This collection of pottery, on loan from Carl and Pauline Silveri, represents Portland and local Maine potters from about 1840 to the early 1920s, including E. Swasey & Company of Portland ME, a company which at one time was one of New England’s most prolific pottery works and today is all but forgotten.

Eban Swasey was a potter who apprenticed in Exeter NH in the mid-1800s.  In 1875 he and his partner, Rufus Lamson, moved to Portland ME and established the Portland Earthen Ware Manufactory, producing redware.  Swasey and Lamson eventually went their separate ways, and in 1890 Swasey established E. Swasey & Co. at 273 Commercial Street in Portland.

In 1897, Swasey’s youngest son Perley joined the company, which became a sizeable enterprise by the turn of the century.  Eban died in 1906, but the business carried on until finally sputtering out of business in the Depression.  The factory buildings are still there on Commercial Street – refurbished and with the “E. Swasey” logos freshly restored on the end of the mill, they serve today as an office park.

http://davescupboard.blogspot.com/2010/08/vintage-sunday-e-swasey-co-pottery.html

There are also documents in the exhibit related to the E. Swasey & Co. Other Portland pottery companies in the exhibit include J.E. Goold and Geo. A. Young Co.

For all you book lovers, here is some good news! There is a new bookstore in downtown Portland, and it’s beautiful. Sherman’s Books and Stationery has come to town, just opening in the Old Port on Exchange Street. It’s a visual treat inside – not only lots of attractive and appealing books, but lovely items to go with them. I was there on Earth Day (April 22) and a lot of earthy and green items caught my eye. There is a huge children’s area. Many of the books are reasonably priced.

Sherman’s Books was founded by Bill Sherman in 1886 in Bar Harbor. (They advertise themselves as “Maine’s oldest bookstore.”) There are stores in Camden, Freeport, and Bar Harbor. And now Portland! Lucky us. It’s so nice to see another Maine business come to our area.

For more information see www.shermans.com

and

https://www.facebook.com/ShermansBooks

From our Maine State Librarian, Linda Lord:

Christine B. Powers, director of the Naples Public Library, has been elected to the 126th session of the Maine State Legislature. Regardless of political party or any other considerations it is a joy to announce that a librarian is serving in the House. Congratulations on your success, Christine!

(Yes, the more librarians in the state legislature, the better for our state’s public libraries, including Long Island Community Library!)