Maine is not easily summed up or defined.

We knew this when he published our story, “Maine explained in 40 objects,” on July 5. As the country celebrated its 250th birthday, we wanted to present a list of things that help tell the state’s story.

But we were aware there are more than 40 ways to explain the state, and that we’d forget about some or have to cut a few. So we asked readers to tell us what they would add. It’s a good thing we did, because we missed some pretty big stuff.

Some readers wanted to add a place — not technically an object — which is a question we struggled with when putting together the original list. Other suggestions, such as “The Humble Farmer” radio broadcast and the Common Ground Country Fair, while great representations of Maine, are clearly not tangible things.

But most of the suggestions were spot on, pointing out things that play an important part in Maine’s history and lore.

LIST-WORTHY

Big Jim

This 40-foot-tall billboard image of a fisherman holding a giant sardine can was first installed in Kittery in the late 1950s, then moved to the Stinson Cannery in Prospect Harbor a decade or so later. He’s now being restored, a project led by the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport.

Black flies

These small but mighty creatures are as strongly associated with the Maine woods as moose and pine trees. They serve a couple of important purposes for Mainers; they help keep the tourist count down and they let us wear bloody fly bites like badges of honor.

Cadillac Mountain

Located in Acadia National Park, the mountain is 1,530 feet high, making it the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard and one of the first places in the country to see the sun rise. And you can drive up, so it’s accessible to all.

Fiddleheads

The curly fronds of a growing fern, fiddleheads are a sign of spring and part of the state’s history, especially important to Indigenous peoples but also found in the state’s fancier restaurants.

Ice fishing shacks

Each winter, Maine sees a building boom as ice fishing shacks pop up on lakes and ponds all over. Some are fairly luxurious, including rentals that come with heating, TVs and cozy couches.

Lobster

One of the best-known and best-loved symbols of Maine is the lobster. It’s the basis of one of the state’s most important industries and a favorite food of tourists. In our defense, we did put lobster boats and lobster rolls on our original list.

Ployes

Brought to northern Maine by French Acadians, ployes aren’t quite pancakes or crepes. The batter includes buckwheat and whole-wheat flour, but they aren’t flipped. Toppings can include molasses, butter, jam or cretons (French Canadian pork spread).

Potatoes

Ask anyone in the country to name a place where potatoes are grown, and most will give one of two answers, Idaho or Maine. The humble potato has long been crucial to the economy and farming culture of Aroostook County.

Venison

Deer hunting is a beloved annual tradition for many Mainers, and venison is part of that. Many folks consider it a point of pride to have a freezer full of venison steaks.

OPEN FOR DEBATE

Maple syrup

In deciding which food items would make the list, we had to be picky, and this one ended up getting cut because it’s more closely associated with Vermont than Maine. In fact, even New York state makes more of it than we do.

Sea Bags

These recognizable bags made out of recycled sails certainly have a huge following, but they haven’t reached the status of global icon, like their counterpart from L.L.Bean, and we weren’t about to include two totes on our list.

Big Freeport Indian

This was originally among the landmarks we considered, but it’s received backlash for being disrespectful and historically inaccurate, which we considered disqualifying as a symbol of our state.

Fort Gorges

While this Portland Harbor landmark might be well-known in southern Maine, we doubt it’s easily identifiable to people all over the state, and it doesn’t tell a particularly compelling story about our history, considering it was deemed obsolete by the time it was completed in 1864.

Popham Beach

If we had included a beach on our list, this would have been a good choice. Stretches of sand, however, didn’t strike us as objects.

Tim Sample

Sample is arguably the best-known practitioner of traditional Maine humor. We didn’t include any people on the list, though we did have several animals, so you could argue that was an oversight. Sample, however, did get a mention in our Moody’s Diner listing.

Wolfe’s Neck State Park

We had considered including Acadia but, in the end, decided that parks weren’t really objects. Even if we came to a different conclusion, though, Wolfe’s Neck, beautiful as it is, would have taken a back seat to both the national park and Baxter.

Fried clams

Again, food was a competitive category, and while clamming is certainly part of our culture, we have to let Massachusetts lay claim to the battered bivalve. You know we’d scoff at seeing lobster on its version of this list.

Maine Times

A newspaper? What a great idea! This one, however, is defunct, and as you can imagine, we have different thoughts about which publication best represents our state.