Exhibit Recap
The Museum of Camping headed to Burlingame, California on September 11, 2026 for another pop-up exhibit for a family campout. Burlingame Department of Parks and Recreation hosted over 450 campers at Washington Park. The highlight of the exhibit was the inaugural showing of three first edition volumes in the Museum's collection.
William H. H. Murray's Adventures in the Wilderness; or, Camp-Life in the Adirondacks (1869) – Prior to the publication of this book in 1869, recreational camping was largely the province of wealthy European-American men led and catered to by local backcountry guides. Murray began giving popular lectures on the Adirondacks and publishing accounts of his exploits in local newspapers. These articles were later compiled into book form. Adventures in the Wilderness is now widely considered the book that started mass recreational camping in the United States.
John Muir's My First Summer in the Sierra (1911) – Published 42 years after the events that inspired it, My First Summer was constructed from Muir's journals of his travels to Yosemite tending sheep in 1869.
John Mead Gould's How to Camp Out (1877) – A Civil War officer, Gould adapted his extensive knowledge of military camping techniques and equipment to produce what is considered to be the very first camping “how-to” manual. While earlier writers addressed the benefits of nature visitation and the rationale for camping, Gould created the first comprehensive instructional text on how to camp as a form of recreation.
All three were shown by lantern light inside the Museum's 1978 Coleman Oasis canvas cabin tent.
Sponsor
Burlingame Department of Parks and Recreation
