if You Can't Find It

At The Vermont Country Store in Weston, VT, then maybe you don't need it.

We'd heard about this store which refers to itself as the "Original General Store." The main store is located in Weston, VT, about an hour from where we recently stayed in Killington, VT. This is Weston's main thoroughfare, The Vermont Country Store is on the right. The store is America’s first restored and fully operational country store and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Don't worry about being hungry when you get there. The rear of the store features a wide variety of foods to sample from including crackers, dips, cheeses and candies. We noticed that the samples would be refilled by store personnel when they began to run low.

The Vermont Country Store remains a family-owned and operated business that dates back over 100 years and it's still operated by the Orton family. The store's extensive inventory includes "old-time" favorites and classic products. There's an entire section devoted to sweet treats. Do you remember some of these candies?

The original general store and catalog business was built on the premise that merchandise sold must be durable and above all practical, a tradition it still maintains. According to the posted Customer Bill of Rights, customer satisfaction is top priority. Every item is backed by a no-hassle 100% guarantee. Forever.

Our late October visit was just in time to see this extensive displays of Christmas-themed items including vintage-themed candles, lights and figurines.

The toy section included new toys modeled after earlier vintage ones including Rock-Em, Sock-Em Robots, Magic 8-Ball and Pick-Up sticks. (Do you remember how adults liked played with Rock-Em, Sock-Em Robots in the Santa Clause film?)

Not only did was there a country sink, but also a vintage washing machine and many related house wares. I recall that my mother used a laundry sprinkler top to dampen clothes before ironing them.

In 1897, Gardner Lyman Orton opened a general store with his father-in-law Melvin Teachout in Calais, VT. Gardner's son, Vrest, was born that year. The Teachout-Orton general store was the model for The Vermont Country Store.

Syrup display at the Vermont Country Store

Vrest served in WWI, attended Harvard and worked in NYC before returning to Vermont in 1930 and settling in the village of Weston. He married Mildred Ellen Wilcox in 1936, and founded a book publishing company, The Countryman Press. 

Vrest and Mildred Ellen Orton

In the fall of 1945, the Ortons started a mail-order business through The Voice of the Mountains catalog. The 12-page, 36-item catalog was produced on a printing press in their garage and mailed to 12,000 people at Christmas. A frugal Yankee, Orton insisted that items must be “useful, work and make sense.” Based on the catalog's success, the Ortons purchased a 1927 former country inn and opened The Vermont Country Store in Weston, VT in 1946. 

As its catalog mailing list grew, the store gained national attention with the publication of a 1952 article in the Saturday Evening Post magazine, "The Happy Shopkeeper of the Green Mountains." The magazine was one of the most widely-read publications in America with a readership of several million people. 

The feature article gave the store exposure to a national audience. People all over the country wanted to visit the store. That tradition continues today when in summer and fall months, the parking area is filled with busloads of tourist groups. Thankfully, our visit was in the "off" season after summer and leaf pepping had ended and before ski season starts and we didn't have any crowds in the store.

Thankfully, our visit was in the "off" season after summer and leaf pepping had ended and before ski season starts and we didn't have any crowds in the store. 

Yes, we looked at everything and yet managed to leave without buying anything more than some fudge. The selection is extensive, and most prices seemed to be higher than in other places we've visited.