Camp Fire vs Camp Site

Summer means a chance to travel and enjoy the outdoors. The two 5" x 8" notebooks evoke the camping vibe in a remarkably similar way. Both feature the same basic scene from two perspectives. I wonder if the artist was the same or if they were inspired by the same reference image?  I'm sure there is an interesting story to be told here.

Gage Camp Fire No. 3327 note book

Hilroy Camp Site No. 806 note book

The Camp Fire note book is definitely the older notebook design. I found an description of this notebook in the W.J. Gage Stationery catalogue from 1911. The number given in this catalog is No. 27 and the number on my notebook is No. 3327.  The Hilroy company was not established until 1918 (they celebrated their 100th anniversary in 2018).

Page 107 from W.J. Gage Stationery catalogue from 1911

The notebook shown at right has "No. 27" in the bottom left corner. This is the same number for this notebook from the 1911 catalogue. I don't know when the number changed from No. 27 to No. 3327. You'll also note that the Gage trademark is not found on this notebook (or any reference to the maker). The Gage trademark on my notebook above appears to date from the 1960s. The image of an older notebook comes from a story from toronto.com where the notebook was found on a bench. It was filled with poetry and notes from the second world war era.

Gage Camp Fire notebook with No. 27 probably dates from 1930s or 1940s.

While these two note books are quite old, the camping theme continues. Field Notes also makes a set of small campfire notebooks. These limited edition notebooks even came with a patch. I wonder if there are any other camping themed notebooks I could add to this tiny collection?

This mini-collection reminds me of "A Collection a Day" from  Lisa Congdon.