A History of the Kitchen Broom

Blogger: Amber Schamel

Some of the most ordinary things can actually have an interesting history. Today we are exploring the history behind the kitchen broom.

Did you know that our flat kitchen brooms are actually an invention of a husband who was trying to find ways to save his wife some time? (Thanks to my husband for discovering this fun fact and setting me on the research.)

Ancient Chinese carving depicting
a man with a broom.
Public Domain

Before we get to that, let's back up to the actual invention of the broom.The broom is so ancient, that we have no idea when it was invented, or who was responsible. Texts as ancient as the Bible mention the use of brooms, such as Jesus' parable of the woman who lost a coin and swept the house in an effort to find it. However, at this point in history, the broom was not commercially made. It wasn't a tool that you purchased in the market, it was one that you fashioned yourself out of materials you had available. So, in addition to the chore of sweeping, you had to first gather weeds, straw, twigs, or some material and bind it together to make a broom. The tool had a short life span and wore out quickly, so you would have to make a new one fairly often. In our modern world, we often forget and take for granted the fact that we don't have to create everything we use on a daily basis.

The first record that we have of commercial broom making is in Anglo-Saxon England where folks known as "besom squires" in the Southeast region began creating brooms that were sturdy and well-crafted. From here comes a rather risque English folk song which sings the song of a lass who roams the hills to gather "green broom". She declares:

Round Besom Broom
Public Domain

O, come buy my besoms, besoms fine and new,
Bonny green broom besoms, better never grew.

Gathering green broom for her craft was not her main interest however, and she soon sells out her business in exchange for mothering a babe, singing:

I'll bundle up my besoms and take them to the fair,
And sell them all by wholesale, nursing's now my care.

The British broom trade in this region went on for centuries, and some artisans still craft them there today.

According to historian Gregory Nobles, modern broom-making really took off around 1797 when a farmer by the name of Levi Dickinson began using a type of corn that had previously been used only for animal feed to create a broom. He bundled what has come to be known as "broomcorn" grass into a circular shape, lashed it to a stick, and did some weaving at the top to make it hold together better. His wife loved it. So did his neighbors. And word spread. Soon his design was in high demand. Less than three years later, Dickinson had enlisted his sons into the business and was selling several hundred brooms per year. In order to keep up with the demand, Dickinson needed to improve his production abilities. So he invented a machine to help make the brooms.

The industry took off from there. However, it was yet another helpful husband who further honed the broom's design.

The Shakers were a sect of Christianity that organized in the United States around 1780 and had a strong presence in the Northeast region. One of the main tenets of their religion was to do everyday things as quickly as possible so they could have the most amount of time possible to devote to prayer. One husband noticed how much time it took for his wife to sweep the house, and wanted to help her by making a better tool. He altered the broom's circular design and flattened it out so it would more easily reach into corners and cover more surface area.

Shaker Style Brooms in process
Photo Credit: Flickr - David CC 2.0

Some things are just simple genius.

The Shaker-style broom further accelerated the broom-making industry, and by 1850, over one million brooms per year were made in Massachusetts alone, being exported as far as South America.

Natural fiber brooms continued to require skilled, hands-on labor up until 1994.

Today we have many synthetic fiber brooms that make housekeeping even easier, but we must never forget the innovation of those two helpful husbands who gave us the efficient tool we now take for granted.

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Two-time winner of the Christian Indie Award for historical fiction, Amber Schamel writes riveting stories that bring HIStory to life. She has a passion for travel, history, books and her Savior. This combination results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest".

She lives near the Ozarks in her "casita" with her prince charming. Between enjoying life as a new mom, and spinning stories out of soap bubbles, Amber loves to connect with readers and hang out on Goodreads with other bookish peoples.

Amber is a proud member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association. Visit her online at www.AmberSchamel.com/ and download a FREE story by subscribing to her Newsletter!

