Top 10 Classic New England Gifts

Gibson Pewter in Washington, NH, is a cottage industry in its second generation of producing pewter mugs, tankards, pitchers, bowls, vases, candlesticks, tea sets, ladles and more. With its brushed-silver surface, pewter looks and feels like a very Colonial material, and it has deep roots in New England craftsmanship. Gibson offers lovely Christmas ornaments and 100 pieces of traditional and contemporary designs. Gibson’s fruit bowl and wood-grain beaker were the only pieces of 20th century pewter taken into the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Order.

Cabot Cheese of Vermont is a cooperative of Vermont farm families raising healthy cows and doing work that they love. Do you love really sharp cheese? It’s is one of the award-winning Cabot cheese and dairy products. (Cooks: the recipes page will knock you off your feet!) Shop online or visit a Cabot Cheese location in the towns of Waterbury Center and Cabot, Vermont.

Dog Mountain, outside of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, is a unique place devoted to dogs via art and outdoor fun. Artist Stephne Huneck and his wife, Gwen, opened a studio space here, followed by the Dog Chapel, opened in May 2000. The property is laced with hiking trail and ponds, and wildflowers in summer. The Stephen Huneck Gallery presents lots of fun dog art, with a focus on the distinctive massive head of the Labrador retriever. This is the place to buy gifts for dog-loving people, and holiday cards, too.

Yankee Candle offers a fun story of a business startup from Massachusetts. At Christmas in 1969, Mike Kittredge, then a teenager, melted some crayons to make his mom a candle for a holiday gift. A neighbor asked Mike to make another candle for her to buy. That was the beginning of a Bay State-based candle maker that is known and loved now across the nation. Yankee Candles makes 150 fragrances, candles scented for the season, personalized candles, and candle accessories.

Stonewall Kitchen, headquartered in Maine, has one of those origin stories in which two friends start tinkering in a kitchen, calling in help from relatives, and then, 30 years on, their products are sold in 6,000 locations and 10 company stores. Stonewall’s foundation product was jams and jellies, now expanded to lots and lots of gourmet specialty foods. Stonewall’s gift baskets (New England Breakfast Basket, Antipasto Snack Basket) are always welcome at gift-giving occasions.

The League of New Hampshire Craftsmen was founded during the Great Depression of the 1930s to bolster the work and livelihoods of the state’s makers of fine crafts, working in fabric, pottery, glass, wood, and other materials. The League continues to thrive by presenting the public with extraordinarily beautiful crafts items at seven galleries across New Hampshire. A favorite tradition for fans of the League is to purchase the annual holiday ornament, with a different, artful ornament coming onboard each year. Several galleries are open in towns across the Granite State, but choosing and order gifts online is easy through the league’s web store.

Mystic Knotwork, home-based in Connecticut’s beautiful shore town, creates personal and home décor from traditional sailors’ knots, such as sailor knot bracelets, woven knot decorations for your home. Mystic Knotwork draws on a deep New England maritime tradition to create the popular nautical style bracelet. Other unique gifts for your sea-loving friends include coasters, napkin rings, trivets, wine charms, wreaths, Christmas ornaments, tie backs and door mats. Great wedding gifts!

American Lighthouse Foundation, based in Rockland, Maine, is the place to find wonderful items of lighthouse power, drama, and whimsy for your lighthouse-loving friends. Maine’s craggy peninsulas, inlets, and islands are home to more than 60 lighthouses. Mainers and visitors are captivated by the spare beauty of these old sentinels. The foundation’s online gift shop has great gifts for adults and kids, including clothing, décor items, books, puzzles, maps and more.

Memory Mittens from Jack & Mary Designs of Maine is a company that we at VisitNewEngland.com can vouch for personally. Jack & Mary Designs will take old blankets or sweaters from you and use the fabric to create one-of-a-kind mittens, scarves, headbands, hats, and skirts. The work is beautiful, perfectly unique and personal. Mary transformed a 70-year-old blanket that meant much to our family into gorgeous mittens. Turn your memories into mittens. (photo by Shane Corcoran Photography LLC )