Most of these were in the Eastern United States during the Great Depression in the 1930s, the number of factories declined to 320 in 1939. One source mentions that the United States had 303 broom factories by 1839 and that the number peaked at 1,039 in 1919. This machine played an integral part in the Industrial Revolution. In 1810, the foot treadle broom machine was invented. Dickenson subsequently invented a machine that would make better brooms, and faster than he could. The sorghum brooms held up well, but ultimately, like all brooms, fell apart. His wife spread good words around town, creating demand for Dickenson's sorghum brooms. In 1797, the quality of brooms changed when Levi Dickenson, a farmer in Hadley, Massachusetts, made a broom for his wife, using the tassels of sorghum, a grain he was growing for the seeds. See also: Shaker broom vise Making brooms, 2012 Ī smaller whisk broom or brush is sometimes called a duster. 'a besom made from broom').įlat brooms, made of broom corn, were invented by Shakers in the 19th century with the invention of the broom vice. The song Buy Broom Buzzems (by William Purvis 1752–1832) still refers to the 'broom besom' as one type of besom (i.e. The name of the shrubs began to be used for the household implement in Late Middle English and gradually replaced the earlier besom during the Early Modern English period. The word 'broom' derives from the name of certain thorny shrubs ( Genista and others) used for sweeping. Video of a Japanese construction worker cleaning up his construction site with a Japanese broom Etymology The broom is also a symbolic object associated with witchcraft and ceremonial magic. The majority of brooms are somewhere in between, suitable for sweeping the floors of homes and businesses, soft enough to be flexible and to move even light dust, but stiff enough to achieve a firm sweeping action.

Soft brooms are used in some cultures chiefly for sweeping walls of cobwebs and spiders, like a ' feather duster', while hard brooms are for rougher tasks like sweeping dirt off sidewalks or concrete floors, or even smoothing and texturing wet concrete. It is commonly used in combination with a dustpan.Ī distinction is made between a 'hard broom' and a 'soft broom' and a spectrum in between. It is thus a variety of brush with a long handle.

Sorghum-made brooms with long handles as well as short handlesĪ broom (also known as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. For other uses, see Broom (disambiguation), Broomstick (disambiguation), Push broom scanner, and Whisk broom scanner.

Soft broomstick