Home Sweet Home: Showers, Housewarmings, Poundings

Home Sweet Home Cross Stitch
A wedding gift from my mother-in-law,  c. 1985

Most of us have been to a bridal shower or a housewarming at some time in our lives. I’m guessing even you guys who are reading the HHH blog have probably been to at least one shower or a housewarming. What about a pounding? Ever participated in one of those?

While a shower, housewarming, and pounding are similar and cross boundaries, they aren’t all exactly the same.

Housewarming

Housewarmings aren't as much about the gifts as they are about showcasing a new residence. And even though most of the time the housewarming invitation specifies no presents, some do come bearing gifts. We were building our house when we got married, but due to some delays, it wasn’t finished for about three months after the wedding, but still, as newlyweds, we received several combination shower/housewarming gifts at our open house.

The term housewarming dates back to 1570-80. House-warming parties are generally informal. Usually there are no planned activities besides a possible tour and food, at least for those of us in the South.

"Housewarming" is descended literally from the act of warming a new house during the medieval times. Each guest would bring firewood, and build fires in all the available fireplaces, offering firewood as a gift. Aside from warming the house, this was also believed to repel evil spirits by creating a protective atmosphere of warmth. Uninhabited houses were considered targets for vagrant spirits, and therefore used to require a certain level of cleansing before a house was safe to be occupied by young children.

Dark, barren, and empty. This room needs a fire,
warmth, furniture to make it a HOME.

In my experience, housewarming gifts tend to be more in the line of decorative instead of food staples. Things like picture frames, ornaments, flowers, cross stitch, etc.

Bridal Showers

The custom of the bridal shower is said to have grown out of earlier dowry practices, when a poor woman's family might not have the money to provide a dowry for her, or when a father refused to give his daughter her dowry because he did not approve of the marriage. In such situations, friends of the woman would gather together and bring gifts that would compensate for the dowry and allow her to marry the man of her choice.

The earliest stories about these events have been known to originate in Brussels, Belgium around 1860. A frequently quoted legend traces the origin of this practice to the 16th or 17th Century Netherlands. However, there are also parallels with many dowry practices and the United States colonial or hope chest (trousseau) custom.

In the United States, bridal showers started in urban areas in the 1890s mainly among the upper middle classes. By the 1930s, bridal showers had spread to rural America.

This description of friends helping a young woman set up housekeeping with pots, pans, utensils, bedding, doilies, towels, etc. from the 16th and 17th centuries is similar to the showers our culture has today. When it comes to gifts, shower is a step above a housewarming, and generally, the gifts are more lavish. For instance, in years past, when a young couple married, a father might give his son a pair of mules if the family could afford it. A mother might make several quilts for her daughter.

Another cross-stitch, compliments of my mother.

This day and age, those more expensive gifts from parents might come in the form of a washer and dryer, a vacuum cleaner, a refrigerator, etc.

Pounding

While a pounding is similar to a housewarming and a shower, the gifts are almost exclusively food and food staples. A pounding is an old fashioned tradition celebrated in many churches where a new pastor or even a new family is welcomed to the church or the community with gifts of food. Traditionally, a pounding would provide a pastor and his family with a pound of staples, such as a pound of flour, a pound of sugar, a pound of butter and a pound of other basic nonperishables. The name "pounding" likely came from staples which were sold by the pound. Home canned fruits, vegetables, jams and jellies would have been popular and economical gifts.

In our culture, a pounding might be referred to as a pantry shower. Instead of homegrown staples, though, the offerings might lean more toward cake mixes, pancake mix, syrup, canned vegetables and fruit.

Shower? Housewarming? Pounding?

16th Century or 2016?

Regardless of which event or when it occurred in history, what a wonderful way to show newlyweds or new neighbors that you care.

CBA Bestselling author PAM HILLMAN was born and raised on a dairy farm in Mississippi and spent her teenage years perched on the seat of a tractor raking hay. In those days, her daddy couldn't afford two cab tractors with air conditioning and a radio, so Pam drove an Allis Chalmers 110. Even when her daddy asked her if she wanted to bale hay, she told him she didn't mind raking. Raking hay doesn't take much thought so Pam spent her time working on her tan and making up stories in her head. Now, that's the kind of life every girl should dream of. www.pamhillman.com

Pam's is working on the final edits of The Promise of Breeze Hill, the first book in the Natchez Trace Novel series, coming August 2017.

