jackets for layering

Mens open plaid shirt jacket from Johnson Woolen Mills, Vermont.

 Womens fleece hooded jacket with Native American print.

his & hers

1950s Melton hunting coat with back game pouch
Unlabeled hand knit sweater with loons

the county

After two years of living in Maine, I finally ventured to parts far inland and north that I have been eager to explore. Aroostook County, or simply The County, is (according to the tourist board) larger than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined and the largest county east of the Mississippi. Hugging the Canadian border - but fully embraced by international cell phone charges - I saw a good chunk of the populated County, although little relative to the expanse of the Great North Woods. Aroostook's two industries are visible while on the road, passing vast rolling potato fields and being passed by huge trucks carrying lumber. All the while being kept company by a mix of country music and French radio because otherwise, there is often not another soul around. 

It was a mission that not only yielded a bounty of true and tested work wear, but afforded many big views and small town moments. As much as I love the thrill of the search, I also appreciate learning about a place through that lens. Stumbling across a thrift shop tucked away in a hardware store, a town abuzz for 'half-off day' at the church's basement shop which is also serving up free coffee and donuts, the kind old gentleman watching his wife's shop who, on the sixth attempt, is able to ring me up on the new credit card system. I'm pretty sure I am considered 'from away' since I live in the Other Maine, coastal Maine. I'm told I just missed the potato blossoms which I can imagine enliven those hills that are now dug up and put to bed for the winter. I'll also have to return to the dauntingly huge Baxter State Park, where I arrived on the first day of its winter closing. I drove through the open gate and around in Katahdin's shadow, but without a ranger or map to be found, spontaneity-turned-underpreparedness resulted in little hiking. 

I returned to my own small town, my new midcoast home, where the Main Street was newly decorated with Christmas lights that brightened the afternoon and pitch black sky. Friends who were raised here say they've never travelled those parts. Maine intrigues me but it's becoming more familiar, and with that it seems more like home.

 

'the ballad of high noon'

The opening credits, sung by Tex Ritter...

french's mainers at work

Today, I am enjoying this collection of photographs by George W. French from the Maine State Archives' online exhibit, Workaday World of Maine. While he was the official photographer for the Maine Development Commission, these images from the 1930s and 40s represent his preferred genre of Mainers engaged in everyday activities at home and at work. See the images here.

selected stock this week

felt fedora, womens denim barn jacket, mens wool-lined leather ankle boots, womens Woolrich hooded jacket

                                                                             

purses pointing south and west

Felt handbag with Mexican geometric embroidered panels - front and back - and wooden handle...

Floral tooled leather shoulder bag...

fall plaids

Woolrich and Pendleton shirt jackets, both heavy wool but unlined...

MacGregor and Sears Roebuck light wool button-ups...

work shirts

Levis double flap pocket chambray western. Reads XL, but a large by today's standards.

Unlabelled ticking stripe, stiff collar shirt with hidden top snap...which looks best buttoned, although my mannequin's neck doesn't allow it. The shirt is on the small side.

(There's a good Wrangler jacket hiding behind.)

              

new in stock for women

Emerald cotton/linen flouncy dress with pleated top and rounded collar, Sears/1980s.

Form-hugging stripe shirt dress, Leslie Fay/1960s.

Very smart high-waisted tweed gauchos paired with crochet-trimmed, cuffed short sleeve blouse.

or else "everything is going to taste the same"

From Steve Jenkins' Cheese Primer:

Above all, I continue to place a premium on the nurturing of artisans, whether it be in the form of proffering advice or by exercising my buying power to support their noble efforts. The American artisans in particular are of paramount interest to me as part of the effort we should all be involved in to forestall the distinct possibility that in all of our lifetimes everything is going to taste the same.

talking food at the ICA

Tonight is quite the line-up of events at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the Maine College of Art as part of 'Consumption,' a week of programming that explores our relationship to food. Today's schedule includes talks by the folks behind Rabelais, Sara Kanabey from (other) Portland's Farmer General, and a butchering demonstration by Rosemont Market's Jarrod Spangler. These guests are amongst film screenings, children's programs and culminating in a pop-up Filipino restaurant tomorrow evening. See the full schedule here.

