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Elmer
Wilson Born and
raised on a farm in Whitefield, Elmer's first job was with Ed Howe at
the famous Howe Fur Company on Main Street in the Coopers Mills
section of our town. Ed Howe's business rivaled L.L. Bean's. Their
merchandise, catalog and customers were very similar. In the work
with Howe, Elmer became acquainted with firearms and soon was buying and
selling new as well as old guns. As Ed's business evolved into a more antique firearms business, Elmer began supplementing the auction materials with antiques other than guns. He began searching the countryside - buying tobacco tins, advertising items and other relics that appealed to the many buyers at their nationally famous auctions.
In dealing with the
wide variety of antiques and used materials that Elmer has become noted
for, he began to "see" things in the farm implement
parts and pieces of architectural trim that his customers expected An ornate cast iron stove door mounted in the center of a wood gate crafted from old fence boards makes a handy cat's entrance. A metal wagon rim
frames a piece of Victorian wood trim. An old dolls He has standing orders with local woodcutters to look out for the right branched trunk that will make his next vision a reality. Elmer can be found
most days at Elmer's Barn on Rockland Road (route 17) in the Coopers
Mills village of Whitefield. 549-7671.
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When
Ed Howe died and the Fur Company folded, Elmer was in the antique
business full time. And when the Howe home and buildings came up for
sale Elmer
knew that they were for him.
head
stares mysteriously from an ancient wooden box.