Treasure Chest Thursday–Grandma’s Broom

I grew up  in the 1950’s  and graduated from high school in 1960. We lived on a farm in North Carolina about 3 miles from the nearest town. There was not  any cousins, aunt, uncles or other relatives living nearby.
My grandparents, except for my paternal Grandmother, had all passed away before I was born in the early 1940’s.
Grandma Pearly, as she was known, was my Dad's mother. She lived with my aunts. Back in those days there was no grass for a lawn. Where I lived the area in front of the house was just plain old bare earth. That was our lawn and while we didn't mow our lawn you can sure bet that it was “clean” at all times. That area was special and it was swept every day to ensure it’s cleanliness.

The broom:
The broom that was used was a special broom. We didn't have money to splurge on store bought brooms. Grandma Pearly (born 17 Jan 1885)  went out into the field and gathered broom straw to make her own brooms. Most brooms that  she used were hand made by her; she very seldom used a store-bought broom.

Grandma Pearly died in 1970. Before she passed away she had made one of her brooms which is in my possession. The overall length of the broom is 50 inches. The base of the broom is about 2 inches in diameter. The broom is wrapped in saran wrap to keep the straws from bring broken.