nomadics: camping season begins

I now love to camp.  It's not something I grew up doing or had much interest in until, well, I moved to Maine.  I like the ritual of setting up and breaking down the tent...rolling it, and the sleeping bag, back up into the impossibly small bags that contain them.  It also provides an inexpensive way for me to travel and pick for the shop.  Last night was my first camping adventure for the season and although it's still off-season here - which meant no running water or electricity -  the couple who own the grounds were nice enough to let me crash. The huge trade-off was an oceanfront spot without a soul around and only the sound of the waves to fall asleep to.

in stock today

Short sleeve crochet sweater

High-waisted wool pants

Brown leather moccasins

Little acorn print blouse

Ankle boots with buckle

Wrangler denim jacket

Goose down vest with braided cord trim

Woolrich hooded rain jacket

Brown stitched leather work boots

nomadics: the unschool bus

A couple of weeks ago, I came across this bus in a parking lot in New Hampshire. Clearly it had been converted into some sort of living or work space, and tagged UNSCHOOL, of course I was immediately intrigued. I only wished I could see its interior and not surprisingly, there is plenty of online content about this bus.

It is the roving home of the Halldorsons, a family of five from New Hampshire. Home schooling takes on another meaning when the home is on wheels and learning through experience is the hallmark of raising their two sons and daughter. While having children is not within my frame of reference, it seems there are plenty of kids receiving a conventional education who have otherwise miserable upbringings. The Halldorsons are a tight-knit bunch. Kelly Halldorson documents their travels and discusses their lifestyle choice on her blog.

So, back to the bus. This video is a tour through a conversion that very efficiently provides the primary functions of a living space, including privacy for each member of the family.

there, wearing this

Québécois sugar shack (from The Arctic Post)
French Canadian fleece-lined jacket

nomadics: by trailer, by boat

At first, I came across Andy Stewart's documentation of converting a 17' cargo trailer into a mobile living space, complete with solar panels and a wood-burning stove.

While the trailer is no longer his primary residence, it appears to have functioned well as a boathouse during his travels. I'm particularly fond of this video from last year which quietly captures his sailing adventure around Vinalhaven, Maine. 

Maine Island Trail from Andy Stewart on Vimeo.

a circular process

Salt 2: boatbuilding, sailmaking, island people, river driving, bean hole beans, wooden paddles and more Yankee doings

From the introduction by Pamela Wood. Speaking of the Salt Boatyard, an apprenticeship program in Kennebunk, Maine during the 1970s in conjunction with Salt magazine, and the origins of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies currently located in Portland.

My colleagues and I at the Salt Boatyard let the natural lure of making a good product be the principal conduit for directed energy. Making the product becomes the incentive, reward, mechanism, and symbol for learning and growth...

...It is a circular process, this making and learning. To make a product, the student must learn and the product is his learning, his achievement; in the end, product and learning become one. It is an exhilarating union. 

womenswear in stock

high-waisted tribal print wrap skirt

'50s crop tweed jacket

brown leather oxfords, black leather lace-up boots

plaid pleated sleeve blouse

wool crop asymmetrical vest with wooden buttons

Woolrich Woman plaid hooded coat

stripe 3/4 sleeve shirt dress

there, wearing this

Maryland cabin, via Cabin Porn

Woolrich chamois nightshirt

spring break

The Merchant Company, therefore the County Seat Supplies shop, will be closed for two weeks beginning Wednesday, February 15th.  This does not translate to a vacation for me, sadly, but the store owners surely deserve it. I, as I'm certain do all of the vendors, appreciate their willingness to try new things in order to keep this cooperative model sustainable, and their efforts day-in and day-out to maintain an outlet for my collection and provide an opportunity to build patronage of what has been a new and fulfilling venture. Bring on spring!

mens wool in stock

Going into the shop today...

L.L. Bean shawl collar sweater

London Fog "Outdoors Unlimited" henley sweater

Pendleton v-neck lambswool sweater

Pendleton plaid Board shirt