“Past Tents: The Way We Camped” is a humorous excursion through one of our favorite pastimes, exploring camping in California from post-Gold Rush times to the mid-1900s. Through three exhibit themes – Round the Campground, Hitting the Trail, and Open Roads, Open Fires – visitors enjoy contemporary prints of rare historic photographs and objects from the collections of the California Historical Society and the Bancroft Library. Replica tents burst with curious vintage gear and long-lost camping tips suggest simple remedies for sore feet (as long as you pack along some tallow!).

“This exhibition just makes you happy and brings out that desire to get back to nature and really CAMP!” says one museum goer while peeking into a cozy tent. Merced County Courthouse Museum invites campers of all ages to enjoy this exhibition beginning on Thursday, March 17. At the opening reception at 5pm, camping enthusiast Herb Wood will sign his new book "Camping for Beginners." In addition, members of Boy Scout Troop 88 will demonstrate their camping skills.

Early camping was an enterprise of independence, simplicity, and conviviality and offered a change of pace, the splendor of scenery, and an opportunity to be close to nature, escaping the trappings of society for a time. Camping still offers this respite and rejuvenation and “Past Tents” encourages visitors to pack up the tent and sleeping bags and enjoy the beauty of California’s natural environment.

“Past Tents” is based on the book of the same name by Susan Snyder, published by Heyday Books and the Bancroft Library in 2006. Snyder, librarian at the Bancroft, spent years exploring the library’s stacks and attics discovering our state’s treasures and shares them here. Join us for this enchanting adventure in a by-gone era.

“Past Tents: The Way We Camped” was produced by the California Historical Society and The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. The traveling tour was organized by the California Exhibition Resources Alliance (CERA).

Camping in early 1900s. Merced County Courthouse Museum Collection.

Camper in Nightshirt, From Marin County Album. Photography Collection California Historical Society.

Happy Camper is the main character in Herb Wood New Book, Camping for Beginners.

John and Annie Bidwell with their tent, 1898. Bancroft Portrait Collection, The Bancroft Library.