Working the Sugarbush: The Maple Sugar Story

Created in 1961 by the University of Minnesota Extension Service, this16 mm color film depicts both old and modern methods of maple syrup production. The film was produced to promote and expand the production of maple syrup in Minnesota. According to the film’s press release, the film “points to the untapped profits in Minnesota’s maples.”

Titled “Working the Sugarbush: The Maple Sugar Story,” the film was created through the efforts of long time Minnesota Extension Forester Parker Anderson, who provided the script and technical direction, and University of Minnesota Extension visual education specialist Gerald R. McKay, who did the filming. Narration was provided by Bob Doyle, a well-known KUOM radio figure and Director of TV and Radio at the University of Minnesota.

Most of the scenes were taken around Mille Lacs Lake and in the east central part of Minnesota. The purpose of the film is to show opportunities for profit available to those who do a good job making maple syrup. The opening scenes mention how the state’s early Native American residents made maple syrup and show Chippewa Indians at Mille Lacs boiling sap in open air kettles. Later sequences show the selection and tapping of trees with brace and bit and then a backpack mounted power tapper, which was novel at that time. Additional scenes emphasize other cutting edge sap gathering technology for that era in the form of heavy plastic sap collection bags and the 3M Mapleflo brand plastic tubing system. Many different faces appear, ranging from foresters and extension agents to overall clad syrup makers feeding wood fire evaporators in steam filled sugarhouses.

The 22 minute film was one of 12 agriculture related films chosen by United States Department of Agriculture to be featured for the month of January in 1962 in the patio theater of the USDA building in Washington DC. The film was later distributed by state agricultural agents to be shown to groups and at various events around the state.

This film is shared for education purposes through the written permission of the University of Minnesota Extension program, who hold copyright for the film. The original film copy is preserved in the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society.

For more information see the website Maple Syrup History at www.maplesyruphistory.com