The Broom Making Process

1. Marian carefully bends a broomcorn stalk to prevent the tassle from spreading.
2. Individual tassles are soaked in water to make them pliable and easy to manipulate.
3. J.P. uses wire and 5-ply jute to bind tassles to a sassafras stick.

4. Sixty tassles are needed for the average broom.
5. A traditional broom nears completion.
6. The Shaker-style flat broom is made in a specifically designed vise. J.P. found this antique vise in New Hampshire and rebuilt the wooden base, which had rotted over time.

7. A sailmaker’s needle makes sewing a snap. Historians believe that retired sailmakers sometimes took up broommaking, which required similar skills. “A young broommaker is an old sailmaker,” a saying goes.
8. J.P. trims the ends of a flat broom, the final step in production.
9. Ready for duty: This flat broom, which is as decorative as it is functional, will last for years.