Story by Maria Buteux Reade
Photography by Andrew Plotsky
L
eather work gloves are the humble
tool indispensable to those of us who
do manual labor. We keep a pair or
two stowed in the truck or closet, stained
from projects, and molded to our hands.
Sturdy, comfortable gloves can make an
arduous task less daunting. Most people
don’t give them much thought.
Sam Hooper does.
72 VERMONT MAGAZINE
Sam’s homestead is in Brookfield and he
also helps at his brother’s goat farm in
Randolph. After years of blowing through
cheap gloves, Sam discovered a pair of
premium leather gloves made right in
Randolph.
“I was floored by their quality and that got
me interested in the company,” Sam
explains.
Goatskin gloves made by Vermont Glove,
formerly known as Green Mountain Glove,
are for people who work with their hands
all day long in inclement weather and need
a reliable glove that will protect them.
People whose hands are tools. Sam sched-
uled a meeting in 2016 with the company’s
owner, Kurt Haupt, who was in his late 60s
and nearing retirement. “We talked off and
on for about six months, and I convinced