In the Sunbelt shop for summer; in Vermont shop for winter. Cold weather is Vermont's specialty. From handspun wool to wood stoves the emphasis is on keeping people warm.
Nowhere is that more evident than at the Johnson Woolen Mills, a century-old winter outfitter on Route 15 at Johnson, 15 miles north of Stowe. The sign outside the gray clapboard mill says "Air Conditioned," but cooling off is not usually a problem. The six small salesrooms jammed with woolen products reveal that staying warm is the real concern.
The store's layout suggests Early L.L. Bean: a few rooms in a plain roadside building. The wool pants, shirts, hunting jackets and blankets, made in adjoining rooms, practically announce coziness. A Johnson Woolen Mills label is recognized in the north country as a sign of sturdy clothing good for many winters.
The clothes come from the sheep with a minimum of intervention. They aren't designed: they more or less evolve over the years, says Del Barrows, executive vice-president of the family business his grandfather, D.A. Barrows, bought in 1907. "We don't have designers," he says, considering them to be city types whom "one good long winter would drive back to the flatlands."
From 1842 to 1962 the mill produced woolen fabric in the buildings along the Gihon River behind the present building. It began making clothes around the turn of the century. Now fabric is bought from other American woolen mills, and the riverside complex is used only for storage.
Johnson Woolen Mills' factory store stocks a good selection of its output, the bulk of which is sold in sportswear shops throughout the country or through a modest brochure available by mail or at tourist information stands in Vermont.
To reach the salesrooms walk through the office, passing secretarial desks, and the room still furnished with D.A. Barrows's rolltop desk and portraits of Theodore Roosevelt and his friend Calvin Coolidge. The "waste not, want not" principle on which the business thrives is evident in the box of wool patches (50 cents) and shelf of lined mittens made from red and black plaid scraps. "We don't waste anything," declares Mr. Barrows.
The salesrooms and fitting room, most without windows, have the compact and efficient, if cramped, feeling of a ship on which everyone is crowded for a good cause. Hunting coats and pants are among the popular items, easily spotted on Vermont streets during deer season. They are made of heavy fabric in traditional scarlet or bright red or green plaid, featuring many heavy-duty pockets for gear or game. Coats are $60, pants $40.
Johnson outdoor pants, worn by outdoorsmen for nearly a century, appear to be indestructible. All styles are water-repellent. Most often seen are the dark green 22-ounce wool blend ($27) and the even heavier Malone plaid in gray with fine red and green overplaid ($38). The all-wool reverse whipcord pants are made inside out for a smooth finish. Boys' or small men's sizes fit women.
Mr. Barrows says a current favorite is a jacket-shirt with a "cape" or a double front and back for extra warmth and water protection, made since the 1930's. It comes in 12 plaids and plain colors and zips up the front for $38 to $43 depending on size.
Sizes are important at Johnson Woolen Mills. Prices are often based on how much fabric used and vary within a single style. There is a generous section for garments sized "Tall," "X-Large" and "XX-Large." The Paul Bunyanesque-proportioned clothing includes shirts, jackets, one-piece union suits and flannel nightshirts.
Husky woodsmen's sizes are balanced with children's sizes in heavy wool plaid jackets ($45) and other outerwear. Zippered children's sweaters, made on a home knitting machine by Cold Hollow Knitting in nearby Belvidere, are particularly handsome in heathery grays and blues with contrasting decorative bands ($49). Helmetlike hats for children from the same knitter are $11.50, and like the sweaters, smell of natural wool.
Cold Hollow Knitting also supplies the factory store with similar adult sweaters. Knitted in misty colors with contrasting designs at the shoulders or bottom, they have shawl collars, crew necks or zippers (small, medium or large: $66).
Johnson Woolen Mills has developed several cottage-industry sources for the shop. In addition to those by Cold Hollow, knitted wool ski hats are supplied by other local knitters; Bar-W Originals of Morrisville and Vermont Originals of East Hardwick. They are ear-hugging designs of heavy wool, often featuring snowflake patterns. A local seamstress sews a popular one-size wool plaid poncho from the Mills' fringed car robe.
Robes, throws and blankets stacked on shelves under the sign "Motoring, Games, Picnics" are customer favorites. They range from Hudson Bay blankets ($140 twin) and the Mill's own all-wool Chalet with wide border stripes and shipped edges ($55 twin) to the 85 percent wool plaid fringed car robe ($27.50) and the "Utility Robe" ($1595).
Shoppers browsing through the tight quarters of the shop will also find items made elsewhere. The stock includes small selections of men's and women's blazers, flannel trousers, outdoor jackets, skirts and sweaters with labels such as Woolrich and Braemar. A recent visit to the women's section in back turned up kilts made in Scotland ($62), a black and red cape ($110), and a full -length, double-breasted, leather-buttoned reefer coat by Mackintosh of England ($155). White Canadian blanket coats were $140.
Bargain hunters have several racks of sale items to search, including Johnson labels and others. There are seconds on blankets, often a good buy. Sewers can purchase wool and wool blends by the yard. The traditional all-wool red or green hunting plaids are $8.50.
Johnson Woolen Mills is open year round Monday through Friday form 8 A.M. to 5 P.M. and Saturday from 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. mail order brochures are available from the Mills, Johnson, Vt. 05656. Telephone orders are taken at 802-635-2271.
