Back in 1999, Yankee Harvest was an idea, a dream, a work in progress and then, a reality. In September of that year, Yankee Harvest LLC. went live on-line and the wait began. We didn't have to wait long...within twenty minutes, the first Yankee Harvest order arrived...a real surprise to everyone...and the eleven year journey began with that very first order on September 21, 1999.

Halloween was just emerging as the holiday to plan for, a close second to Christmas. It was this holiday that catapulted us into the stratosphere as we became the exclusive internet representative for Pumpkin Masters LTD, soon to become Pumpkin Masters, Inc. By 2003, Yankee Harvest had designed Yankee Halloween as a division of Yankee Harvest and it became the largest all inclusive Halloween internet store available on the web, reaching far beyond the shores of the US. We developed our own exclusive patterns with the very creative talents of the owner of Masterpiece Pumpkin and added dozens of items to help create the perfect fright-night. By 2006, Halloween sales doubled those of Christmas and one quarter of sales were international. The dedicated Pumpkin Masters fans worldwide had Yankee Halloween as a common language for their holiday requirements.

In the meantime, Yankee Harvest was building a reputation for offering quality 'American Made' products. Again, Yankee Harvest had, by virtue of our quickly expanding inventory, divided the web site into four distinct entities...Yankee Grocery, Yankee Gardener, Yankee Halloween and Yankee Gifts, with complete site integration on it's heels. Yankee Harvest is parent company to the four other web sites now combined under YankeeHarvest.com. Things around here are a'bustling.

We still proudly offer such quality products as North Country Wind Bells and Ann Clark Ltd. Cookie Cutter Gift Sets who are not only beautiful 'American Made' products, but whose color is 'green' right down to the new packaging implemented a few years ago. We are the on-line fulfillment for a few of our country's oldest and best loved food items such as Gravy Master, Bell's products and Bakewell Cream. We delight in offering some of the greatest Mom and Pop gourmet foods such as Cabot Creamery, Halladay's Harvest Barn and Trappist Preserves. And our very first garden product, from the Charles C. Hart Seed Company, has called Wethersfield, Connecticut home for over 120 years.

As we quietly slide into our twelfth year as an internet retailer, the Yankee Harvest toddler has grown into an adult. And as in every journey, the road has it's bumpy spots and it's smooth ones, growing pains and learning experiences. Some of our valued vendors have not weathered the economic storm, some step boldly forward, determined to see another decade of dedication and hard work. Some have turned their productivity over to others in foreign lands; some have remained true to their heritage.

Like Bell's Seasoning, whose little yellow box hit consumer kitchens' back in the 1860's, and Paine's Products who have created so many memories with their balsam fir products for over seventy years. Alas, not everything we carry is still 'Made in America', but the majority of our products are. And where ever possible we aim to keep it that way.

So...as we enter our twelfth year in business, a happy and healthy New Year to everyone. And thank you to our customers, especially the ones that keep coming back time and time again...you know who you are.

And to a better, simpler, and kinder 2011. Remember, by buying 'Made in America', you are keeping jobs in America...where they belong.

God bless and signing off.