Continuing its exploration of the history of summer tourism on Penobscot Bay, Penobscot Marine Museum will hold Summer Folk Game Days on three Saturdays this summer: June 23, July 14 and August 25. Game Days will include lawn games such as croquet, badminton and bocce, and indoor games like cribbage, backgammon, checkers and chess. The events run from noon to 4 p.m., and participation is free with museum admission.

Maine became a popular tourism destination late in the 19th century, and until television became ubiquitous in the early 1960s, tourists were highly sociable, with sports and games playing an important role in their leisure activities. “Summer folk” at guest houses and hotels would regularly gather in parlors and on porches for cards and board games, while competitive sports both genteel and active were pursued on lawns, pitches, courts and ball fields.

“We expect the cribbage tournament to be especially hard-fought,” said Cipperly Good, Collections Manager at Penobscot Marine Museum, noting that it is being coordinated by the highly competitive Coastal Coffee House Cribbage Tournament, a popular Searsport institution.

Maine’s oldest maritime museum, Penobscot Marine Museum is celebrating the history of tourism with the exhibit “Summer Folk: The Tourists of Penobscot Bay,” and related programs and activities. The museum is also home to outstanding collections of historic boats, photography, marine art and artifacts, ship models and 19th century furnishings and architecture. The admission center is at 40 E. Main St. (US Rte. 1) in Searsport. More information is at www.SummerFolkMaine.com and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org, or call 207-548-2529.