248 Diane Payment, "Structural and Settlement History of Batoche Village ." 242p .
MRS 251 Rodger C . Guinn, "St . Andrews Parsonage, Red River : A Structural and Land Use History ." 149p .
MRS 252 Walter Hildebrandt, "Fort Battleford : A Structural History ." 2 vols . 595p .
MRS 264 James Shortt, "Grey Owl Cabin Site ." 227p .
MRS 267 David Spector, "Animal Husbandry in the Canadian Prairie West" and "W .R . Motherwell's Farming Operations" ; Lyle Dick, "W .R . Motherwell's Stone House : A Structural History ." 337p .
MRS 275 Gary Adams, "The Motherwell Farmstead, Artifact Distribution Analysis ." 227p .
MRS 276 G . Adams, S . Glover, and M . Warrack, "Motherwell Homestead Archaeological Feature Report ." 140p .
MRS 277 Charles W. Amsden, "A Preliminary Archaeological Assessment of Nahanni National Park and Vicinity ." 146p .
MRS 281 J .S . Murray and J .V . Sciscenti, "Archaeological Investigations at a Late Nineteenth Century N .W .M .P . Post, Fort Walsh, Saskatchewan : Preliminary Report on the 1975 Excavations ." 289p . ; Jeffrey S . Murray, "Archaeological Investigations at a Late Nineteenth Century N .W .M .P . Post, Fort Walsh, Saskatchewan : Preliminary Reports on the 1976 Excavations ." 194p .
Manuscripts on hand or already submitted for printing in this series include the following :
C . Amsden, A Preliminary Archaeological Assessment of Nahanni National Park and Vicinity, Stage 2, 1978 .
P . Donahue et al ., The 1976-77 Batoche Archaeological Project .
M . Forsman, Archaeological investigation at Riel House, Manitoba, 1976 .
E . Gryba, Final Report - 1973 Archaeological Survey of Prince Albert National Park .
S .M . Jamieson, A Synthesis of Archaeological Research in Riding Mountain National Park to 1973 .
K . Lunn, A Study of Glass Bottles from a Late Nineteenth Century North-West Mounted Police Post in South-western Saskatchewan : Fort Walsh National Historic Park .
D . Meyer, The Churchill Archaeological Investigations, August 1978 .
J .F .V . Millar, The Gray Site : An Early Plains Burial Ground .
S . Minni, Klondike Historic Sites : 1976 and 1977 .
G . Moat, Metal Artifacts and the 1879 Barracks at Fort Walsh, Saskatchewan .
P . Pri.ess, Archaeological Investigations at Lower Fort Garry, 1977 .
77
P . Priess and L . Sears, Archaeological Investigations at Lower Fort Garry, 1978 .
M . Stevenson, Inventory and Assessment of the Historic Resources of Kluane National Park .
L . Syms, Aboriginal Mounds in Southern Manitoba : an Evaluative Overview .
II . Research Bulletins (available to interested researchers, on
request, from Publications Section, National Historic Parks
and Sites Branch, 1600 Liverpool Court, Ottawa, Ontario,
K1A 1G2 . Beginning with no . 95, Research Bulletins are
available in both French and English .)
28 J .V . Sciscenti and J .S . Murray, "Archaeological Investigations at Fort Walsh, Saskatchewan, 1973-75 ." 1976 .
37 J .S . Murray, "Progress Report on the Archaeological Investigations at Fort Walsh, Saskatchewan, 1976 ." 1976 .
45 Gregory Thomas, "Fire in the Beaver Hills ." 1977 .
46 David Spector, "A Bibliographical Study of Field Agriculture in the Canadian Prairie West, 1870-1940 ." 1977 .
50 Richard Friesen, "The Chilkoot Pass : A Preliminary Bibliography ." 1977 .
52 S . Minni, "Survey and Test Excavation of the Klondike Historic Sites, Yukon Territory, 1976 ." 1977 .
53 P . Donahue and V . Hall, "A Report on Initial (1976) Archaeological Fieldwork at Batoche, Saskatchewan ." 1977 .
54 M . Forsman, "Archaeological Research at Riel House, Manitoba, 1976 ." 1977 .
70 Orysia J . Luchak, "York Factory and the Prince of Wales Fort : A Brief History for Visitor Reception Centre Display ." 1977 .
