Summer at Victoria Mansion

Victoria Mansion is open for our 2023 regular season!

Masks (face coverings) are encouraged but not required at this time.

Reserve your tickets online any time!

Please note that our ticket pricing and structures have changed.

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In this newsletter:

• Victoria Mansion Offers Classes with OLLI
• Internship Recap - Guest Column by USM Intern Sylvia
• We're Hiring!
• Upcoming Events & Programs

Above: Sylvia's plaster decoration restoration in progress on the hall entrance to the Red Bedroom on the second floor. Blue painter's tape holds the delicate pieces in place while they set.

Two long-term projects that I have been working on are creating an online database for one of the scrapbooks made by the Victoria Society, and reattaching plaster tips to different door frames in the Mansion. The latter of these projects has been challenging at times because there is a box full of these tips in the Mansion's collections storage in the Billiard Room, most of them without any indication regarding which door frame they belong to. So far, I have reattached twenty-four of these pieces. It is especially exciting when I can find the exact spot the piece fell from, because it fits back perfectly like a puzzle piece. Another project that Siobhan taught me how to do is accessioning and cataloging different objects owned by the Mansion into Pastperfect, a software database. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such kind people on a variety of different projects. 

Above: Scrapbooks from ca.1951 chronicling Victoria Society activities that Sylvia has been adding to a digital database. Highlights include a "Victoria Mansion Week" exhibition of Victorian material culture, costumed event hostesses, speaker engagements, and honors for a female journalist from Maine. The Victoria Society assumed care of Victoria Mansion in 1943, and the organization's name changed officially to Victoria Mansion in the mid-1990s.

Thank you Sylvia for all of your hard work this June! Keep an eye on our Events page and check out our event announcements below if you'd like to learn more about the Victorian Fair and why Sylvia was researching mummy unwrapping parties...

Victoria Mansion is seeking a part-time Museum Shop Assistant to join us for the 2023 regular and holiday seasons. This is a flexible, seasonal position for 33 weeks per year between May 1 and October 31 and for the holiday season from the end of November through the beginning of January, with potential additional opportunities during the off-season of January-April. The Museum Shop Assistant assists with sales and provides customer service. Paid training is provided. This is an onsite position at our museum shop at 109 Danforth Street in Portland, ME.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Customer service and cashiering in the Carriage House Museum Shop, including handling merchandise transactions, selling tickets, and answering the phone.
• Assisting Site Managers to ensure professional and timely assistance for patrons.
• Position includes duties that require variable work hours.

Education and Experience

• High school graduate; BA in liberal arts/humanities, education, or history preferred.
• Experience working with diverse age groups and constituencies.
• Ability to work with a computerized point of sale system.

Key Competencies

• Excellent verbal communication skills
• Flexibility and problem analysis/problem solving
• A team player with other staff and volunteers
• Must enjoy working with all age groups and backgrounds
• Professional appearance
• Interest in local history and/or 19th century history a plus
• Willingness to train as a guide to give occasional tours a plus

Victoria Mansion is committed to providing equal employment opportunity to all persons in regard to all employment decisions, including but not limited to recruiting, hiring, training, promotions, and compensation, without regard to race, color, sex, familial status, religion, age, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression, veteran status or other protected status. 

To apply, please email a resume, cover letter, and names/contact information of two to three references to Sue Flaherty, Visitor Services Coordinator, at sflaherty@victoriamansion.org. For questions pertaining to this position, please call Sue Flaherty at (207) 772-4841 ext. 106.

Brownstone Brews & Bites:

Brought to You by Allagash

Friday, July 14th | 5:30pm-8:30pm

Celebrating Victoria Mansion’s 17-year partnership with Allagash Brewing, our annual summer fundraiser is back – with a new name – for the first time since 2019!

Join us on the Mansion lawn on Friday, July 14th for great drinks, great food, and great company as we raise money for Victoria Mansion’s historic preservation and educational efforts. All attendees will receive a free Allagash Brewing glass for the event that they can take home.

Beverage sponsors Allagash Brewing, Cellardoor Winery, and Green Bee soda will have drinks available on the lawn throughout the evening, plus food from the Pink Waffle and Anania's! Thank you to event sponsors Allagash Brewing and Bird & Co.

We’re also pleased to announce that the Pete Kilpatrick Band will be returning to the Mansion, providing live music for the event!

This popular event tends to sell out - reserve your tickets here!

Tickets are $48/general public and $40/Victoria Mansion members. Plus, save $5 per ticket when you reserve 6 or more. Become a member today and save on tickets to all Mansion events!

IDs will be checked at the door and are required for alcohol consumption.

For the first time since 2017, our outdoor Victorian Fair will return to the Mansion lawn this October, with an "odd" twist! Join us for A Bizarre Victorian Bazaar: An Exposition of Oddities and the Obscure. This one-day fair kicks off the Halloween season with an educational (and entertaining!) take on Victorian folklore, camera trickery, Spiritualism, and more.

Learn about how two girls tricked several newspaper readers into believing they had captured photos of fairies, how purported mediums conducted seances, and why some elite Victorians held mummy unwrapping parties. Have your palm read, create Victorian crafts, and much more! This fair is designed for all ages, with activities and games for kids throughout the day. Plus, live music by the Shank Painters!

Keep an eye on our Events webpage, and our Facebook and Instagram pages, as we announce Bazaar happenings over the next few months, and for info on when tickets will go on sale.

Victoria Mansion will not be running regular tours on October 7th, but the house will be open for event attendees to tour.