I am amazed! When I started tying brooms, I thought “OK, so I’ll make a broom here and a broom there… big deal. I mean, there’s only, y’know, just so many kinds… right?”
WRONG!
I’m at 27 varieties of brooms and counting!
The latest include a string tied fantail and a flipped-wing (you’ll see what I mean). I’ve added another wedding broom and really improved on my kitchen broom. Well, here, see for yourself:
Wanna whitewash this here fence?
Folks’ll come up to me when I’m workin’ on the foot lathe… the Spring Pole Lathe and I’ll always greet ‘em. “How ya’ll doin’?”
Naturally, they say “Fine. And you?”
That’s their first mistake!
“I’m tired,” Says I. “Been treadlin’ this here foot lathe all day long and I’m just bout worn out. Who here wants to give it a spin?”
There’s usually one intrepid soul that’ll step (or get shoved) forward and will take a turn at the foot lathe’s treadle. It’s not easy… about 35 to 40 pounds of force is required on every stroke. If the victi… er… volunteer is a young’un, I’ll reach up and grab the pole to assist. I have been known to hold the pole up to tease some of the young fellas, too.
Whilst they’re a treadlin’, I tell em about the history of the foot lathe and that a fot lathe operator was called a Bodger. A Bodger, I’ll say, was a person who turned chair legs and spreaders for Windsor chairs and so they had a reputation for only doing half the job… they didn’t finish out the chair. Since they’re just treadlin’ they’re only doing one quarter the job so they must be a Bod… or a Ger.
‘Course there was one fella that told me I had the easiest job around! I only use one leg and only cut on the down stroke… I’m only working 1/4 of the time!
So come on down and get yourself half a title and a little exercise! I’ll be waiting!
I’ve asked several kids that over the past couple weeks.
Of course, none of them had… they corrected me quickly. “It’s SLEEPING beauty!”
“No,” I’d say. “It’s definitely sweeping beauty. And she was using a hearth broom like that one or that one (imagine me pointing to the brooms hanging on the wall) to sweep out the fireplace and that’s where the cinders came from. The cinders are what gave her her nickname, Cinderella, but she was really a sweeping beauty.”
I get a lot of groans and a few chuckles. That’s OK. I was working to engage and I think I did… let’s check.
“Now,” I ask, “who wants to sweep?”
A cacophony of “I do”s and a forest of waving hands….
As I watch the kids sweep a small pile of sand and old coffee grounds (easy to see) around the floor of the broom squire’s cottage, I know I engaged them… just for a second… you might say I swept them off their feet.
This is the new blog of the Ozark Folk Center. We combine a unique mix of Ozark Folk Music, traditional Ozark Mountain Crafts, a fantastic organic Heritage Herb Garden,
good old fashioned southern cooking at the Skillet Restaurant, a comfortable place to rest at the Dry Creek Lodge. gorgeous trails to hike, birds to watch and so much more, all in an Arkansas State Park!
The pictures are of Tina Marie and Kathleen working on the Butterfly Hill Garden. Tina’s gardens are so special. Not only are they a treat for the eye, like most gardens, but they delight all the senses. Just stroll along the paths and smell how the herb and flower scents intermingle. Listen as the birds and insects work busily in the organic gardens. Ask Tina and she’ll happily allow you to taste herbs and greens that are planted among the flowers. The gardens are worth coming to the Folk Center, all by themselves.
But, the birds are not the only music at the Ozark Folk Center. Pickin’ and fiddlin’ is most often goin’ on up on the outdoor stage, next to the knife maker’s shop. Sometimes, the instrument makers will step outside their shop to test the strings on the newest dulcimer. Many of the artisans are musicians, so song accompanies the work of their hands.
There are 22 craft houses scattered throughout the Ozark Folk Center craft village. Follow the paths to visit with artisans who are more than happy to show you how they create brooms the old-fashioned way by hand tying them, or spin yarn from sheep’s wool (some days the sheep are right there next to the Spinning and Weaving house) or carve a wooden spoon in the cooper’s shed or make soap over a fire in a big cast iron kettle.
We are in Mountain View, Arkansas. Visit the Ozark Folk Center web site for more information, or just follow the map and come on out to visit. See you soon!