72 C . Amsden, "A Report on Archaeological Reconnaissance in Nahanni National Park and Vicinity, N .W .T ." 1977 .
78
73 L . Syms, "An Assessment of Mounds in Southern Manitoba ." 1977 .
74 P . Donahue and V. Hall, "Archaeology at Batoche (1977) ." 1978 .
75 S . Minni, "Klondike Historic Sites, Yukon Territory, 1977 ." 1978 .
76 G . Adams, "Motherwell Homestead Archaeology Project ." 1978 .
77, 78 David Spector, "An Annotated Bibliography for the Study of Animal Husbandry in the Canadian Prairie West, 1880-1925," (Parts A & B) . 1978 .
81 C . Parmenter, "Report on the Second Season of Archaeological Investigations of Historical Sites in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago ." 1978 .
82 J .F .V . Millar, "The Gray Burial Site ." 1978 .
84 Richard Stuart, "Quantifying the Unquantifiable : Establishing Criteria for a Building of Interest List for use in the Klondike National Historic Site ." 1978 .
85 Ian Clarke, "Yukon River Corridor : Historic Themes and Sites ." 1978 .
92 Richard Stuart, "Madame Tremblay's Store ." 1978 .
96 R . Vickers, "A Report on the 1977 Fieldwork of the Chilkoot Archaeology Project ." 1978 .
97 Diane Payment, "Monsieur Batoche ." 1978 .
114 G . Adams, "End of Season Report ; York Factory National Historic Sites ." 1979 .
The following reports have been submitted for publication in this series .
C . Amsden, Archaeological Research in Nahanni National Park, 1978 .
D . Burley, Archaeological Research of the Klondike National Historic Site : The 1978 Season .
P . Donahue, Archaeology at Batoche (1978) .
79
D . Meyer and U . Linnemae, Churchill Archaeological Research, August 1978 .
G . Moat, Carron Stoves at York Factory .
J . Murray, Preliminary Report on the 1978 Archaeology Project at Fort Walsh National Historic Park .
C . Parmenter, Historical Archaeology in the Eastern High Arctic .
P . Priess, Archaeological Investigations at Upper Fort Garry, 1978 .
M . Stevenson, Archaeological Research in Kluane National Park, 1978 .
Research Bulletins are also anticipated for current archaeological
research projects at York Factory, Dawson City, Fort Walsh, and
Kluane National Park .
Peter Priess and Richard Stuart
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
Interpretations behind Lea and Perrins Worcestershire
Sauce bottle base markings as dating keys for archaeological
sites are being re-evaluated in light of historical and
archaeological data made available over the past decade . To
date a history of Lea and Perrins in Great Britain, Canada, and
the United States has been collated and information on thirty-
two bottles from twelve sites in the United States and Canada
collected (the data being from published sources and Parks
Canada collections) . Tests of earlier interpretations and a
revised hypothesis are to be written up as a preliminary report
although data from more sites and collections are required for
a full-scale study and to consider variables (e .g . spatial frame)
80
unaccounted for in the present sample . Hence, please send information on base markings, site, and component dates of Lea and Perrins bottles in archaeological collections to : Kevin Lunn, Archaeological Research, Parks Canada, Prairie Region, 114 Garry Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C 1G1 .
MATERIAL CULTURE COVERAGE IN THE ANNUAL M .L .A . BIBLIOGRAPHY
Since its beginnings in 1970 the Folklore Section of the Modern Language Association International Bibliography has covered among other topics a large number of books and essays on material culture in all parts of the world . All university libraries subscribe to this Bibliography . General subject headings in the current edition include Architecture, Folk Arts, Craft and Technology, Costumes and Food, and include studies by folklorists, anthropologists, art historians, culture geographers, archaeologists, museums curators, and amateur collectors . Since August 1978 coverage in this area has increased, and the next Bibliographies will contain one of the most extensive listings of current material culture research in North America . . Since I am in charge of covering this topic, I have been including a large number of studies dealing with Canadian material culture . Please forward any questions concerning this Material Culture section to Gerald L . Pocius, Lecturer, Department of Folklore, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St . John's, Newfoundland, AlC 5S7 .
81
CULTURE MATERIELLE ET BIBLIOGRAPHIE ANNUELLE
DE LA "MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION"
Depuis sa creation en 1970, la section consacree a la
culture traditionnelle dans la bibliographie internationale
publiee par la "Modern Language Association" a signale, entre
autres, un grand nombre d'ouvrages et d'articles sur la culture
materielle dans toutes les parties du monde . Toutes les
bibliotheques universitaires sont abonnees a cette bibliographie .
A 1'interieur des grandes rubriques comprises dans la derniere
edition -- architecture, arts populaires, artisanat et techno-
logie, costume et cuisine -- on trouve des etudes faites par
des folkloristes, des anthropologues, des historiens de 1'art,
des specialistes de la geographie culturelle, des archeologues,
des conservateurs de musee et des collectionneurs amateurs .
