The collection primarily deals with an exhibit and book about powder horns Guthman produced with the Connecticut Historical Society (CHS). Guthman first began work on this project in the early 1980s. After publishing an article on powder horns in "The Magazine Antiques", he was encouraged by the staff at the CHS to write a longer piece and create an exhibit of powder horns. Neither the exhibit nor the book would come to fruition until 1993. The materials here chronicle the planning of the exhibit and the writing of the book. Many drafts and excerpts are included, along with various notes and plans for the exhibit. These four boxes show the work of one man over the course of a decade trying to organize an exhibit and a book to go with it. "Drums A'beating, Trumpets Sounding: Artistically Carved Powder Horns in the Provincial Manner 1746-1781" was featured at the Connecticut Historical Society, Heritage Plantation (Sandwich, Mass.), and the Concord Museum (Concord, Mass.) There are also 2 boxes dealing with powder horns. One box contains photographs and some research notes on over 56 powder horns, some that appeared in his exhibit and book, and some that are now part of Historic Deerfield's collection. The rest of the collection contains miscellaneous documents, including research on drums and helmets, the estate of Nathan L. Swayze.
