Made in the USA

We pride ourselves on using locally-sourced, responsibly-harvested lumber. Our primary supplier, Gangon Lumber, is a locally owned and operated business that shares our commitment to responsible forestry. The majority of our products are crafted from maple while others are made from pine or cherry.  

To us, sustainability means using every bit of usable wood. At Maple Landmark, lumber that doesn't make it into a product becomes kindling for neighbors with wood stoves, and the sawdust is used as bedding for livestock. Nothing we buy goes to waste. 

We also believe in the importance of active forest management. Vermont was only 20% forested in the early 1900s due to intensive land clearing for agriculture. As dairy farms consolidated and hillside fields were abandoned, the forests came back. Today, Vermont is 78% forested, with about 60% of that number under active management. Healthy, working forests depend on responsible, thoughtful harvesting; every wooden toy we make is one less plastic toy in the world.

Doing business locally means working with people you come to know and trust. Money spent with your neighbors creates more jobs, gives people increased spending power, and builds relationships that last. 

From our banking relationship to sourcing lumber, we keep our partners as close as possible; only about 1% of our budget goes to purchase foreign-sourced component parts.

Above all else, we pride ourselves as America's premier destination for wooden toys and gifts. While we might not make toys 'just around the corner' from our customers across the country, we operate much closer to home than off-shore manufacturers. To us, American-made means understanding the people and process behind the product, and confidence in the fair treatment of everyone involved. 

We’ve recycled and reused material before it became popular. As frugal Yankees at heart, waste reduction makes simple  business sense. 

On the packaging side, our wooden products don't need to be hidden behind layers of plastic and cardboard to sell themselves. They're better experienced when they can be seen and touched, which means less material in land fills. 

For shipping, we reuse boxes and packing materials whenever possible. We accept packing peanuts, bubble wrap, and junk mail from the local community.  Paper waste including our own office paper is shredded into additional packing fill. Over 80% of the more than 10,000 cubic feet of packing fill we use each year is recycled this way. Every corrugated box that passes through our door has a long life ahead of it.

Maple Landmark employees are active members of the communities where they live and work. Many volunteer with local fire and rescue departments, schools, churches, elder services, and civic organizations, and they help with community events like Bristol’s Fourth of July Outhouse Race (pictured below).

These programs rely on citizen volunteers to carry out their missions that rural communities depend on. We're proud to support their efforts. As a company, we make a special point of giving back to organizations that support children. We support local educational fundraisers, supply toys to our local Community House Santa every year, and we host an annual Santa Day at our Middlebury workshop where local children come visit with St. Nick and share their wishlists. 

We desire to operate in a world where everyone takes responsibility for their actions and seeks to make meaningful contributions to their community. We take our role as an American manufacturer of wooden toys and gifts seriously, and hold ourselves to a clear code of conduct:

Product Safety. To design and market products that meet or exceed American Federal safety standards and strive to go beyond customer expectations.

Ethical Manufacturing. To comply with American standards of business practice in our treatment of our people through an open and participatory relationship with our workforce where employees have an opportunity to understand and give input on the operations of the company.

Environmental Protection. To practice good stewardship of the environment by working to reduce the environmental impact of our operations and products through continuous improvements in waste reduction at the source, reuse, and recycling and participate in renewable energy programs when feasible. Suppliers of our raw materials should meet the same standard that we set for ourselves.

Business Practices. To practice honesty and integrity in all business dealings and be truthful and avoid misrepresentations. We will accept responsibility when it is ours and require others to accept responsibility when it is theirs. It is not within our ability to hold all others harmless regardless of their own actions.

Intellectual Property. To recognize and respect the intellectual property rights of others.

Advertising and Marketing. To ensure that our advertising and marketing, in any form, is truthful and as informative as possible.

Non-Discrimination. To treat our employees, suppliers, customers and business associates with fairness, respect and dignity and without discrimination on the basis of race, creed, gender, age or sexual orientation.