Corn Broom Expert Keeps "Lost Art" Alive

Corn Broom Expert Keeps "Lost Art" Alive AG WORLD 28-3-22 George Slater of Felton, Delaware, makes handmade corn brooms with twisted wood handles, a "lost art" that was taught to him by a friend. Slater puts on broom-making demonstrations at various farm shows throughout Delaware and Pennsylvania, selling his product as he goes. He grows his own broom corn, harvesting the tassles which are used for the broom straw. He says it takes about a pound of "straw" to make one broom. A half acre of broom corn is enough to make about 150 brooms, which is Slater's yearly output. He makes five different styles of brooms: a kitchen broom, a fireplace broom, a wisk broom, a fan broom (strictly for decoration, and a feather-duster style broom. His fireplace brooms are especially unique because they have twisted wood handles. The twisted wood grows naturally in the woods when vines wrap around a tree as it grows. Slater's other broom models have regular commercial handles that he purchases. He made his own tool for winding the straw around the handle. He makes the brooms by soaking the straw in water, and then placing it on the handle before using his device to twist it and a wire tightly around. The foot-operated tool allows him to wind the straw around the base of the handle and wrap it tightly with wire. He then hand sews three seams across the straw to hold it together. As the straw dries and expands, the union is secured further. "The brooms you buy at the hardware store are half bamboo on the inside and they break off," Slater points out. "Mine are 100 per cent broom corn and they don't come apart or break. You can wear them right down to the nubs and strings - I know people who have done that." Slater also makes his own sewing needles for broom making, and has filled orders for others. "There is such a thing as a commercial broom sewing needle, but it's sharp on both ends and I don't like it," he says. "I was a truck mechanic and fabricator for over 30 years, so making a needle that is six inches long, a half inch wide and one-eighth of an inch thick out of steel was no problem." Corn broom prices are as follows: kitchen broom - $14; fireplace broom - $9; wisk broom - $6; fan broom - $75; and feather duster style broom - $10 (plus shipping). Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, George Slater, 5468 Sandtown Rd., Felton, Delaware 19943 (ph 302 284-4503).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.