Handcrafted World Famous Vtg. Olge\'s Straw Broom w/ Carved Twisted Wood Handle For Sale

The item in the image is a vintage handmade gnarled wood hearth broom, crafted in a style famously produced by Ogle\'s Broom Shop in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. These highly collectible, decorative brooms are known for their distinctively twisted handles made from vine-wrapped saplings—often using native wood such as sassafras, sourwood, or willow—where natural vines have naturally constricted the growing wood over time to create a deep, spiraling indentation. Key CharacteristicsThe Handle: Made of a natural \"vine-twisted\" branch that has been stripped, cured, and often stained. A hole is typically drilled through the top for a leather or twine hanging loop. The Stitching & Shroud: The broom corn is secured tightly to the handle with thick black twine wraps and distinctive woven bands.The Shoulders: This style features a classic round \"besom\" silhouette, which is common for historic Appalachian hearth brooms rather than the flattened style popularized later by the Shakers. variety capped with fibrous seed heads) wrapped in three tight overlapping layers around the handle.Historical Stitching Adjustments: Up until the 1970s, the family actually stripped the soft, pliable inner bark of local poplar trees to stitch the broom bristles together. Because this process eventually killed the tree, they transitioned to using heavily waxed, ultra-durable nylon thread to make the brooms last a lifetime while preserving local timber. The Handles: The shop works with over ten varieties of native wood, including sassafras, dogwood, ironwood, sweet gum, cedar, and walnut. The most prized styles are the \"honeysuckle-handled brooms,\" where a wild honeysuckle vine naturally wrapped around a young growing tree branch, leaving behind deep, dramatic corkscrew scars as the wood expanded. 36\" long.