Story and photos by Sarah Geyer (YHU\RQHRIKLVKDQGPDGHEURRPVKDVDKROHLQWKHKDQGOHIRUDUHDVRQ VD\V0DWWKHZ3LWWV³WRUHPLQGWKHRZQHUWRKDQJLWXSEHWZHHQXVHV .HHSLQJWKHEULVWOHVRIIWKHJURXQGZKHQVWRUHGH[WHQGVWKHOLIHRIWKHEURRP For nearly 30 years, Kenton’s Matthew Pitts and his father, Randy, have been crafting handmade brooms together hen Randy Pitts joined his family for dinner one summer evening in 1986, he knew he had the perfect part-time job for his and wife Mary’s 13-year-old son, Matthew. Randy, principal of Kenton Elementary School at the time, had been asked by his secretary if he and Matthew, who had an affinity for antique tools and equipment, would be interested in the machines that her late uncle used to make brooms. She said no one in her family knew what to do with them. “And, honestly, neither did we,” says Randy. “But with Matthew’s appreciation for antique tools, I wasn’t surprised when he responded, ‘Well, you get the equipment, and we’ll figure out how to make a broom.’” And they did. Now, 28 years later, the father-son duo has made more than 15,000 oldfashioned, Shaker-style utility brooms. Matthew actually learned the craft from broommakers at Shaker Village in Pleasant Hill, Ky., where he spent a day watching and practicing. “They explained the process and were very patient with him,” says Randy. “He even got to make three brooms. It was a first-class lesson in broommaking.” With a work area built onto the backyard chicken coop 18 July 2014 at the Pitts family’s Kenton home, Matthew set up shop and taught his father part of the process. Almost immediately, the two were selling all the brooms they could make to family, friends, and neighbors. O Kenton Though the brooms were lovingly made by hand with the highest-quality broomcorn and antique equipment, Matthew sold them for the very reasonable price of $10 each until a few years ago when he upped the price to $12. “I wanted to make the best broom out there for use, not for decoration,” stresses Matthew, acknowledging that many brooms just like his sell for much more. “You could price this broom at $40, but it’s going to hang on a wall. When our customers buy a broom for $12, they’re going to use it, fall in love with it, and hopefully come back and buy another one.” Kenton resident Jo Ann Reed has bought several dozen from Matthew over the years. “One year I bought a bunch to give as Christmas presents,” says Jo Ann. “When Matthew asked me what I was going to do with so many brooms, I answered, ‘Well, these I’m giving as gifts, and this one I’m going to fly around on!’ “All kidding aside, there’s really nothing like Matthew’s brooms. They’re the best.” After perfecting his skills and getting the business rolling during his teenage years, Matthew continued to make brooms on weekends and holidays while attending the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. “Matthew would come home from school and wind as many brooms as he could,” says Randy, who recently retired after /()72QHRIWKHÀQDOVWHSVLQWKHEURRPPDNLQJSURFHVVLVWRFRPERXWDQ\UHP LPDJLQHVRPHRQHXVLQJWKDWRQDGRJ"µODXJKV5DQG\$%29(0DWWKHZOHIWDQG WKH\ERXJKW\HDUVDJR2QWKHIDUZDOORIWKHEURRPVKRSSLFWXUHVIURP0DWWKH QHZVSDSHUDUWLFOHVDUHGLVSOD\HGEHKLQGKDQJLQJÀQLVKHGEURRPV 42 years as principal of Kenton and Ridgemont Elementary Schools. “Then I would sew them after school and on the weekends.” After graduating in 1995 with a forestry degree, Matthew moved back to Obion County to work for Tyson Foods, where he serves as a quality assurance manager for the plant in Union City. He and his wife, Laura, also an educator, live in Troy with their two children, Mary, 10, and Daniel, 8. “Once I got married and started my career