The old sea captain homes that line downtown streets in places like Thomaston and Searsport were the trophy homes of their day. In the 19th century, when mariners and ship masters lived in those homes, they displayed the spoils of the success they achieved by sailing to trade in far away lands. And so it’s not unusual to find a vase or a carved chest from China in the attics of those houses.

Mainers recognized then that the state’s economic fate lay well beyond its shores. Whether it was pine trees for ship masts or salted fish, engaging in trade—no matter how far away the market—was necessary.

But from the late 19th century until perhaps three decades ago, Maine became insular, and maybe even provincial in its approach to its export potential. An attitude wary of the great big world held sway.

Yet back in those earlier glory days of Maine shipping, coastal residents were in some ways more cosmopolitan than they are today. One could board a coastal steamer in the evening and be walking the streets of Boston the next morning, a link that closed in the 1930s when the Eastern Steamship Co. ended service in Maine.

Coastal and island harbors were the on-ramps of their day for a maritime interstate — or, really an international transportation network.

So when Eliot Cutler talks about developing markets for specific Maine products in China, as he does in our “On The Record” interview with him in this month’s issue, it’s really not a new idea.

Cutler, who came close to winning election as governor in 2010, is gearing up to run again next year. It’s certainly too early to make any pronouncement about how he compares to others in what will likely be a crowded field of candidates. But on trade for two Maine products, lobster and boats, he offers more than rhetoric and theory.

Cutler and his business partners have developed ties with China through which they’ve begun to educate the emerging middle class there about what the Pine Tree State offers. And educate is the right word; it’s not enough to sit back and wait to be discovered, he asserts. MaineAsia, Cutler’s business, brought Chinese distributors and journalists to the state to see and experience how lobster are caught and cooked, and how our boats are built and used.

Another key, Cutler said, is to maintain a marketing plan over the long haul. It’s not enough to send a trade mission to Korea or Japan, then to Brazil or Chile the next year. It’s got to be sustained, building on the relationships that are established, he said.

Finally, Cutler argues that lobster, boats, blueberries, wood products and even tourism must be part of a comprehensive marketing strategy, all linked to what can be understood as Maine’s mystique and the cultural and natural assets for which it is — or could be — known.

This last point may be a stretch. But Cutler’s analysis is correct in that Maine’s natural resources still can find a place in the world market. If Maine lobster or boats connect with a tiny fraction of China’s upper middle class, exports would soar.

Legislators and the current inhabitant of the Blaine House would do well to consider — or reconsider — the Maine-China connection.