Danforth opens doors on Seymour St.

Author: Kelly Janis

Fred and Judi Danforth opened their first Danforth Pewter stores in Woodstock and Lincoln - at that time they were not thinking of building a business. Instead, Middlebury store owner Fred Danforth explained, "we were thinking of making fine things that could actually be taken into people's homes."

No longer just a store of "fine things," Danforth Pewter has blossomed into a flourishing enterprise which boasts a unique array of "hollow ware," or, vases, bowls, oil lamps, jewelry, picture frames and ornaments that are individually handcrafted using a combination of rustic early twentieth century equipment with modern cutting-edge techniques.

With a new location on Seymour Street and a successful grand opening, Danforth Pewter has proven itself to be one of the frontrunners in bringing pewter back to the shelves of fine stores across the nation.

Since Thomas Danforth II established the first store in Connecticut in 1755, Danforth Pewter has been handed down from generation to generation within the Danforth family. Today, current owner Fred Danforth knows the breadth of his family's historical involvement in colonial New England's pewter industry.

But as a young boy living in Ohio, Danforth was only vaguely aware of his family's past. It was not until he met an aspiring pewterer by the name of Judi - now his wife and business partner - that he gave deeper consideration to the Danforth family's vocation in colonial America.

"The woman I fell in love with," Danforth said, "helped me become connected to my roots."

Before Fred and Judi Danforth revived the business in 1975, the Danforth family's pewtering trade had been dormant for a century. At first, developing the craft was problematic for the couple because it required re-learning prior methods and means of production and applying them in a contemporary small business environment. When Danforth Pewter re-emerged in its modern incarnation, Danforth said, "[The products were made using] techniques, which from my standpoint were brand new because I discovered them."

Today, the company's connection to the methods of the past is not entirely in the techniques since the artisans have somewhat modernized their processes, but instead in what Danforth called, "the really warm feeling I get every time I work. I feel like I'm reconnecting all the time with my ancestors' roots."

The warmth evoked by the family's rich history of pewtering is, in Danforth's eyes, the driving force behind its success. He feels that the business serves to "bridge the gap between then and now," submerging its customers in nostalgia with its early twentieth century lathes and original touchmarks. "People like to have that sense of connection," said Danforth.

Though these connections with the past are acknowledged and cherished, the company firmly fixes its gaze on progress. "The process is integral with the way we design," Danforth said, "it is in the doing that the designing emerges." According to Danforth, pewter is a unique medium for artistic design and expression because of its malleable quality. Commenting on his own relationship with his medium, Danforth said, "Sometimes I get a message back from the metal about what shape it is going to be."

Innovations emerge constantly, Danforth said, as the company strives to put "new wrinkles" in time-honored designs. "Well, maybe that's not the best word," he said, "wrinkles aren't a good thing in spinning."

Another ingredient of Danforth's success is the four years he spent at Middlebury College in the late 60s and early 70s. The school "was a different place forty years ago," Danforth reflected. "I wasn't an honors student by any means," he admitted, explaining that he was instead "distracted by the era" of upheaval and protest. "It changed us," he said of the college, "but we changed it."

At the beginning of Danforth's first year, male students were required to wear a coat and tie to dinner each night. Before long, such an obligation was enforced only on Sundays. By the year's end, the rule was eliminated entirely.

Danforth now relishes in those cultural transformations which he and his classmates helped instigate, yet Danforth still values his time at the college for the "roundedness of education" and the opportunity to "learn how to think" as well as the lifelong friendships he cultivated. The college, he said, "was a springboard for breaking out of my childhood preconceptions of the world."

Now that his company is established in the world of pewter design, Danforth is proud of his work, which he strives to make "aesthetically pleasing and functional." Maintaining positive and supportive work relationships is also a high priority for the Danforth Pewter owner who lauded the overriding sense of "teamwork and camaraderie" among the employees. "We try to be fair with our employees, and fair with ourselves," Danforth said, "[in] offering a great product for a great price" and "treading lightly on the planet" with the re-use of raw materials and the maintenance of an eco-conscious frame of mind.

With five retail locations, a presence in selected specialty shops nationwide, a mail order catalog and an online store, their pewter business is booming. Fusing antique methods with incisive advances, beauty with functionality and an aptitude for commerce with a human touch, Danforth Pewter promises to illuminate its Middlebury home with pride for generations to come.