Souvenirs in new exhibit demonstrate
Star City has long been a travel destination
PRESQUE ISLE — Souvenir plates and postcards of Presque Isle dating back to the mid-1800s demonstrate that community has long been a travel destination. A new exhibit by the Presque Isle Historical Society entitled “Pictures, Postcards & Plates: Souvenirs of Presque Isle’s Past” opens this week at the E. Perrin Edmunds Library at Northern Maine Community College. The library hours are Monday-Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday noon to 4 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Kim Smith
HISTORICAL EXHIBIT — The Presque Isle Historical Society is displaying various artifacts at NMCC’s library, including postcards depicting the community’s past, from groups and organizations to businesses, homes and churches.
The exhibit, supported by a grant from the Maine Humanities Council, will travel throughout Presque Isle during 2014 and will eventually be on permanent display at the Historical Society’s Maysville Museum, upon completion. Featured in the exhibit are postcards and souvenir plates from the Historical Society’s collections as well as four maps of historic Presque Isle: 1870, 1877, 1887 and 1894.
Those interested in viewing the exhibit will find it in April at NMCC; in May at The Aroostook Medical Center, in the Forum during the Historical Pavilion at the Northern Maine Fair from July 29-31, in August at the Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library, in September at Presque Isle Middle School, in October at the Campus Center at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, and in December at the Reed Fine Art Gallery at UMPI.
The project was inspired by an exhibit at the Plimoth Pilgrim Museum in Plymouth, Mass., entitled “I’ve Been There: Souvenirs of Plymouth” and by the Smithsonian’s “Souvenir Nation” exhibit.
Presque Isle has a rich legacy with direct ties to U.S. and international history. This is easily demonstrated by the number of souvenir dishes and postcards in the Historical Society’s collections indicating that Presque Isle was a destination of choice for travelers for many generations.
Some of the more popular souvenirs collected include postcards, thimbles, matchbooks, plates, snow globes, key chains and spoons.
In the collection of dishes and plates on display in this exhibit, one will observe a wide array of colors, styles and patterns. The almost opaque white glass is known as “custard glass” which was produced in the United States by the Heisey Glass Company of Newark, Ohio, and its competitors. The beautiful multi-colored pictorial china was primarily produced in Germany from 1890 to 1930. Germany dominated this market roughly until World War I when Asia began to take over the market with inexpensive pieces.
Visitors to the exhibit are asked to complete a short evaluation. Surveys will be presented to Maine Humanities Council at the end of the grant.
For more information contact the Historical Society at: PO Box 285, Presque Isle, ME 04769; call 762-1151; visit www.pihistory.org or email pihistoricalsociety@hotmail.com.
