“Sure they have been great years, do you expect me to say anything else with Carole standing here?” Ted Hayward said jokingly early this week when asked about his 50 years of marriage. The couple will be celebrating their golden anniversary on June 17 and will be enjoying some time at the Chatham Bars Inn on Cape Cod.

Both Ted and Carole grew up in Brockton, Mass., and were high school sweethearts. After graduation Ted went on to Tufts, while Carole spent four years at Boston University. “We married in 1956, one week after graduation, and the next week we were on our way to Delaware where I went to work for Allied Chemical Corporation,” Ted said. He was employed by them for 30 years and took early retirement in order to start a new career in the antiques business. “I wanted a job where we could both work together, and antiques seemed a good choice,” Ted said.

They were buying antiques while still in college, dabbled in the business while with Allied, and then went full time for a total of about 45 years. “We have spent the last 17 years in our 1780 Colonial home which we found through an ad in The Newtown Bee while living in Delaware,” he said. They were doing a show in Vermont and decided to take a detour to look at the house and in two weeks they bought it. That was in 1989 and the house is now on the market as the couple is planning a move to smaller quarters.

For a period Ted did some restoration and refinishing work for some dealers, making some extra money in those early days. They also shared a seasonal shop for a few years and “during my last year at Allied we did 32 shows,” he said. Today the Haywards do four or five shows including The New Hampshire Antiques Dealers Show in Manchester and the Blue Ribbon Show in Contoocook.

They have always been interested in and sold early American antiques, with a strong liking for painted objects. “We really do not collect much for ourselves but have kept a small selection of painted accessories,” Ted said. They have raised two children, a daughter who lives in Keene, N.H., and has one daughter, and a son in Denver, father of three boys.

“It’s been great, and we are looking forward to lots more,” they agreed.

-RSS