Shipwrecked On a Deserted Island? Pass the Soap!

With this Spark Historical Collection by Four Award Winning Christian Fiction Authors
Available on Amazon for $2.99

by Pam Hillman

"With this Spark" Historical Romance Collection released last week and lit a spark on Amazon! Within 48 hours it was on the Hot New Releases for historical fiction. All of us in the collection were tickled to death that readers are loving this collection so much.

I had a blast (literally!) writing Castaway with the Cowboy, my contribution to the collection. When an explosion sinks their steamship, horse wrangler Zach Holifield and nanny Abby Lindstrom find themselves stranded on a deserted island in the Caribbean. Along with Abby’s two charges, a cabin boy, and a couple of missionaries, Zach and Abby struggle for survival, normalcy, and a chance to live, to love, and to grow old together.

So, I'm happily writing along all the way to the end--which is a humdinger, btw--when my copy editor stumped me with a question...

My heroine talked about washing their clothes when they find water and the copy editor wanted to know where'd she'd get soap, since they'd barely escaped the sinking ship with their lives. What a wonderful question! And one that sent me on a quest to find out how many ways Abby could make soap on a deserted island in the Caribbean.

I was surprised to find that making soap doesn’t require some magic ingredient or special containers. Making soap isn’t as difficult as you would think. All you need is animal fat/grease—or vegetable/plant oil, water and ashes. And women in the past would have learned at an early age how to save their ashes and leach them to get lye. 

The primary ingredient is the potash or pearl ash from ashes. Pure potash can be achieved by leaching wood ashes. To do this under primitive conditions, take a small container with a small hole or holes punched through the bottom.

Wake Me Up Soap
Created by my friends at Pam & Megan's Shoppe

Union, MS

Place a one-inch layer of gravel or sand in the bottom of the container, and a one-inch layer of sand (aha, perfect for our characters stranded in the Caribbean!) on top of the gravel. The gravel and sand act as filters.

Fill the container with ashes from a cooled campfire. Place another container under the first container to catch the runoff and slowly pour about a gallon of water over the ashes allowing a brownish-gray water (the lye) to exit through the bottom into the second container.

Pour slowly. If the ashes start to “swim”, you are pouring the water too fast. During this process, if the lye coming out starts to lose its color, more ash can be added.

Next, boil the lye water until more than half of the water has evaporated. The mixture may foam, and the resulting solution is potash.

Next, add 1 ½ cup of lard, grease or animal fat to the boiling mixture and continue cooking for about 30 minutes. If using animal fat, make sure it is free from meat or food particles as the soap may spoil if during the drying process if the fat used isn’t pure.

Lovely Handmade Soap at Inn the Oaks B&B, Decatur, MS

When the desired consistency is reached, place the mixture into molds. The shape doesn’t matter: a wooden mold carved from a tree limb, a small coconut shell, seashells, anything will do. Let the mixture dry for about two days, then remove from the mold.

Once my characters managed to leach enough lye from their ashes, all they’d need to do would be to find enough animal fat or some type of oil to make their soap for washing and bathing. Goats, pigs, and sheep are sometimes found on islands, so that would be one source for animal fat.

Coconut oil (with flakes of coconut) makes excellent soap, as does the oil from eucalyptus leaves, or any vegetable oil will do. And you can also make soap from goat’s milk. I’d venture to say that soap made from goat’s milk is softer than say, something made with lard, even on a deserted island. So I can see the women preferring to bath with this softer, gentler soap.

www.candleport.com
Sweet Cotton - Wonderful Fresh Scent

When researching this post, I read that if your soap is too soft, toss in a bit of salt the next time, so that made me wonder if seawater would be a good thing or bad. So, off to google again…

Yep. You can. Just google “sea salt soap recipe”. Amazing.

