Vermont Country Store: kitchen promotions, coupons, offers

The history of Vermont Country Store dates back to 1897, when Gardner Lyman Orton, the eighth generation of Ortons in the United States, opened a general store with his father-in-law Melvin Teachout in Calais, Vermont. His son Vrest, who was born in the same year, grew up with fond memories of the store and its role in the community. After working as a writer and publisher in New York City, Vrest returned to Vermont in 1930 and settled in the village of Weston. He married Mildred Ellen Wilcox in 1936 and founded a book publishing company, The Countryman Press. During World War II, Vrest worked at the Pentagon as a speechwriter and publicist, and came up with the idea of creating a catalog and store based on the Teachout-Orton store. In the fall of 1945, Vrest and Mildred launched their first catalog, "The Voice of the Mountains", featuring 36 items. They printed and mailed it from their garage to their family and friends. The following spring, they opened The Vermont Country Store in Weston, in a two-story building that was built in 1827 as a country inn. The store became the first restored and fully operational country store in the nation, and attracted national attention with a 1952 article in the Saturday Evening Post. Today, The Vermont Country Store is owned by Lyman Orton and his sons Cabot, Gardner, and Eliot, who are the seventh and eighth generation of storekeepers. They continue to offer practical and hard-to-find products through their catalogs, website, and two retail stores in Weston and Rockingham .