Valerie,

Your thesis sounds like a lot of fun to research.  My father was an
Adirondack Guide about 40 years ago and I have an early pack basket that
was an antique even before that when he bought.  L.L.Bean was an early
large purveyor of pack baskets; they might have some information in
their company records on their production with the company.  They might
also very well have some information on the history of the basket that
they gathered before they began production.

You might also try contacting some of the older guides in the
Adirondacks.  They might have some records or folk history about the
baskets that could prove useful.  There might even be an association for
guides with member names on the internet.

I also have an Adirondack Guideboat that was built in 1900, was
refinished in the 1970s and is in excellent condition so if you ever
decide to move on to the guide boat you know where to find one.  We used
to have it on loan to the Adirondack Museum but it came to the "donate
it or take it back" phase (one I face all to often with people who would
like us to keep their objects for them so they are cared for) so now I
have it in a storage shed.  When I was a kid we used to enter it into
antique boat shows and I would have to wear period costume as my father
and I would paddle around in it for the shows.  That experience almost
made me swear off history, museums, and boats for life but I overcame it
after 20 years or so.

Elizabeth Moore

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Valerie Pawlewicz
Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2004 12:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Query re: Adirondack Pack Basket

I am a masters degree candidate in folklore writing a thesis on the
Adirondack Pack Basket. The Adirondack Park is a huge state park (the
size
of Vermont) in northern New York, and one of the material objects
strongly
associated with the region is this basket which is worn on the back. The
basket is currently made by Mohawk and Anglo makers and traditionally
made
from black ash splints.

1) I am looking for good sources among researchers that I have not
considered (I have done research at the Adirondack Museum in Blue
Mountain
Lake and at the Iroquois Museum);

2) I am looking for the oldest source/oldest pack basket;

3) I am looking for the pack basket outside of the Adirondacks--I
believe
that it is made by the Mic Mac in Maine, have read accounts of a
possible
Shaker version, and have seen a version made by a traditional
basketmaker in
Japan.

NOTE: I am very familiar with folklorist Henry Glassie's article on the
pack
basket, as well as a new video out. I am looking for archival or older
sources.

I look forward to your thoughts and suggestions,

Valerie Pawlewicz
[log in to unmask]

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