In the early 1800’s, the Pennsylvania Mennonites and Amish began forming new communities in Waterloo County, Ontario.  Their religion taught to respect and offer aid to the homeless and destitute.  The idea that "Mary & Joseph" were turned away from the "Inn" led to an accommodation of transients and tramps.  The Joseph Schneider Haus in Kitchener, Ontario (now a museum) preserves a "bettelmannschtub" or beggar’s room--a room once used to board tramps. The Maker of the Illustrated Pocket stayed in such rooms.

    Fred "Fritz" Hoffman (1845-1926) left Pennsylvania around the turn of the century and wandered Mennonite and Amish communities until his death. Fred refused to work, to do farm labor, rather he made chip-carved pockets, holders and drawings as recompense for his many and various hosts.  Hoffman signed the pictured pocket  "Miss Lizzie Martin" and was likely a gift to her.,   He enjoyed fishing in the summer and harvested Basswood for his winter projects.  Fred’s work includes elements of fretwork, chip carving and the notching typical of tramp art.  Note the absence of layering and the use of polychrome paint in Hoffman's work. 

   In 1990 the Joseph Schneider Haus, Kitchner, Ontario, Canada, featured an exhibit of Hoffman's work titled; "A Great Many Tramps We Had Overnight: Fred Hoffman And The Tramp Art Tradition In Waterloo County." 

Hoffman's work is preserved in Canada's "Museum of Civilization"

http://collections.civilization.ca/public/pages/cmccpublic/emupublic/Display.php?irn=74313&QueryPage=%2Fpublic%2Fpages%2Fcmccpublic%2Femupublic%2FQuery.php&lang=0

http://collections.civilization.ca/public/pages/cmccpublic/emupublic/Display.php?irn=168830&QueryPage=%2Fpublic%2Fpages%2Fcmccpublic%2Femupublic%2FQuery.php&lang=0

Hoffman’s work is covered in the book Tramp Art One Notch at a Time by Clifford Wallach and Michael Cornish. Copyright 1989, by Wallach-Irons.  On page 14 is a great photograph of a child holding a Hoffman pocket. Pages 78 & 79 covers Hoffman and the families he stayed with.  Among the families was Mathais Martin and perhaps our inscribed pocket “to miss Lizzie Martin” was a gift to this family?

Hoffman is include in The Compendium of Canadian Folk Art  By Terry Kobayashi and Michael Bird

 Within folk art and tramp art in particular, the work of an identified maker becomes desirable.  In this instance the work of an identified tramp making tramp art becomes exceptionally rare.