The Maine Lobsterman

The Visit: On Thursday, April 24th, I visited The Maine Lobsterman monument in downtown Portland. Located in front of the Nickelodeon movie theater, this bronze sculpture sits proudly in the center of a small park surrounded by benches allowing for a nice relaxing sit on a warm spring day. To my satisfaction the site had almost no litter around it, making it a very noble looking monument. I could tell how accustom the locals had become to this statue being a part of their town because when I took pictures, those who were use to it gave me weird looks and those who were tourists quickly followed in my lead to see what I was looking at. The label on the bottom indicates that it was sculpted by Victor Kahill for the World's Fair in 1939 and a replica was placed in one of Portland's public squares by the city council in 1977. The sculpture its self is of a very common occurrence found all along the Maine coast. Historically lobstermen have occupied a large sector of the workforce in Maine and the lobster has become the defining symbol for this northern New England state. This monument is a handsome representation of a true Mainer at work.

Historical Significance: The 1939 World's Fair was held in New York City and had over 44 million people attend. This particular World's Fair was based on the future and its slogan was "Dawn of a New Day," encouraging visitors to "look at the world of tomorrow." One of the many zones found along the fair ground was the Government Zone where the Court of States consisted of exhibits for each American state. Maine's exhibit allowed for visitors to feel as if they were actually on the shores watching the cold ocean waves or in the mountains experiencing rushing rivers run through the forests. Maine residents acted as tour guides to their state, answering the questions of the people passing through. The Maine Lobsterman statue, which sat proudly in the exhibit, was created in hopes that it would show the world what Maine was about and its contributions on the global food supply. Many of the fair's visitors had probably never heard of Maine before, let alone known anything about its economy or beautiful landscape. This statue, along with the entire exhibit, exposed Maine to the world in a way the would open the door for new opportunities and intrigue the travelers who longed for the "real outdoors" experience.
In the mid 1970's the Maine Legislature allowed for money to be spent on creating three bronze replicas of the statue to be placed in Portland, Augusta, and near to Bailey's Island. About a year later the Cundy's Harbor Camp Fire Girls raised enough money to move the statue near Bailey's Island to Washington D.C. where it now sits as a tribute to the Maine lobstermen who devoted their lives to the sea. This statue, that was originally built for the World's Fair of 1936, now proudly represents Maine, its economy, its lobstermen, and the significance they have on Maine's history.


Resources: 1939 New York World's Fair: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939_New_York_World%27s_Fair
1939 NY World's Fair: http://www.1939nyworldsfair.com/worlds_fair/wf_tour/court_of_states/maine.htm
Maine Lobsterman Memorial to Remain on Washington D.C. Waterfront: http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Maine-Lobsterman-Memorial-to-Remain-on-Washington-DC-Waterfront/14801/