The banners were once paraded by tradesmen belonging to the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association including bakers, blacksmiths and hatters who emblazoned their emblems and mottos onto the silk broadsides. A forerunner to the labor union, the association now acts as more of a historical society with a museum and says it could use the extra money from the sale of the banners.
But Preservationists call them a state treasure that need to stay in Maine, and be shared with the public.
"These are very important to our communal understanding is in Maine in the 19th century," said Tom Denenberg, chief curator at the Portland Museum of Art.
"It would be a shame if they were sold piecemeal across the nation, just as relics or as bits of folk art," said Denenberg. "These are really part of our history. The current notion is how do we keep them in the state. And there's certainly a number of organizations -- the Maine State Museum, the Maine Historical Society, the Portland Museum of Art, the Maine Maritime Museum who all broadly have a stake in the heritage of the state of Maine."
There is the issue of cost. As a set, the appraised value is between $125,000 to $225,000. The most expensive banner -- representing shipbuilders with the phrase "By Commerce We Live" is expected to fetch up to $30,000 alone.
Denenberg won't say whether the museums will get together to bid on the banners. But that's the expectation of Earle Shettleworth, Maine state historian and director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.
"I think that the cultural institutions in the state who are concerned about these items will certainly do their very best to assemble funds and bid on these items," said Shetleworth.
Not that Shettleworth thinks the banners should be auctioned off in the first place. He says that when he got wind of the sale by the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association, of which he is a member, he was shocked.
"Shocked because they were known to be of historical and cultural significance to the city and state over the last 25 or so years since they had been rediscovered," Shettleworth said. "Selling an important piece of your collection is often in the museum field viewed as a last resort as opposed to addressing a financial problem through appealing to membership, through people in the community."
"We're not in a position to maintain those banners at the cost and the insurance and to restore them so we made the move," said Wayne Ross.
He's president of the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association which maintains its library in the 19th century building it owns in downtown Portland.
"We get by, it's just very close we can't do anything to the building to maintain it," said Ross. "We can't get our endowment up to where we can totally live off it."
Ross is a former president of Southern Maine Community College. He says the auction of the banners is not entirely about money.
"The banners have been stored -- and I'll show you in there -- in a metal case," said Ross.
Heading toward a back room in the library, Ross says the banners deserve better treatment. There is no climate control, and little to protect the banners from theft other than an alarm system for the library.
"It was not a locked cabinet. But they were out flat in here with a piece of paper underneath -- the banner and another piece on top. I mean, really, anybody probably could have had access to them."
While Ross says that the banners are rarely displayed in Maine, he still would like them to be purchased by local groups so there is that option. The Fairfield auction house hired by the association, James D. Julia Inc. says it is trying to make it easier for local groups to win at auction.
"I suggested to them that when we sell the banners, let's offer the option of financing the banners, and they can finance them for a year or 20 years," said Julia.
Julia says he'd also like to keep the collection of banners intact. So after bidding ends on each of the individual banners, he will tally up the high bids and tack on 10 percent to come up with a starting bid on the set.
"My job as an auctioneer to the association is to generate as much money as I possibly can for them," said Julia. "What we will be doing with the banners is something that we very rarely do but because of the unique situation it warrants it."
Tom Denenberg won't reveal what, if any, impact these overtures by the auction house will have on the museums' plans. He's holding out hope that they won't have to spend a cent themselves.
"Best case situation of course is for an angel to step forward and buy them for the Maine Historical Society, the Maine State Museum or the Portland Museum of Art," said Denenberg.
The three-day auction takes place starting on the 25th this month.
Visit James D. Julia's website and scroll down to the middle of the page to see images of the banners