and family, the broom-making slowed down some,” says Matthew. “But now that the kids are older, I’ve gotten back into it.” Over the years, Matthew and Randy sold their handmade wares at specialty shops and various events — including Collierville Arts on the Square, Paris Landing State Park Festival, and Davy Crockett Days in the town of Rutherford. At these festivals, the pair would often make brooms on site using an extra set of antique equipment they purchased to avoid moving their original set from the shop. FRPERXWDQ\UHPDLQLQJEURRPFRUQVHHGV´&DQ\RX 0DWWKHZOHIWDQG5DQG\VWLOOXVHWKHDQWLTXHHTXLSPHQW FWXUHVIURP0DWWKHZ·VÀUVWOHVVRQDORQJZLWKIUDPHG RPV “Matthew would bring a bunch of brooms, and then we’d make them as fast as we could all day long,” explains Randy. “At most festivals we’d leave with an empty truck and a list of orders.” Nowadays, the Pittses, customers of Obion Farmers Cooperative’s Kenton 5DQG\VHDWHGOHIWDQG0DWWKHZVHDWHGULJKWDUHÁDQNHGE\IDPLO\RQWKHSRUFKRIWKHLU ZRUNVKRS-XVWEHKLQG5DQG\VWDQGVKLVZLIH0DU\DQGEHKLQG0DWWKHZLVKLVZLIH/DXUD2Q branch, mainly make HLWKHUHQGDUH0DWWKHZDQG/DXUD·VWZRFKLOGUHQ0DU\OHIWDQG'DQLHOULJKW brooms by special order and can be found at one festival each year, the West Tennessee Agricultural Museum’s Fall Folklore Jamboree in Milan, where they’ve participated nearly every October since the event’s inception in the late 1990s. The supplies needed for making this old-fashioned type of broom are simple — broomcorn, wooden handles, wire, and broom nails — but also scarce. /()70DNLQJEURRPVLVDWHDPDSSURDFK0DWWKHZXVHVWKHZUDSSLQJWDEOHDQGSHGDOWRZUDS ZLUHDWWDFKLQJWKHEURRPFRUQVHFXUHO\WRWKHKDQGOH5,*+75DQG\VWHDGLHVWKHEURRPLQWKH “Broom-making is SUHVVDVKHVHZVWKUHHURZVZHDYLQJZD[HG\DUQFDUHIXOO\WRFUHDWHVHYHQVWLFKHVSHUURZ a dying skill, so finding supplies has become more plates, and Matthew’s first and son. Matthew operates and more difficult,” says Matbrooms, the broom shop holds the wrapping table, attaching thew, explaining that he and his broomcorn with wire while many memories for both father now order from the R. E. spinning the handle and securfather and son. Often working Caddy Co. in North Carolina. together in silence, Matthew ing the wire with nails. Then Equipment needed to make and Randy have a unique bond Randy places the broom in a the broom is also simple — a built on nearly three decades press and stitches three rows, wrapping table or winder, press, interweaving seven stitches for of their beloved hobby. cutter, and comb. The Pittses “We always had an affinity each row and combing out the still use the machines they acfor the old crafts, old tools, bristles between each step. quired from Randy’s secretary and the old way of doing With sewing complete, the years ago, but they’ve added things, so when the broombroom’s end is trimmed, and to their collection through the making opportunity came the final step is to stand the years, often discovering parts in broom upright. This test, Mat- along, we had to try it,” Matold barns and sheds. thew explains. “We just conthew explains, is the sign of a “Most people have no idea tinue to do it all these years good broom. what the equipment is,” laughs because we enjoy creating “Quality means everything Randy. “We found a broom something useful.” to me,” says Matthew. “I take comb a few years back being For more information on pride in creating the best used on a dog.” the Pitts family’s brooms, call broom you’ll ever own.” The broom-making process Matthew at 731-536-6148 or Filled with a collection of is a team effort between father Randy at 731-749-5287. antique corn shellers, license July 2014 19
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