THE VERMONT COUNTRY STORE

I grew up just outside the small, and perfectly formed town of Weston, Vermont. Here is where you will find the original Vermont Country Store, owned by the Orton Family. They are specialists in the niche market of being "Purveyors of the Practical and Hard-To-Find". From kitchen gadgets, toys and hardware, to clothing, lotions and potions, the store holds thousands of vintage classics. More than that, it is a perfect example of the tradition of Country Stores in New England. With creaky wooden floorboards, antiques and curiosities hanging from the rafters and the most passionate and informed apron-clad staff, you could spend all day soaking up the spirit of this place.



Vrest and Ellen Orton opened The Vermont Country Store in 1946. Vrest had his roots in the traditional Country store, his father having owned the Orton General Store in Calais, Vermont from 1897. The Vermont Country Store is the first restored and fully operational country store in America, and is a jewel in the landscape of Vermont. Lyman Orton and his three sons are experts at discovering forgotten items and reintroducing them to the market. Their mail order catalogue "The Voice of The Mountains" is still a black and white publication that evokes the era of the products it showcases.


Since I was little, my favourite place in the store is the Candy section, naturally. The apothecary jars filled with many coloured classic hard candies, assorted licorice and chocolate of every kind, are just too enticing to pass by. I prefer to use the paper bags with pencils to tally up my goodies, but you can always just weigh out your picks.



My top tip is the pastel melty mints, kind of mint chocolate but in delicious shades of pink, green and yellow. Yum!


The Apothecary is a treasure trove of long forgotten tinctures, soaps and cosmetics given a new lease of life and introduced to new generations!

Interior images from Facebook

The Vermont Alliance of Independent Country Stores is a vibrant membership list of the best examples of this form of retail. If you are in our neck of the woods (Southern Vermont), make sure you stop by in Weston, and at the H.N.Williams General Store in Dorset to see the very best in the business. For further reading on the history of the Country store, start here, and here.

The Doctor

The apothecary idea comes from the old style apothecary, general store, country store, pharmacy....that used to sell everything, not just the necessary medicines, but the tinctures and remedies (often herbal) that served to better the lives of the community that they served. Growing up in Vermont, we were surrounded by stores like these that served as the heart of the community (a place for folks to gather and swap stories, connect and re-connect with their neighbours). For me, I can connect with this concept as the center of the community, people converging to look for remedies to many things, often to gain social interaction that can ease their burden and lighten their day. For the Fox Family the J.J. Hapgood Store was one such place. Hanging out by the pickle barrel, warming our hands by the stove, stepping over the town's dog Blueberry to get to the candy counter.

Image courtesy of redjar.org

On a more serious note, these institutions would be dying off but for the efforts of those involved in organisations such as the Vermont Alliance of Independent Country Stores.
When I was a child we used to go to the Mother of all country stores, still a vibrant and booming business for the Orton Family, The Vermont Country Store, stuffed full of hard to find products for the home, kitchen, beautification and clothing (flannel of course). My father, the country Doctor, was even quoted in the little hand written tags that were used to describe products, as recommending the goat's milk soap for anyone with sensitive skin. "Dr. Fox highly recommends...". Used to give us kids a kick..!
My brother was recently asked to write about my Dad (Pops) for another blogger at AllPlaidOut
on the subject of fathers for Father's Day. The archetypal Country Doctor, you will get every sense of the man if you read this article.

The Doctor Fox