a clean sweep
Aug. 15th, 2005 09:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chelidonFor those of you interested in craftiness, here's a good piece on broom-making. We'll probably plant some Broom next year. Shoot, how ya gonna fly around without a proper broom? *cackle* There are a couple of different kinds of Broomcorn (sorghum), all of which are quite useful in one way or another.
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BROOMS AND BROOMCORN
Written and Illustrated by Devore O. Burch
http://home.flash.net/~coley/babb_brooms.html
Broom Corn Stalk
My grandmother, Callie Babb, died February 16, 1936, when I was eighteen
years of age. In all the years I knew her I never saw a store-bought broom
in her house and I am quite sure that the only brooms she ever used in her
lifetime were the ones she made by hand from the broomcorn she raised on
their farm. She also made small whisk brooms and fireplace or hearth
brooms.
These homemade brooms and brushes were not flat and wide like the
factory-made or store-bought brooms. The homemade broom was round or
circular in shape, about 6" - 8" in diameter. The hearth brooms were about
half as large.
The broom handles were also handmade from a long slender sapling such as
ash, and were of a larger diameter than the handles of the manufactured
brooms. My grandmother preferred the larger diameter handles because they
were heavier and she could get a better grip on them. I once saved several
old (store) bought broom handles for my grandmother to use in her new
brooms. My grandmother told me they were too "skinny" and besides she
didn't need new handles because she just reused the old ones. The old
handles were burnished and walnut brown from years of use. She told me the
broom handles they used in the Great Smoky Mountains were made from
Sourwood, which does not grow in Texas, so they substituted ash which grows
tall and straight and uniform in diameter.
The brooms were made from a plant called Broomcorn (Panicum miliaceum). It
was also called Indian Millet, Hay Millet, or Proso.
My grandmother did not make brooms every year. When their broom supply got
low they would plant a row of broomcorn in the garden for a new supply of
brooms. It did not take a long row of broomcorn. A hundred yards would make
a lot of brooms.
Several times I helped my grandmother make brooms. She usually gathered the
straw from the broomcorn while it was still green and let it dry in the sun
several days. This would make a light straw-colored broom. If the straw was
allowed to dry on the stalk it turned red and would make a red broom.
Grandmother usually made her brushes and hearth brooms from this red straw.
Brooms made by Callie Babb
After the straw was cured the remaining seed, small millet seed, had to be
removed from the straw. We usually scraped these seed from the straw with a
hand saw or a curry comb. The straw was then placed in a large bucket and
soaked in very hot water for a while. This was to make the straw flexible.
When she was ready to start attaching the straw to the handle the straw was
rolled in a wet gunny sack to keep it moist and flexible. For making brooms
grandmother attached the straw to the handle with the broom end facing the
top of the handle and the straw was sewed to the handle with a large needle
and cotton twine. Then the end of the handle was folded over to face down
and again stitched and sewn with a needle and thread. When the straw dried
the stitching became very tight.
Hearth Brooms & Brushes
Small brooms and brushes were made simpler. The desired amount of straw was
gathered around the handle and sewed together without the foldover
operation.
Fox Tail or Counter Brush
My grandmother always had a supply of these. Nowadays they are called
counter dusters and bench brushes. The country people called them "Fox
Tails."
-------
BROOMS AND BROOMCORN
Written and Illustrated by Devore O. Burch
http://home.flash.net/~coley/babb_brooms.html
Broom Corn Stalk
My grandmother, Callie Babb, died February 16, 1936, when I was eighteen
years of age. In all the years I knew her I never saw a store-bought broom
in her house and I am quite sure that the only brooms she ever used in her
lifetime were the ones she made by hand from the broomcorn she raised on
their farm. She also made small whisk brooms and fireplace or hearth
brooms.
These homemade brooms and brushes were not flat and wide like the
factory-made or store-bought brooms. The homemade broom was round or
circular in shape, about 6" - 8" in diameter. The hearth brooms were about
half as large.
The broom handles were also handmade from a long slender sapling such as
ash, and were of a larger diameter than the handles of the manufactured
brooms. My grandmother preferred the larger diameter handles because they
were heavier and she could get a better grip on them. I once saved several
old (store) bought broom handles for my grandmother to use in her new
brooms. My grandmother told me they were too "skinny" and besides she
didn't need new handles because she just reused the old ones. The old
handles were burnished and walnut brown from years of use. She told me the
broom handles they used in the Great Smoky Mountains were made from
Sourwood, which does not grow in Texas, so they substituted ash which grows
tall and straight and uniform in diameter.
The brooms were made from a plant called Broomcorn (Panicum miliaceum). It
was also called Indian Millet, Hay Millet, or Proso.
My grandmother did not make brooms every year. When their broom supply got
low they would plant a row of broomcorn in the garden for a new supply of
brooms. It did not take a long row of broomcorn. A hundred yards would make
a lot of brooms.
Several times I helped my grandmother make brooms. She usually gathered the
straw from the broomcorn while it was still green and let it dry in the sun
several days. This would make a light straw-colored broom. If the straw was
allowed to dry on the stalk it turned red and would make a red broom.
Grandmother usually made her brushes and hearth brooms from this red straw.
Brooms made by Callie Babb
After the straw was cured the remaining seed, small millet seed, had to be
removed from the straw. We usually scraped these seed from the straw with a
hand saw or a curry comb. The straw was then placed in a large bucket and
soaked in very hot water for a while. This was to make the straw flexible.
When she was ready to start attaching the straw to the handle the straw was
rolled in a wet gunny sack to keep it moist and flexible. For making brooms
grandmother attached the straw to the handle with the broom end facing the
top of the handle and the straw was sewed to the handle with a large needle
and cotton twine. Then the end of the handle was folded over to face down
and again stitched and sewn with a needle and thread. When the straw dried
the stitching became very tight.
Hearth Brooms & Brushes
Small brooms and brushes were made simpler. The desired amount of straw was
gathered around the handle and sewed together without the foldover
operation.
Fox Tail or Counter Brush
My grandmother always had a supply of these. Nowadays they are called
counter dusters and bench brushes. The country people called them "Fox
Tails."
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Date: 2005-08-15 04:38 pm (UTC)You can retrofit a store-bought broom this way, too. One year my coven-crew did just that for "Spring cleaning" -- spiffied-up regular brooms by weaving in herbs, painting up the handles and stiching, etc. If the herbs are dry, you expect to lose bits and pieces of them and keep replacing them, but leaving lovely smelly bits of sage, lavender, etc about is part of the cleansing process, I figure!