Since I’m snowed in for the weekend, I’m finally starting the New Year with a long overdue blog post.  This past week I visited the Victoria Mansion in Portland, decorated beautifully for the Holiday Season.  My original intention was to share this visit with you through photographs, but unfortunately I found that they do not allow interior photos to be taken. When I asked a couple of volunteers why photography was not allowed, I was told:

1)  Security – If photos were seen it could encourage someone to steal the antiques. (Apparently the detailed photos for sale in the gift shop are not a risk?)
2)  Flash might hurt the delicate paint on the walls.

When I mentioned I was hoping to use photos in my blog post, a very nice volunteer did encourage me to contact the management which might supply me with some approved photos. (That would take all the fun out of it for me.  The exterior photos shown are mine.)

This got me thinking about how much has changed, not only since the time the house was built, but since the time this policy must have been set.  Indoor photos can be easily taken without flash by most cameras.  Blogging is a common way of sharing information that would encourage more visitors to enjoy historic landmarks such as the Victoria Mansion, but a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.  What do you think?

I decided to view the house anyway ($15) and it was indeed lovely.  Today is the last day it will be open this winter, but if you are in Portland you will be able to enjoy it starting in May.

http://www.victoriamansion.org/tour.html

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 1:23 pm and is filed under Images of Maine, Interesting Maine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.