Abby—and the missionary’s wife stranded along with her—probably wouldn’t have cared about adding a lot of delicate scents to their soap or how harsh or brittle it was, but I imagine with the bounty of flora and fauna found on an island, they’d want to experiment, wouldn’t they?

Can you think of scent they could add to their soap to give it a pleasing aroma? Something that would be found on an island in the Caribbean. Do you enjoy homemade soaps? If so, what’s your favorite scent?

Stealing Jake - Available Online and at a Retailer Near You!
Read the entire RT Review!

CBA Bestselling author PAM HILLMAN was born and raised on a dairy farm in Mississippi and spent her teenage years perched on the seat of a tractor raking hay. In those days, her daddy couldn't afford two cab tractors with air conditioning and a radio, so Pam drove an Allis Chalmers 110. Even when her daddy asked her if she wanted to bale hay, she told him she didn't mind raking. Raking hay doesn't take much thought so Pam spent her time working on her tan and making up stories in her head. Now, that's the kind of life every girl should dream of. www.pamhillman.com

Tidbits on Plates and Dishes from the 19th Century

For some reason folks tend to think that Victorians style of dress, furnishings and today's topic, plates, were more black and white. However, for those of you who actually collect antiques, you know that not to be true. Today I thought I'd highlight some dinnerware from the 19th Century. I have a post from my blog with patterns for dishes that I'll share as well at the end of this post. The images you'll be seeing come from the internet may of which come from auctions or online sales, I will post the image, credit the site and give the link. If the links change, I apologize but I don't know how long some of these places keep their old stock up for customers to view.

The first set of dishes come from France. Victorian ROSES Antique Limoges France RARE ICE CREAM or DESSERT SET

LINK

The next is a simple Tiffany Gold Band Plate. There is no link for this image because it is simply a link to the image.

The next is a lovely early Carlton Ware reticulated dessert plate in "Morning Glory" pattern on a blush ground with gilt edging. 9 1/4" diameter, bearing the "Crown" backstamp, date circa 1895.

This link will show you all that was listed at the time I found this image. It may or may not be there, however, I copied the information provided by Zeichen Antiques & Collectibles

Here's another Carlton Ware and what the Zeichen Antiques sale page says: Another of Carlton Ware's beautiful early pierced dishes, but this time oval in shape in the Carnation pattern. The flowers and foliage outlined in gilt and the ground has a slight pink blush to the outside edge. 10.5" x 8" x 2.5" high. Blue Crown backstamp with registration no 30945, making this dish circa 1899. Slight rubbing to the gilt edge & There is a minute firing mark on one pierce hole edge which does not go through to the other side & is mentioned for accuracy.

Link is provided with the image above.

This image comes from someone's Pinterest Group. It is a Victorian Majolica Plate
The link to this board is Tableware- Delightful Dishware on Pinterest.

These are just a few examples that our 19th Century ancestors or characters might have had on their tables. In my newest book THE INNKEEPER'S WIFE the heroine has various sets of dishes she uses for the customers of the inn and for the private family times. Speaking of THE INNKEEPER'S WIFE I'm offering a free copy in a drawing that will be held on the first of Nov. Post a comment to enter to win your free copy. Please put in your email address so I can notify you privately and we can exchange shipping information.

As I mentioned above here is the link to my 19th Century Historical Tidbits Blog with images of Oyster Plates

Lynn A. Coleman is an award winning & best-selling author who makes her home in Keystone Heights, Florida, with her husband of 40 years. Lynn's newest novel THE INNKEEPER'S WIFE will be released November 1, 2014. It is the second in her Historical St. Augustine, FL. series. If you are interested in 19th Century Carriages & Wagons follow the enclosed link.
Check out her 19th Century Historical Tidbits Blog if you like exploring different tidbits of history.

