Village Squire, 1977-06, Page 5Curiosity Shoppe
provides outlet
for local crafts
in Milverton
BY DEBBIE RANNEY
A curiosity is something unusual, something out of the
ordinary, something that makes you want to take notice. Mary
Mitchell and Shirley Schultz have captured that essence in
their own little Curiosity Shoppe.
What started out as a long-time dream became reality for
the two women when they opened the Curiosity Shoppe in
Milverton, in November.
Mrs. Mitchell said that a couple of years ago she was
talking and said if she had her druthers she would run a little
craft shop and her neighbour Mrs. Schultz said that's what
she'd like to do too. Both women live at RR 1, Milverton.
They thought a little more about the idea when a store in
Poole became vacant but then they decided it wasn't really a
good location and when their present building on the main
street of Milverton became vacant they decided to buy it
instead.
Then it became more of a question of ideas, than of
financial backing, according to Mrs. Mitchell.
The Curiosity Shop with its variety of handmade goods,
everything from pine furniture to homemade soap has
brought tradition back to Milverton using local people and
their handiwork.
They started looking around their basements and attics and
while she was moving some other things around, Mrs.
Mitchell was surprised to find that she had a dry sink in her
basement that she didn't even know was there. The dry sink
is now sitting in the store as a display cabinet for greeting
cards.
Mrs. Schultz went around to a few antique stores to get
some suitable looking cabinets for their displays. From then
on, it was down to stripping and painting.
"Shirley was the energetic one who did most of the
stripping," Mary Mitchell said.
Shirley was also the one who thought of the name of the
Curiosity Shoppe. Shesaid she picked the name because
Milverton is an English name and the Curiosity Shoppe came
out of Charles Dickens.
The sign which hangs outside the shop has a characteristic
nature of its own because it is shaped in the same way as the
old English signs used to be.
Although the idea for the shape of the sign came from Mrs.
VILLAGE SQUIRE/JUNE 1977, 3.