Story and photos by Sarah Geyer
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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
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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.
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“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
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branch, mainly make
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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.
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“Broom-making is
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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