Tinkers, Peddlers, Truck Farmers, and Furniture Salesmen. Oh My!

by Pam Hillman

Eric Sloane (1905-1985)

My family and my husband's family have a history of being peddlers and truck farmers. Both my grandfathers sold produce out of their trucks in the summertime. Watermelons, peas, beans, corn, tomatoes, squash, okra, whatever they could grow, but the family didn't eat, so they sold it. They were called "truck farmers". And on some days, they participated in the farmer's markets in neighboring towns, but mostly they went door-to-door and sold their produce.

They had routes that they would service. Once my grandfather told me about an old sword he'd traded for. Of course I was in awe of the fact that the sword might be from the Civil War, or some exotic place like Saudi Arabia. I was so enamored of the sword that my grandfather gave it to me instead of to one of my male cousins. It's just an old broken sword. It's not pretty and the grip and handle have been broken off, but maybe someday I'll find somebody who can tell me what time period it came from, or might even be able to repair it for me.

My father-in-law and his brothers went even farther afield when peddling. They were known to travel to the Mississippi Delta for a load of sweet potatoes, to Georgia for peaches, and down south Mississippi for watermelons. Anything they thought they could sell, they'd take off and buy it, sometimes driving over 24 hours straight to make the trip.

Come to think of it, my stepfather and stepbrother are still peddling, but I just never thought to call it that! They buy trailer loads of Georgia honey and sell it in California. They have a very loyal clientele, and they make 5-6 trips a year distributing honey all over the west.

But the most interesting stories my mother has told me is of her cousin, J. L. Jones. J. L. started out with a little country store on skids that he moved around when the notion struck him. If he thought business would be better at the crossroads close to Hudson Chapel Church of God, he sat up shop there.

A few months later, he might move three or four miles closer to the main road. Later, he'd move to a new spot. This mobile store was similar to the peddlers who rode all over the country selling everything from pots and pans, to sewing thread, to vanilla flavoring. The only difference was that J. L. was from the community and people knew him. Most were even kin to him. From those humble beginnings, J. L.'s business grew until he opened a very successful furniture store in Jackson, MS, the state capitol.

Traveling salesmen, tinkers, gypsies, and peddlers have a reputation of being shysters and crooks. The traveling salesman in most spaghetti westerns was portrayed as such and was often called a "drummer". (While researching this topic, I did a search for "peddlers", "drummers", and one of the very first articles to pop up was by my college English professor, Mr. Ovid Vickers. Out of millions of pieces, I thought that was really cool. Check out Mr. Vickers piece titled, "Some Drummers Didn't Drum", printed in The Neshoba Democrat June 28, 2006.)

But the traveling salesman that my mother tells me about was welcome when he came down the long, lonely dead-end road she lived on. He brought thread, cloth, seeds, pots and pans, along with news. I suspect both of my grandfathers loved that aspect of truck peddling as much as they loved making the sale. 

Regardless of the reputation of traveling salesmen, they were a major part of the fabric of America before motorized vehicles made traveling over a few miles a possibility without wasting the entire day.

I included a traveling salesman much like J. L. Jones in The Evergreen Bride. My fictional storeowner, Mr. Miller, owns Miller's Mercantile, and he moves the store when the mood strikes.

Sipsey couldn’t even be called a town unless you counted the church and the school, along with Mr. Miller’s store, and you couldn’t always count the store.  

The tiny mercantile consisted of two wagons butted end to end. The space was so tight, you just entered from one end and exited the other, and every nook and cranny was stuffed full of non-perishable foodstuffs, spices, sundry items, and a bit of cloth and thread. Mr. Miller moved his store to a new location whenever the mood struck him. 

So, there you go. Miller's Mercantile, handy-dandy resource for all your needs. Sure beats traveling ten--or even forty-- miles for a sewing needle or a tube of ointment, doesn't it?

THE EVERGREEN BRIDE by Pam Hillman (Available NOW for pre-order): Mississippian Annabelle Denson dreams of visiting cousins in Illinois and seeing a white Christmas. In the face of her excitement, Samuel Frazier hides his growing affection for her behind a quiet smile and a carpenter’s lathe. Samuel starts to worry that if she goes, Annabelle won’t return. Can he convince her to stay?

