The History of Vierhile's Furniture and Appliance Store
- Aug 7
- 9 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
By Robert Vierhile
and Carol Rogers
Naples Central School
March 1968
[Editor’s Note: This article has been transcribed from type-written papers, with exact words and descriptions as originally written. A note at the end of this student paper describes that it was written by Robert Vierhile.]
The development of Vierhile’s Furniture and Appliance Store is a long story. The business started out in 1917 as a farmer-to-farmer oil business, moved into a barn in 1923, made the transformation into the appliance business in 1924, moved into a basement in 1929, found its way into an out of business restaurant in 1943, and finally took up stakes in its present location in the Masonic Building on Main Street in Naples in September 1950.
How does a retail business get started? Well, very often, it begins with one man selling something. John M. Vierhile was born in Garlinghouse in Naples and worked on his father‘s farm up until World War I broke out. He was drafted for military service in 1917 but soon was discharged when his father died, and he had to return home and run the farm to support his mother and sister.
John Vierhile completed only six grades at the old district school house in Garlinghouse, but he realized that there might be a better way to make a living in the world other than farming. At least, his father‘s Garlinghouse farm wasn’t the most prosperous farm in Naples, and he knew it (the farm is currently owned by Mr. and Mrs. Harbison).
“John had a real gift of gab,” commented Ray Merrill of Atlanta, New York, who had been one of John’s school chums in the Garlinghouse school. “He could talk almost anyone into doing anything.”
That’s how it got started. John read some of the magazines that were published in those days and believed some of the ads that told about the great futures in selling Gulf oil products to farmers. This was the early days of the Model T Ford, and the beginning of machinery on the farm. There weren’t many garages and filling stations because everybody was still talking about buying a good horse rather than a good car.
John ordered his first 50-gallon drum of Gulf oil, had it delivered to Naples on the Lehigh Valley Railroad and started selling his oil farmer-to-farmer in Garlinghouse, Atlanta, Wayland, and Cohocton. His gift of gab worked. He started to move the Gulf oil, made friends with the farmers, and found out that they needed other things. He made over $500 his first year selling Gulf oil products.
Once you get a taste of selling, it’s sort of grows on you. It did on John. A friend of his, Austin Jenks, owned a general merchandise store in Cohocton and asked John if he’d like to go into the Victrola business with him. Victrolas were the early version of our record players, except that they were hand cranked, spring loaded. Some of the fancy models in the early ‘20s sold for over $150 per copy.
John decided to go into business in Cohocton and did this on a part-time basis in 1920 and 1921. The highlight of his Victrola sales career happened in 1921. To stimulate sales, the Victrola company offered to send a famous opera star to Cohocton to give a personal appearance to help sell her records and the products of the Victrola company. John and Austin Jenks rented the town hall in Cohocton, packed it to the rafters with local farmers and folks who had never seen a real live opera star, and wound up selling over a dozen high-priced Victrola. It wasn’t long before Johnny Vierhile’s selling tactics were the talk of Cohocton, Wayland, and Naples.
John got married in 1922, moved his bride onto the farm, and had to sort of give up the Victrola business in Cohocton. Instead of selling them out of Jenks’ store, he bought himself a Model T Ford coupe, took out the rumble seat, and built himself a pick up truck. He used this contraption to sell his oil and his Victrolas from farm to farm.
In 1923, John bought a house on Main Street in Naples from Harry Otto and moved into it. The same year he met Claire Munn, a district salesman for the Maytag Company in Newton, Iowa. Clair Munn was also an accomplished person with a gift of gab, and he convinced Johnny that the future of the United States was pretty dependent on how the women of America got their washing done. His Maytag Company had developed a washing machine that was turning Mondays into the happiest day of the week. He suggested to John that he start selling them.
So, in 1923, John Vierhile got into the Maytag washer business. In fact, he got so wrapped up in selling Maytag washers that people in Naples, Wayland, and Cohocton were calling him the Maytag Man. The best model Maytag washer sold for over $150 even in 1923, and John made a handsome profit of $50 on each sale. That was enough stimulation to put him behind his Model T truck at all hours of the day and night, knocking on doors, demonstrating the labor-saving methods of the Maytag.
John rented a barn from Glenn Johnson in 1923 and set up a display of washers next to Glenn‘s haymow. Prospective customers could see a Maytag and still feel right at home with the many barn odors. It worked. John became the hottest Maytag salesman in Western New York. The highlight of his early selling career was when he won a contest and went to Philadelphia to meet the founder of the Maytag Company, Fred L. Maytag, in person.
Just before the crash of the stock market in 1929, John heard about the development of a new appliance – the electric refrigerator. He got particularly interested and decided to sell them in the Naples area. He made arrangements with the Kelvinator Company to sell their products in 1928. The refrigerators that John sold were actually a little more than glorified ice boxes that had separate units in the basement. It wasn’t until 1929 and 1930 that Kelvinator and General Electric developed the single unit refrigerator.
“I had a hard time selling refrigerators,” says John. “I used to spend hours convincing the farmers that the electric refrigerator would soon replace the icebox. The farmers would tell me I was crazy. They’d say that nobody would pay for electricity when you could get all the ice you wanted in the winter for nothing. I just had to keep talking and keep selling refrigerators.”
You might say that John pioneered the refrigerator business in this area. When he started selling them, he was the only dealer in over a dozen towns around Naples. And people who had heard about this newfangled gadget would come from all over to look over his gleaming white refrigerators in Glenn Johnson’s barn.
John also pioneered the radio business in this area. He sold his first radio to Chris Kobe in the early 20s. He still has the radio as a memento.
