Gillingham & Sons

“We’re a real store staffed by real people, not a warehouse with a web page,” is the assurance you will find at Gillingham & Sons’ web site. Amen to that! Situated in the center of the intensely picturesque Yankee village of Woodstock, this is a shop redolent of history, with dark wood floors that list and creak but seem strong enough to last several more centuries. It has been around a while, opening for business in 1886 in a building that was built seventy-five years before that.

This is not a restaurant, but a full-service store, with an inventory that ranges from groceries to such arcane household items as wooden wheelbarrows, washboards, and soapstone griddles. It’s one of the few stores we know to offer full-size cotton teepees for camping, as well as a wooden rocking boat (a dory-shaped crib for baby). Foodwise, the inventory includes Vermont salad dressings, mustards, and herbal vinegars as well as a good supply of artisan beers. Of course there are local cheddar rounds, cracker-barrel crackers, and all sorts of maple syrup products. The item we like best is ham: maple-cured and slow-smoked over corn cobs and apple wood. Whole and half hams are available, as well as two-pound packs of unspeakably delicious maple-pepper bacon. There’s also smoked turkey – whole or by the pound.

If you don’t have plans to visit Woodstock, Gillingham & Sons can send you anything by mail. In addition to web-site shopping, there are printed catalogs available.