A 16-by-8-foot antique painted curtain, found under the stage in the former home of Nobleboro Grange #369, will be offered for sale by the building’s new owner.
Contractor Richard Hatch said last week that he would like to display the curtain on the premises where he found it, but he does not have an unobstructed wall large enough to show the item.
The grange was chartered in 1901 and the hall completed in 1902. In early 2010, the Nobleboro Grange merged with the membership of the Meenahga Grange. The building was put up for sale and Hatch bought it, planning to turn the ground floor into a workshop and living space. In a Sept. 12 news story, Hatch said the future use for the upper level is still under consideration.
When Hatch began preparing for work on the interior he discovered a piece of heavy cloth rolled up on a log, under the upstairs stage. By taking it out through a hole in the building’s exterior, he was able to maneuver it back into the building and unroll the canvas, revealing the large painted curtain.
According to the website at curtainswithoutborders.org, “Grand drapes and painted backdrops were the primary artistic feature in the cultural life of almost every village and town in northern New England a century ago. The scenery was permanently installed, available as set backdrops for traveling troupes, speakers, locally-produced variety shows and various societies and clubs.”
Currently information about historic scenery in Maine is only gathered informally, and Curtains Without Borders has been seeking local assistance and information for a statewide survey they hope to conduct in the near future.
The Nobleboro curtain depicts a farm, church, lighthouse and three-masted schooner in a coastal scene that includes distant hills and islands. It appears to be painted by a local artist and bears the legend “The Bald Mountain Co. – Printing of All Kinds – Rockland, Maine” under the landscape.
The lower third of the mural comprises 35 box advertisements for businesses ranging from Moody’s Diner in Waldoboro to Newcastle Grain Co. While a number of the companies that advertised on the curtain are still in business, many of them are no longer operating. From the dates of operation of some of those latter companies, it appears the curtain was made sometime between 1921 and 1941.
Curtains Without Borders Director Christine Hadsel said in a telephone interview that these objects are of great importance in the communities represented in the advertising they display, but have little or no monetary value outside of those communities. She said donors who give old painted curtains to historical societies, granges or other nonprofits may receive a tax deduction on up to $3000 against their income.
“It would be a real shame to let it go out of town,” Hadsel said. “The advertisements on it are peculiar to your town.” Hadsel suggested Hatch approach the Nobleboro Historical Society or Meenahga Grange, which is already storing a curtain from another grange.
“There’s nobody out there who collects these things,” Hadsel said.
“We are definitely interested,” Nobleboro Historical Society President Mary Sheldon said Oct 2. “Our basement is now dry, Certainly that’s long enough to store it along one of the walls.” She said the basement is being converted into a display area and that it might be possible for the curtain to hang on a wall there.
Sheldon said the society is an all-volunteer organization with almost 200 members, many of whom are retired and living in other communities.
“There is a home for this curtain,” Hadsel said. “We try to encourage towns to hold on to these things. It’s their story. It’s entirely based on the life in Nobleboro in the mid-1930s.”