Laundry Day

Monday Wash Day by Stephanie Grace Whitson

Have you ever purchased a book that guarantees to help you “take control of your time and life,” “manage your household,” “get organized” or “conquer the messies"? If so, you are part of a long line of homemakers seeking answers and experts offering to provide them. Remembering her own pioneer childhood, Laura Ingalls Wilder explained her mother’s household management system this way: “Each day had its own proper work. Ma used to say, wash on Monday, iron on Tuesday, mend on Wednesday, churn on Thursday, clean on Friday, bake on Saturday, rest on Sunday.” [from Little House in the Big Woods]

             Assigning specific chores to specific days of the week is memorialized in countless tea towels embroidered over the years. 

It can be difficult for us to understand why on earth an entire day was set aside for things we accomplish in minutes. I do laundry as an afterthought. I walk by the washer/dryer on my way to work in my home office. If there’s a load ready, I start it. As I walk by later on my way to get coffee or lunch, I transfer to the dryer and move on. Later in the day, I fold and put away. I never thought to be thankful for the orange/blue/white jugs of laundry soap perched atop the machine that saves me from staging something like the set-up at right once a week. But since I began writing about 19^th century women, that has changed.

            First, there was the set-up. “The list of utensils for the laundry includes wash boiler, wringer, washboard, washing machine, three or four tubs, two or three pails, clothes stick, dipper, and large and small clothes baskets.” Soaking overnight or for at least a few hours was recommended “to soften the dirt and loosen it by swelling the fabric.” “Rubbing” was recommended for neck, wristbands, “and other spots which are especially soiled or greasy.” Next came boiling (a first boiling and a second boiling were considered ideal), then rinsing. “It is customary to lift the clothes from the boiler directly into a tub of cold rinsing water, rinse thoroughly, wring out into a second rinsing water, and continue rinsing until all trace of soap disappears.” “After the final rinsing … articles must be wrung out, rolled in bundles, and sorted, starched pieces being placed in one basket and unstarched ones in another, and hung up to dry at once.”

            Oh, wait … starch and bluing and soap. Many women made their own. Here’s a recipe for soap found in Alice Kirk Grierson’s recipe book. Mrs. Grierson’s husband served in the Tenth Cavalry in the West between 1866 and 1888.

Soft Soap

            Fry out fourteen pounds of grease; to this add ten pounds potash dissolved in just boiling water enough to cover the lumps. In two or three days pour the mixture several pailfuls of boiling water (Be careful to use boiling water, as that cooks it). Keep on adding water as fast as the soap thickens until your barrel is full of nice, sweet soap. It must be stirred hard every time the water is put into the barrel until it is entirely mixed.

Is it any wonder women were thrilled when they could buy commercially produced soap?

A “Plan for Wash Day” published in 1908 recommended that a woman “get up at daylight and get the washing out of the way as early as possible. It is surprising how much can be accomplished early in the morning before the regular routing of the day begins.” (It’s also surprising how tired I feel just having read about doing the laundry in the “good old days.”)

In the early 1900s, a farm wife named Nellie Jones wrote, “I wish it could be burnt into the consciousness of every man and every woman that washing under average farm conditions is a man’s work, not a woman’s, measured by expenditure of strength.” I think Nellie would have loved this humorous photo produced in 1901 in response to the suffrage movement.

   

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Best-selling, award-winning author Stephanie Grace Whitson has been writing Christian fiction since 1994, when she signed her first contract with Thomas Nelson Publishers. Since then, she's added a couple dozen titles to her list of published books, received her MA in Historical Studies from Nebraska Wesleyan University, and become a grandmother. She is a frequent guest speaker/lecturer on a variety of historical and inspirational topics for both civic organizations and church groups. Her husband and blended family, her church, historical research, antique quilts, and Kitty—her motorcycle—all rank high on her list of “favorite things.” To learn more, visit www.stephaniewhitson.com or www.Facebook.com/stephaniegracewhitson. 

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