Maine Memory Network
Maine's Online Museum

Title: Kitchen Scale

Contributed by: Pejepscot Historical Society

Date: 1865

Location: Brunswick

Media: steel, paint

Title: Laboratory scale

Contributed by: Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum

Date: circa 1920

Location: Chicago; Littleton

Media: metal

Title: Miniature scale, ca. 1900

Contributed by: Friendship Museum

Date: circa 1900

Location: Friendship

Media: metal

Address: 550-566 Commercial Street, Portland

Owner in 1924: Portland Terminal Co.

Use: Track Scales

How Sweet It Is

Desserts have always been a special treat. For centuries, Mainers have enjoyed something sweet as a nice conclusion to a meal or celebrate a special occasion. But many things have changed over the years: how cooks learn to make desserts, what foods and tools were available, what was important to people.

A Focus on Trees

Maine has some 17 million acres of forest land. But even on a smaller, more local scale, trees have been an important part of the landscape. In many communities, tree-lined commercial and residential streets are a dominant feature of photographs of the communities.

Silk Manufacturing in Westbrook

Cultivation of silkworms and manufacture of silk thread was touted as a new agricultural boon for Maine in the early 19th century. However, only small-scale silk production followed. In 1874, the Haskell Silk Co. of Westbrook changed that, importing raw silk, and producing silk machine twist threat, then fabrics, until its demise in 1930.