Mastering PastPerfect

Success!  Our first forays into PastPerfect have gone pretty well, including the Import from Excel.  What a relief not to have to type *everything* in again :)

Progress on the tourism booklet grant project

The primary sources: tourism booklets from the various electric railway companies in Maine

Good progress is being made on the "Preserving the Primary Sources of Maine’s Early Tourism" grant project.  This project is being generously supported by the Maine State Archives and the Maine Historical Records Advisory Board.  We've purchased supplies and have begun rehousing the booklets and pamphlets in their new archival enclosures. Once everything is safely preserved, we'll be entering the data into PastPerfect.

Enclosed in their archival sleeves.
We will probably add archival quality labels on the outside of each for quick identification

 

The project has been a great deal of fun because we get to have a real look at some of the amazing treasures that the museum is protecting.

All tidy in their boxes!

The Trolley Parks of Maine

The Seashore Trolley Museum has published a book based on their Maine Memory Network online exhibit. The Trolley Parks of Maine is illustrated with more then 40 historic photographs, with hand-drawn maps by Charles Heseltine. This book takes you on a whirlwind journey to thirteen of the numerous amusement parks created by Maine electric railway companies. Available through Amazon or at the Seashore Trolley Museum store for $12.95.

Another grant!

The Seashore Trolley Museum Library Committee has received a small grant from the Maine Historical Records Advisory Board, affiliated with Maine State State Archives. Our project will be to preserve a collection of electric railway tourist brochures and pamphlets. This collection consists of more than 80 paper booklets, brochures, and timetables devoted to advertising trolley, steamboat, train, and automobile tourist excursions in Maine and around New England between 1895 and 1930. Many of the booklets are regional (i.e. trolley trips in and around Portland), but some are souvenir booklets for individual destinations, such as Underwood Spring and the Cape Porpoise Casino. All of them, except for the time tables, are illustrated with black-and-white photographs, maps, local information, and business directories and advertisements. These documents contain a wealth of primary source material in the subject areas of local history, transportation, local geography, tourism, and leisure activities.