Vermont Country Store

How the catalog was started: Vrest Orton had vivid memories of growing up in the general store started by his father in 1897. He and his wife, Ellen, eventually assembled those memories into a catalog, which was printed in their garage and mailed just to their Christmas card list in late 1945. And so began the success story of a family business. Not all in the family: Bob Allen joined The Vermont Country Store in 1982. He held various positions within the company, and in 1994 he was the first non-family member to be named president. Two years later he was named CEO. Allen

The words you’re reading right now are printed in the New Baskerville typeface, at 11 points, with 12-point leading (spacing between lines). This point size and leading are considered just right for readability. Cyrus Highsmith, a type designer at the Font Bureau in Boston, says New Baskerville is popular because its “transitional” look blends the loopy traces of handwriting with the cold geometry of modern type styles. This font is a revival of a typeface originally drawn by English typesetter John Baskerville in the 18th century. Highsmith says Baskerville’s type looked crisper due to the paper he used. Some critics thought the