The funniest part of the Vermont Country Store catalog is the underwear. The women’s cotton briefs they sell reach from the belly button to the knee. I exaggerate, of course, but probably by less than you think.
They do not sell men’s underwear. They don’t sell much in the way of men’s clothes at all — just five of the current catalog’s 100 pages are devoted to menswear, including nightshirts in burgundy and green. Nightshirts are what Ebenezer Scrooge wore, and people of his era.
And that is the point. If your grandparents used it, they sell it at the Vermont Country Store. Wind-up watches.
Patchwork quilts. Elderberry tonic. My eye was first caught in the current catalog by a page titled “Tried & True: Kitchen helpers that just plain work — Guaranteed!” It includes the kitchen gadgets we all grew up with but maybe don’t use anymore.
Flour sifters. Stainless steel ice cube trays that “won’t crack like the plastic ones.” A small butter churner that does the same thing a blender can do but costs $49.
95. That hand-held can opener you think of when you think about can openers (that one I still do use). On the opposite page, they offer a coffee percolator.
I have made fun of the Vermont Country Store in the past . It was Halloween, and they specialized in the old-fashioned candies that all kids hate (or at least me, but I suspect it is all kids): Mary Janes, Bit-O-Honeys, Necco wafers and the like. But to be honest, I appreciate the Vermont Country Store.