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Sugar maker at work

Sepia photograph, making maple taffy (S. Pacôme): a man in winter clothing pours maple taffy into bark containers on the snow. Background: snow-covered woods, part of a wooden structure on the left.

Archives de la Côte-du-Sud, Norbert Dionne Collection.

A sugar maker pours maple taffy into a birch bark container.

“Cassots d’écorce” are traditional containers that were used by Indigenous peoples and early settlers to collect and transport maple sap. Made from birch or other types of bark, these containers were light, durable, and easy to make. They were placed under the taps made in maple trees to collect maple sap. They were also used for transporting maple sap or syrup.