Baldwin continues 115-year tradition.

By David VerziPrint Story | Email Story
WEST STOCKBRIDGE - Among the oldest continuous retail business in Berkshire County, the 115-year-old Charles H. Baldwin & Sons extract company views its venerable past and promising future as one and the same, according to its owners. With pure vanilla extract as their lead product since 1888, the business has been led, since 1996, by it's fifth-generation, Earl Baldwin Moffatt and his wife, Jackie. The Moffatts have grown the Center Street business to both retail and wholesale international success, and, as generations before them, have been sure to heed Charles H. Baldwin's stern 19th-century admonition: "Never tamper with the recipe or use inferior beans." Thus, the Baldwin's only use costly "Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans," which are cut, then steeped twice at 120 degrees Fahrenheit in a mixture of water and alcohol within a 75-year-old electric copper percolator. The percolator was considered an "innovation" at tradition-based Baldwin, when it replaced a coal-fired type in the 1920s. Several days later, the vanilla extract is drawn off, poured into antique mixing barrels, then aged for a month in 100-year-old-plus oaken casks that never go dry - so, theoretically, drops of vanilla over a century old still remain. The vanilla is bottled in 2-ounce-to one-gallon amber glass containers that filter out light and preserve flavor. The family produces 1,000 gallons of vanilla extract per year, which is 20 times the 1888 production and a five-fold increase over 35 years ago. "Our 'secret' is that everything here is done by hand. We use traditional methods and antique equipment," said Jackie Moffatt. She said she was happy to be in an old-fashioned business in a high-tech world and has been fond of recollecting that the company was built by tenacious Yankees who succeeded by pursuing excellence, not seeking compromise. In the quaint shop, where the business has been located since 1912, visitors are immediately met by the deep, rich aroma of vanilla, above which floats the fragrance of other products being blended, ground, filtered and packaged. In addition to vanilla, Baldwin's, through its long history, has formulated products to meet all sorts of culinary, beauty and health needs. Among the items it prepares are Worcestershire sauce, rose water, witch hazel, bay rum cologne, cane and maple table syrup, walnut russe and extracts of almond, peppermint, coffee, root beer, orange, anise, lemon and spearmint. Baldwin's rarest flavoring mixture is "cherry heart." "Now it's mother is pure vanilla,"Moffatt explained, "but dad's a mingle of lemon, wintergreen and orange - and we make 'romance' blossom by adding pistachio, strawberry and cherry." Initially, products were peddled from horse-drawn wagons, which made months-long treks as far as the Catskills. Later, trucks introduced Baldwin products to Boston and Canadian border towns. Today, Baldwin's offers its worldwide clientele 35 items, including 23 extracts, chiefly through parcel post. "Our future looks bright today and for a great many tomorrows," Moffatt said. "We've been doing something right for 115 years,. We hope to be doing the same 115 years from now." Somewhere, Charles H. Baldwin must be smiling.
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Friends of Great Barrington Libraries Holiday Book Sale

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Friends of Great Barrington Libraries invite the community to shop their annual Holiday Good-as-New Book Sale, happening now through the end of the year at the Mason Library, 231 Main Street. 
 
With hundreds of curated gently used books to choose from—fiction, nonfiction, children's favorites, gift-quality selections, cookbooks, and more—it's the perfect local stop for holiday gifting.
 
This year's sale is an addition to the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce's Holiday Stroll on this Saturday, Dec. 13, 3–8 PM. Visitors can swing by the Mason Library for early parking, browse the sale until 3:00 PM, then meet Pete the Cat on the front lawn before heading downtown for the Stroll's shopping, music, and festive eats.
 
Can't make the Holiday Stroll? The book sale is open during regular Mason Library hours throughout December.
 
Proceeds support free library programming and events for all ages.
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