Spruce gum boxes or gum books were made and kept as keepsakes.Between 1848 and 1910, Maine was the largest producer of chewing gum in the Northeast. One of the primary ingredients was spruce gum, which was readily available in Maine woods.

Gummers were often lumbermen or trappers who spent long months away from their families and often returned home with gifts, like handmade spruce gum boxes.

This gum box has an inset photograph of a potato picker with a Wabanaki basket on the front, and an interior drawer where lumps of spruce gum were stored.