Souvenir birch bark book from Good Hope Camp, probably in Canada, 1909 March 14 : manuscript.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Caroline F. Schimmel Collection of Women in the American Wilderness (University of Pennsylvania)

Schimmel, Caroline F., associated name, former owner.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Canada.

Travel.

Genre:

memorabilia.

codices (bound manuscripts)

Penn Provenance:

Sold by Maggs Brothers, 2025, with funds gifted by Caroline Schimmel.

Physical Description:

1 volume (6 leaves) ; 12 x 16 cm

Production:

Canada?, 1909.

Other Title:

Cover title: Souvenir of a snowshoe trip to Good Hope Camp March 14 '09

Biography/History:

The traveler who wrote in this birch bark booklet is not known, nor is the specific location of the "Good Hope Camp" named on the cover. "There are a few places in the Canadian Arctic with the name Good Hope, one being a Fort Good Hope on the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories, and another a Hudson Bay Company outpost on Ungava Bay." Good Hope Camp as referred to on this item may or may not refer to either of these places. The menu items listed are: clam chowder, welsh rabbit, steak, potatoes, pickles, radishes, cake, pie, cookies, and coffee. Party members listed are: C. Lavoie, M. Sheridan, M. Samsan, M. Morin, M. Fillon, Mrs. Fillon, Mr. Fillon, Mr. Morin, Mrs. Morin, J. Sirois, W. Wetaline, and O. Blaine. These menu items and party member names "would indicate this trip was probably made up of European rather than Indigenous members, but the choice of birch bark for the souvenir [...] signals at least an awareness of Indigenous tradition and folkways practices in the Arctic regions." However, "the use of birch bark in the American and Canadian souvenir industries" increased from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, and it is possible that "this blank booklet may have been purchased at a trading post on the trip." Quoted text from bookseller's description. Birch bark has been used for writing for centuries globally, especially before the mass production of paper, notably in North America by Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes region. Birch trees grow in the Northern hemisphere.

Summary:

Souvenir booklet made of birch bark. Stab stitched. Splits in the bark of one page mended with pink ribbon. Text is handwritten. One page lists a menu: clam chowder, welsh rabbit, steak, potatoes, pickles, radishes, cake, pie, cookies, and coffee. The following page records snowshoe travel party members' names: C. Lavoie, M. Sheridan, M. Samsan, M. Morin, M. Fillon, Mrs. Fillon, Mr. Fillon, Mr. Morin, Mrs. Morin, J. Sirois, W. Wetaline, and O. Blaine. The rest of the booklet is blank.

Notes:

Title supplied by cataloger.

Bookseller's description laid in.

Cited as:

Souvenir birch bark book from Good Hope Camp, probably in Canada, 1909 March 14 (Ms. Codex 2410). Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania.