Smile Herb Shop was founded in the early 1970’s by a woman affectionately known as “Sweet Cicely.”

She was a bit of a wild woman and if you walked down the stairs in the building next door to the present Smile, you might find roots hanging from the ceiling, skulls tucked in among the herb jars, skins on the walls and a multitude of other natural wonders in her small two room shop.  She shared her love of plants and the earth with all.  A few  of her early customers still shop at Smile today.

In the spring of 1975, when current co-owner Tom Wolfe happened to walk in, she was itching to get back to the woods and out of doors.  They struck up a friendship and eventually came to an agreement.  Tom was soon left to run Smile for the summer.  It was an exciting summer, he discovered a deep appreciation and love for the healing herbs.  He was amazed to be able to cure a chronic cough by drinking yarrow tea.  Duly impressed, he wanted to learn more.

Linda was running the cafe down the street at the time and their relationship also flourished.  By the fall of 1975, they decided to run Smile together.

When fall came and “Sweet Cicely” returned, Smile had flourished and she had reached the conclusion that her first love was the out of doors.  She offered to sell Smile to Tom for the sum of $1,000 and the assumption of all debts.  Alas, Tom had no money at all.  She said, “Pay me later!”  (Ironically, when he tried to pay her at a later date, she wouldn’t even take the money!)

In 1975, a “good” day of sales at Smile was $50 and it soon became apparent that Smile had to grow.  Gradually, Smile expanded its offerings, adding gourmet coffees, books, essential oils, vitamins, natural body care and gifts.  Room by room, Smile grew until it occupied the whole downstairs and the back building of the corner location next door.  Unfortunately, the rent had also grown along the way. 

Then, one morning there was a “For Sale” sign on the building that currently houses Smile.  With some help from extended families, Smile got a permanent home.  The move was accomplished with the help of many friends and family who formed a chain from one front door to the other along which the several hundred glass jars were passed.

Initially, the only way the expense of the building could be handled was for Tom and Linda to also live there.  They gave up their apartment and moved into the upstairs.  The cosmetic room was their bedroom, the book room the kitchen.  The office was the nursery for their first child Jason who was born shortly after the move. 

While they were glad to own a home for Smile, living above the store proved very difficult.  When people want their herbs, it doesn’t often matter that its 7:30 PM and dinner has just been served. 

Six months later, Linda’s grandmother passed away and left her just enough money for a down payment for a house and the Wolfe family moved into their own home nearby.

Smile expanded into their old living quarters and the business continued to grow.  More and more people found out about the healing plants and interest and traffic grew.

Tom and Linda had another addition to their family, a second son named Brennan.  As Linda wanted to be at home, she decided to start a mail order catalog so she could work out of their house.  It quickly grew to be much larger than she had imagined. 

Smile had a mail order catalog featuring gifts, coffees and educational children’s toys for about seven years and mailed approximately 250,000 catalogs nationwide.  For a short time, there was also a second catalog featuring the herbs, vitamins etc.  As the cost of paper and mailing rose drastically, it would have been necessary to grow much more capital also, so the mail order was stopped and all resources were put into the store.

Over the years, several hundred different people have contributed their energy to help Smile become a leader in its field.  Additional components have been added along the way.  Many customers wanted to learn more about alternative health, so classes were begun that brought in different teachers on many subjects. 

In 1995, Leroy Wilton joined us to provide a garden business so people could experience firsthand the wonderful plants they had been using in dried form.

In 1995, the work of figuring out just what it was that energized the community of Smile was begun.  Visioning sessions were held with a lot of good thoughts, hopes and dreams. 

What will be the story of Smile in the next twenty years?  It will be up to everyone who works here to help answer that question.  There is a great need for a more responsive, holistic approach to healthcare and Smile hopes to be able to effectively respond to those needs with the help of the many dedicated individuals who have gifts to give and work to do at Smile.

The building that is our home originally sat on a hill some 2-3 miles from our current location.  It was moved by horses somewhere around the turn of the century.

It was the home of the first telephone exchange in the area.  The Number One pole is located up Berwyn Road.  Operators sat in what is now the Herb Room.

Sometimes after that, it was once again reverted back to a private residence and was owned by a man that was an avid iris grower.  When the back yard was cultivated with herbs, many intricate cement pathways and garden edgings were uncovered.  In the area in front of the barn there was the remains of a formal garden.

Tom and Linda purchased the building in 1978 from the Cumberland family.  They had the home for approximately thirty years and raised nine children here.  Some of the children periodically stop by and share their memories.