From Wilderness Tradition to Modern Regulations: the Timeline of New Hampshire's Campfire and S'mores Heritage
By Alexander Ross
The roots of the campfire confection in New Hampshire connect directly to the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century summer camp movement. Between 1890 and 1930, urban families from Boston, Providence, and New York placed children along the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee, Squam Lake, and Newfound Lake. Organizations such as the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, and independent wilderness academies built institutional rituals around group campfires.
When the 1927 Girl Scout manual Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts brought the formula for "Some More" into print, New Hampshire camps swiftly adopted it. Youth directors prized Graham cracker campfire treats because the non-perishable ingredients survived rustic wooden supply cabins without refrigeration. Evening campfire circles at Camp Belknap (established in 1903) and early regional girls' camps turned marshmallow toasting into a shared exercise in woodcraft, patience, and forest etiquette. Campers learned to select green hardwood sticks from sustainable brush, bank embers down to radiant heat, and extinguish fires with lake water until ashes were cold to the touch. This recreational ritual trained campers to treat timberlands with caution while instilling an appetite for evening fireside treats that visitors carried back into adulthood.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