In 1929, Glenn Johnson informed John that his cows were getting sick of his appliance business and he’d have to move. John didn’t know what to do this depression year so he moved his stock of two washers and two refrigerators into his basement. He sold appliances out of his basement until 1943.
The appliance business was anything but good until 1932, the year that Roosevelt was elected president. This sort of helped people up along with the sale of appliances. In fact, John took on the dealership of General Electric products this year, and he started selling a great many refrigerators and ranges. His business picked up so in 1933 and 1934 that he hired his first part-time helper, Andrew Kirstner. Andy was borderline help to say the least, but he came in handy lifting a washer onto the truck or installing a refrigerator.
After Andy’s death in 1935, John hired Elmer Tompkins to do repair work on the washing machines. The washers, ranges, and refrigerators were selling so well that people demanded the best of service to keep them going. Elmer was really a blessing because he knew a little something about electrical wiring and mechanical devices and could usually get things going after they had broken down. Elmer‘s greatest handicap was that he stuttered. Sometimes, when a customer would ask what was wrong with his washer, Elmer would stand there beating his lips for 10 minutes trying to tell them that the “clutch had slipped.”
Bill Todd, who now runs a heating and plumbing business in Naples, went to work for John in 1942. Bill was a good mechanic and kept John’s basement clanging with repair work.
It was only a miracle that John kept his business in his basement as long as he did. His wife complained bitterly that she was getting tired of the noise, of the spare parts all over the house, of the telephone calls almost every hour of the day.
In 1943 the U.S. was at war and rationing of gas took most of the cars off the road. Prior to World War II, the East Avenue Tea Room was a going business selling chicken dinners to tourists and good eaters on weekends and providing parties to almost any size group. The Tea Room served over 600 dinners per Sunday during the peak season, but that ended with gas rationing. Mabel Woodard, who owned the business (the building is now owned by Roy Schell of Naples), asked John to sell the restaurant material for her because she was going out of business. John agreed and sold out the tables, chairs, coolers, and what not.
After John had sold out the furnishings, Mabel Woodard tried to sell the business and two other buildings that were on the premises. Because this was wartime, she couldn’t find a buyer. She asked John if he was interested. Probably because he had spent so much time in the building selling out the restaurant furnishings and taken a liking to the place, he told her he would buy it. So in 1943 he moved his appliance business into the East Avenue Tea Room.
It really is a mistake to say John opened an appliance business here in 1943 because, due to the war, he didn’t have an appliance to sell. Steel was rationed and was being used only for military purposes. The only appliances John had to offer the public were a few vintage washers that were about worn out and a few priority models that he could sell the hospitals.
John didn’t give up on appliances during the war. He just couldn’t find any to sell. This is when he went into the furniture business. Furniture was made out of wood and was available. He started selling it — just to make a living. He also bought and sold used furniture and appliances.
“I bought one whole house full of merchandise for $600 during the war,” John said. “I sold every item that I bought and got over $3,000 for it all. I opened one trunk that was in the deal, and it contained antique glassware. That stuff went for over $1,000 alone. When I emptied the trunk, I sold the trunk to a collector for $40.”
In 1949, John’s son Robert, graduated from the University of Notre Dame and came back to Naples to work. At this time, the Masonic Lodge had a vacant grocery store in their building on Main Street. John had been thinking about moving his business from East Avenue to a Main Street location for some time. Fred Fox, who worked for Security Trust in Naples, suggested that this might be a good idea. John asked his son whether he would be interested in helping him set up an appliance store on Main Street. He agreed.
So, in September, 1950, the Vierhile’s Furniture and Appliance Store opened in its present location. These were the post-war years and the demand for appliances was so great that the business really boomed.
In 1952, Robert Erickson closed his clothing business, which was located in a store adjacent to the Vierhile store. As soon as his merchandise was liquidated, Vierhile’s expanded into the additional store space.
Two years before Vierhile’s opened their store on Main Street, John had hired Kermit Hilton to work as a repair man. Kermit was born on rumpus Hill, near Naples, worked in Niagara Falls during the war years and was anxious to find a job around Naples. He found appliance repair to his liking and has been with Vierhile’s ever since 1948.
The exterior of the store was remodeled in 1955. A black glass front was put on the building, a large display window was installed in the south end of the building, and a large sign was built extending the length of the store.
In 1952, William Vierhile graduated from Saint Bonaventure University in Olean, New York. He went to work in the family business after graduation and is now a part owner.
John Vierhile retired from the business in 1961 and the business became a partnership owned by Robert and William Vierhile.
Next year, Vierhile’s will celebrate their 50th year in the furniture and appliance business. Several special events have been planned during 1969 for this event.
You might say that John Vierhile was a pioneer in the appliance business in Naples. He accomplished the following firsts:
He sold the first manufactured radio to Chris Kobe, a lawyer, during the first World War.
He sold the first electric refrigerator in Naples.
He sold the first gasoline powered Maytag washer to Justin Glickert of Naples in 1922. This machine was converted to electricity when rural electric vacation took place in this area and was operated continually until 1960. The machine is still in the possession of Vierhile’s.
The business has also shown a steady growth. In 1923, John Vierhile did about $7,000 worth of business. In 1950, he did around $45,000. In 1965, Vierhile’s did around $175,000.
This has been a growing business in Naples that was, you might say, born with the appliance business in this area. It will soon celebrate it’s 50th year of business.
Material informally contributed by Mr. Vierhile. March, 1968.
Robert Vierhile wrote the first 10 pages.
Other people interviewed:
Charles B. Ivers, Scotland Rd., Canandaigua
Charles R. Owen, West St., Naples
Charles W. Shepherd, Weld St., Naples
Carl W. Schlappi, Italy Valley, Naples
Wendell Clawson, Lyon St., Naples
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