A Sweeping Tribute

As the window air-conditioner hums in the background and a radio plays ‘70s rock music, Jack Martin tightens another strand of broomcorn to a handle.

For this, he employs a contraption his great-grandfather, Will Hockaday, built in 1916 in the same building outside Selmer, Tenn., that Martin now uses. The mechanics of the broom-wrapping machine, also known as a kicker table, haven’t changed in 86 years.

The sound of classic rock notwithstanding, Martin’s broom-making shop has the atmosphere of a bygone era. One can watch him ply his trade on the archaic structure and easily envision the days before modern technology took over.

That is, until he pulls out the Velcro.

“Of course, my great-grandfather didn’t use Velcro,” says Martin, referring to the strap he uses to hold the corn in place on the broom handle. “He used a leather strap. But it’s the only thing different in the way I make brooms and the way he made them.”

Martin, 48, is carrying on a tradition that Hockaday started as a supplement to full-time farming. After growing the corn that would yield the material, Hockaday founded Hockaday Handmade Brooms during the Woodrow Wilson administration. His son, Jack Hockaday, took over the business and ran it until 1980, when Martin, Jack’s grandson, took the reigns.

“I grew up watching Papaw make brooms and he taught me how to make them,” Martin explains. “I gave Papaw a $100 bill for the equipment. This was an important tradition in my family, and it was something I didn’t want to see die out.”

Martin eventually left a career in the oil business, and in 1986 he and his wife, Virginia, reopened Hockaday Handmade Brooms. Martin grows and harvests the corn, just as his ancestors did, then meticulously wraps and stitches a completed broom.

“It takes me five months and 45 minutes to make every broom,” he says. “That’s five months to grow and harvest the broomcorn and 45 minutes to put the broom on the handle.”

Martin may cut a corner here and there by using Velcro instead of leather, but that’s what puts the “living” in the “living history” of broom-making. Just as Will Hockaday didn’t have an air-conditioner, he also didn’t sell his brooms over the Internet. He didn’t offer them in the variety of sizes that hang from the walls of Martin’s shop, and he certainly didn’t make the “Harry Potter” brooms that are now big sellers for Hockaday Handmade Brooms.

“It’s unusual for someone of Jack’s generation to so wholeheartedly commit himself to keeping alive a craft from his grandparents’ time,” says Robert Cogswell, director of the Tennessee Arts Commission’s folk-far program. “He’s very dedicated to his craft.”

Martin’s shop includes a broom museum, and his land is the setting for a Broomcorn Festival each September. In addition, he maintains a portable version of his operation, and often takes his show on the road to crafting events and public schools.

“I’m trying to preserve history, and I want to show the young generation how important that is,” says Martin, who is teaching his craft to his three grandchildren. “Our show is centered around showing kids how we use all the basic skills (learned in school) in our old-fashioned broom business.”

It is indeed a business. And many of Martin’s customers aren’t just buying his brooms as novelty items; they’re using them to sweep kitchens, garages, and sidewalks. So while quality craftsmanship is a wonderful reminder of times gone by, it also serves a practical purpose.

Still, Martin’s caring approach to the craft is mostly a testament to history—and family tradition.

John McBryde is a regular contributor to American Profile.

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