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CANADIAN MAPLE
SYRUP TIMELINE
From the mid 16th century to the present, Canadian
maple syrup has played an important role in global cuisine. From real
gourmet foods to rich and sweet snacks, Canadian maple syrup had been,
and still is, an important ingredient for creating some of the most
delicious dishes throughout history.
1540
First written observation of North American
maple trees, by Jacques Cartier, French explorer traveling up St.
Lawrence River.
1557
First written record of maples
in North America yielding a sweet sap, by French scribe Andre Thevet.
Thought to be an ideal constituent for gourmet foods because of its
rich texture.
1606
Marc Lescarbot describes
collection and ‘distillation’ of maple sap by Micmac Indians of eastern
Canada. (Histoire de la Nouvelle France)
1788
Quakers promote manufacture
and use of maple sugar as an alternative to West Indian cane sugar
production with slave labour.
1790
"Maple Sugar Bubble"
grows, with high hopes among national leaders that a homegrown alternative
to slave-produced cane sugar from the British Caribbean had been found.
Key advocates of gourmet foods include Thomas Jefferson, Dr. Benjamin
Rush and Judge James Fenimore Cooper.
1791
As gourmet foods enthusiasts,
Thomas Jefferson and George Washington discuss plans to start "maple
orchards" on their Virginia plantations. Most trees die or fail
to thrive; Jefferson remains a maple booster.
1791
Thomas Jefferson and George
Washington discuss plans to start “maple orchards” on their Virginia
plantations. Most trees die or fail to thrive; Jefferson remains a
maple booster.
1810
Augers coming into popular
use to drill holes for wooden spouts or sap spiles. Crude gashings
or “boxing” techniques becoming obsolete.
1818
Maple sugar selling for
half the price of imported cane sugar to the delight of gourmet foods
aficionados.
1858
Early patent for evaporating
pan to D.M. Cook of Ohio.
1859
Eli Mosher
patents first metal sap spouts.
1860
Peak canadian maple syrup
production year for U.S.: 40 million pounds of sugar and 1.6 million
gallons of syrup, from 23 states reporting to USDA.
1861
Maine Board of Agriculture
report says flat-bottomed pans are better than kettles for boiling
sap.
1872
Early evaporator design
work described by Vermont inventor H. Allen Soule.
1875
Introduction of metal sap
buckets.
1880
Cane sugar and maple sugar
approximately equal in price, to the delight of many chefs of French
gourmet foods, for which this can be an essential ingredient.
1884
Early patent for sugar
evaporator, G.H. Grimm, Hudson, Ohio.
1888
Leader Evaporator Co. founded,
Enosburg Falls, Vermont. Will later popularize “drop-flue” design
and become dominant U.S. maple-equipment supplier.
1889
Small Brothers of Dunham,
Quebec, begin producing evaporator with crimp- bottom pans invented
by David Ingalls. Precursor design to modern Lightning evaporator.
1890
G.H. Grimm Company, major
supplier of evaporators, buckets and spouts, moves from Hudson, Ohio,
to Rutland, Vermont.
1891
McKinley Bill
attempts to promote maple sugar manufacture by offering two- cent-per-pound
bounty to producers. Bureaucrats and small farmers wrangle, and the
effort fails.
1893
Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’
Association formed; instrumental in setting industry-wide standards.
1904
Cary Maple Sugar Company
incorporated in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Became largest wholesale sugar
company in North America.
1905
U.S. Pure Food and Drug
Act makes adulteration of maple syrup with glucose illegal.
1916
Metal sap-gathering tubing
invented by W.C. Brower, Mayfield, New York. Proves impractical-prone
to freezing at night, leakage and vulnerable to damage by deer.
1935
Vermont institutes spring
Maple Festivals; 134 towns stage events; 1,200 maple frosted cakes
are submitted for judging.
1940-1945
Canadian maple syrup prices
frozen at $3.39 per gallon during World War II. Production suffers.
1946
First commercial power-tapping
machine marketed.
1946
1946 Proctor Maple Research
Centre near Underhill, Vermont, founded by University of Vermont.
1959
Plastic sap-gathering pipeline
system patented by Nelson Griggs, Montpelier, Vermont.
1965
Maple leaf, a unifying
symbol for both English and French Canada since 1800, becomes central
image on new national flag of Canada
Late
1970s Reverse-osmosis
technology introduced to concentrate sugar content of sap before boiling.
1982
Severe local dieback or
decline of sugar maples noted in Quebec. Provincial scientists begin
searching for causes.
1985
Sugarmaker Gordon Richardson’s
Piggy-Back unit introduced by Small Brothers Company as the first
of a new-generation of evaporator attachments to enhance performance
“naturally”.
1988
North American Maple Project
begins studying health of maple trees to determine progression, if
any, of maple decline.
Lawrence, Martin & Boisvert. “Sweet Maple”, Vermont Life, 6 Baldwin
Street, Montpelier, Vermont 05602
2000
www.ontariomaplesyrup.com.
is founded. A truly unique Canadian maple syrup internet shopping
experience.
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