OT....Just wondering......

JerryS · Dec 14, 2012

Is there still such a thing as a straw broom? I made a point of looking for them on recent visits to two or three stores, and I saw only the new and improved plastic models.

Wondering further: what were the straw brooms made from? I have it in my mind it was some variety of corn. If so, was this corn a special variety dedicated only to this purpose? Does anyone still grow it?

Just when you thought all the inane questions had been asked on here already..........

Bob Huntress · Dec 14, 2012

Absolutely there are still strawbrooms. Wal Mart even sells them.

Dr. Walt · Dec 14, 2012

In answer to his second question - Straw is the hollow stalks or stems of grain after threshing, and is used for animal fodder.

OldBuzzard · Dec 14, 2012

Straw brooms are made from a variety of Sorghum:

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/broomcorn.html

MarkB_MI · Dec 14, 2012

I bought a broomcorn broom just last week at Home Depot. They had a couple of different versions in stock. But I noticed that our local Kroger grocery store no longer carries the old-style brooms.

Bret4207 · Dec 14, 2012

I get my favorite kind at Lowes, called a "warehouse broom". TSC also carries them. Of course any janitorial supply outfit will have them.

JD Farmer · Dec 14, 2012

Yes, there are straw brooms, and like everything else they are not all created equal.
I bought a new one last week at the hay auction in Kidron. Hand made by Amish in Pa., real heavy thick broom, not like the light weights sold by stores. Paid $26 for it.

Traditional Farmer · Dec 14, 2012

Brooms aren't made from the straw of grain they're made from Broom Corn a specially bred
strain of sorghum specifically grown to make brooms

Sean Feeney · Dec 14, 2012

QC inspector
Broom Factory

Dachshund · Dec 14, 2012

Sam's Club has some pretty good heavy-duty ones for under $6 - and they are even wire tied.

ericlb · Dec 14, 2012

still around, and anybody who grew up with a good straw broom, knows that once you get the straw one "broken it" the new plastic ones arnt a patch on those straw ones, just cheaper to make, like everything else these days

James Howell · Dec 14, 2012

Straw brooms are made by the Adventist in "The Colony" near Jefferson, TX.

Every year the owner would come by the bank and take out a loan to buy broom straw.

Nancy Howell · Dec 14, 2012

That is a good commercial.

jackinok · Dec 14, 2012

ive seen them still around,made of broom corn. you want a real fun job? try tabling broom corn by hand when its about 100 degrees outside! saw a guy making brooms by hand here a couple years ago at a tractor show. he said he grew his own,but it was a pretty big crop here years ago.i dont think ive seen any in forty years or more.

jamesinok · Dec 14, 2012

Jerry: When broomcorn was in it's hayday around Pauls Valley, Ok. only the ends were used for broom making. The stalk was used in shipbuilding for flotation. Then along came expanding styrofoam. The broomcorn industry was too labor intensive to survive just making brooms.

pat sublett · Dec 14, 2012

Jerked and thrashed Broomcorn when I was a kid. Like gathering corn except it had a chaff on it that made you itch like Posin Ivy. Gathered it in August. Thrashed it by holding both hands full and slapping it on a revolving wooden drum with 20p nails drove through it to pull the seed out. More itching. Those weren't "The Good OL Days".

Wheat Farmer · Dec 14, 2012

A neighbor bought a Glass greenhouse that was in wood crates, and was in a shed for 40+ years. Everything was packed in straw, and all the screw were flat slotted. Fun was had by all.

oldtanker · Dec 14, 2012

Just got the wife a new car errrrr.....straw broom last month!

RIck

mb58 · Dec 14, 2012

You can get the real, genuine thang at the Arkansas Folk Center at Mountain View, Ark.

old_bc · Dec 14, 2012

Local hardware store still has them here in Arkanass.

OT....Just wondering......

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