“My parents had delicatessens and I helped out, growing up, so I always had the urge to have a business of my own of some sorts, but wasn’t sure what,” he said. “In 1979, I had a major accident with the truck I was driving and lost my sight, so that created a major turnaround.” In 2007, von Thaden launched Wood & Wool at 117 Union St. in Cobleskill.
“They trained me to make things and cane chairs, but I felt like I was transported back to ‘Little House on the Prairie,’ or the 1800s,” he said. “I knew that the state programs weren’t going to work for me, so it took me several years to start getting my act together. I went back to college, got my master’s degree in psychology, with an emphasis on grieving, and that helped me to get over things, at least somewhat.”
Though von Thaden said his attendance at state-run aptitude programs after the accident proved unhelpful, the programs helped shape his course.
It was during that time, von Thaden said, that he purchased a home in Cobleskill, then a small farm in Summit.
“I raised chickens and sheep and sold the eggs and the wool products, as well as sheep for meat,” he said. “The farm got me started in the business direction, really, then we ran right smack into ’06, ’07 and ’08, when the economy fell apart and, up in Summit, it all relies on tourists and people with summer places and hunting cabins and I suddenly had no customers.
“I had to make a change and make it quick, and luckily I still owned the property here in the village,” von Thaden continued. “I sold the farm and came back down here. The property here had space in it for retail — there had been a cafe … and someone ran a restaurant here for several years — but here I was with an empty space and decided, ‘Well, why don’t I pick up where I left off in Summit?’ I couldn’t do it exactly the way I did it on the farm, but I could sell some of my own stuff and some of other people’s. I had on hand some wood trunks from the farm and some wool products, so I said, ‘OK, let’s make it Wood & Wool,’ and that was the start of this place in 2007.”
The shop, von Thaden said, has remained true to its name.
“And I’ve got a variety of odds and ends,” von Thaden continued. “People are always surprised when they come in at what a variety of items there are. Some are made by the Amish, some items I make and some come in from companies in Vermont, Iowa and Washington.”
“It’s still all based on wood and wool; it’s all products made out of either,” he said. “I’ve got a variety of things. I’ve got quite a collection of wooden toys — anything from infants’ and toddlers’ simple toys to games … for most older children and the family, (such as) chess and checkers and some real simple tic-tac-toe. On the wool side, we have basic wool socks, and they’re all at least 60% (wool), though many are 80; I’ve got a large number of slippers: moccasin-style and some that are bootie-style; wool hats, and some are knit wool and some leather and sheepskin wool hats; gloves that are wool gloves and a combination of leather and sheepskin; and mittens.
The textiles, he said, all use merino wool.
“It’s a very soft wool,” he said. “The species of sheep (was) developed in Australia specifically for a soft wool, like an alpaca.”
Such niche inventory and commitment to quality, von Thaden said, have yielded a loyal and broad clientele.
“The community likes what I’ve got,” he said. “They come in and tell their friends and family about it, so word keeps expanding, little by little. The pandemic, in all honesty, put the kibosh on that, and business has been real tough with the pandemic, but it’s starting to come back … and I’m starting to notice, in the last couple of weeks, a number of new people and some old customers coming back, so we’re moving in the right direction.
“(The customer base) reaches out over quite an area,” von Thaden continued. “I have some people that come down from the general Cooperstown area and Oneonta, and I’ve been getting some people from south of Oneonta — the small towns basically along I-88 toward Binghamton — and I get quite a few tourists in. It always surprises me how many people come up from baseball-related things in Cooperstown. It’s a variety of ages, but I really think the majority of my customers are grandparents buying a lot of things for their grandkids … to try to get away from technology. They want the wooden toys and old-style games and that kind of stuff. And even on the mittens and socks and stuff, they’re trying to get away from manmade fibers.”
Wood & Wool is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Also, visit wood-and-wool.square.site to order. For more information, find “Wood & Wool” on Facebook or call 518-234-4027.
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