Depuis aout 1978, cette section a pris plus d'importance dans
la bibliographie, et les editions ulterieures presenteront une
des listes les plus exhaustives sur les recherches effectuees
dans le domaine de la culture materielle en Amerique du Nord .
Comme c'est a moi que 1'on a confie 1'etablissement de cette
liste, j'y ai inclus un grand nombre d'etudes portant sur la
culture materielle au Canada et je me ferai un plaisir de
repondre a toutes vos questions . S'il vous plait s'adresser a
Gerald L . Pocius, Charge de cours, Department of Folklore,
Memorial University of Newfoundland, St-Jean (Terre-Neuve),
A1C 5S7 .
82
COMMUNICATIONS DU "COLLOQUE SUR L'HISTOIRE
DE LA CULTURE MATERIELLE DU CANADA"
En mars 1979, le Musee national de 1'Homme a parraine la premiere conference nationale sur 1'histoire de la culture materielle au Canada . Quinze participants representant un echantillon de disciplines, d'etablissements et de payscnt presente des communications sur les sujets suivants :
Histoire de la culture materielle et histoire :
situation actuelle et perspectives d'avenir
Approches et realisations en histoire de la culture materielle : trois etudes de cas
Les sources en histoire de la culture materielle : expose critique
L'histoire de la culture materielle a 1'etranger :
progr6s recents et orientations futures en France, en Grande-Bretagne et aux Etats-Unis
Besoins actuels, perspectives d'avenir et application
de la recherche en histoire de la culture
materielle
Ces communications sont maintenant regroupees dans le Bulletin d'histoire de la culture materielle no 8 . Pour commander ce numero special, il suffit d'envoyer un cheque ou mandat de $5 a 1'ordre du Receveur general du Canada a 1'adresse suivante :
Service des commandes Division de 1'edition Musees nationaux du Canada Ottawa (Ontario) K1A OM8
83
PAPERS FROM "CANADA'S MATERIAL HISTORY : A FORUM"
In March 1979 the National Museum of Man sponsored the first
national conference on Canadian material history . Fifteen
participants invited from a cross-section of disciplines,
institutions, and countries presented papers on the following
topics :
- Material History and History : Present Relationship
and Future Prospects
- Approaches to and Achievements in Material History :
Three Case Studies
- Sources for Material History : A Critique
- Material History Abroad : Recent Developments and
Future Trends
- Present Needs and Future Prospects in Material History :
Training and Application of Research
These papers are now available for $5 .00 as Material History
Bulletin no . 8, a special issue which can be ordered by
forwarding a cheque or money order payable to the Receiver General
of Canada to :
Order Fulfilment, Publishing Division, National Museums of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario . K1A OM8
84
CONTRIBUTORS/COLLABORATEURS
Alan F .J . Artibise teaches Canadian history at the University of Victoria and is editor of the Urban History Review .
Anita Campbell , a graduate student in Laval University's Centre d'etudes sur la langue, les arts et les traditions populaires CC9LAT7, has worked on material culture projects at the Glenbow-Alberta Institute and for Parks Canada in Ottawa and Louisbourg .
Yvan Chouinard travaille a 1'Inventaire des Biens culturels au ministere des Affaires culturelles du Quebec .
Robert Griffin, formerly Curator of the British Columbia Forest Museum in Duncan, B .C . is Industrial History Technician at the British Columbia Provincial Museum .
Judy Keenlyside is author of a forthcoming History Division Paper in the National Museum of Man's Mercury Series,'Selected Canadian Spinning Wheels in Perspective : An Ana yt~ical Approach .
Zane Lewis , Social History Curator at the British Columbia Provincial Museum, has organized that museum's exhibit on "Yesterday's Child ."
Dianne Newell , newly appointed editor of IA : Journal of the Society for Industrial Archaeology , is completing her doctorate in history at the University of Western Ontario .
Peter Priess is an archaeologist in the Prairie Regional Office of Parks Canada who is currently working on Lower Fort Garry .
Ivan W . Sayers is Curator of History at the Vancouver Centennial Museum .
Robert Shipley has carried out research on Canadian war memorials since 1976 .
Richard Stuart , an historian with the Prairie Regional Office of Parks Canada, is presently carrying out research on buildings in Dawson, Yukon Territory .
NATIONAL MUSEUMS OF CANADA MUSfES NATIONAUX DU CANADA
ISSN 0703-489X