When my daughter mentioned that she would like a tobacco basket to place over her bed, I assumed that here in the old Tobacco Belt it would be a piece of cake finding a stack of wonderful old tobacco baskets. It is not a piece of cake. Maybe I am just looking for tobacco basket love in all wrong places, but I found them to be a bit elusive. Maybe I need to head over to Winston-Salem, home of RJ Reynolds. Or down to tobacco growing fields near Kinston.
Instead I saw a craigslist ad for several baskets in Henderson, NC. Henderson? Ok. Never really spent much time in Henderson, about an hour north of Raleigh. So, road trip! I invited my son, but did not get a whole lot of enthusiasm, so I filled my water bottle and headed out on a fine spring day.
Long story short: The man had four baskets in a ratty shed behind his "fahm". He used to have lots, but someone came and bought most of them. Well, they were nearly in pieces, evidence of lots of squirrel activity, acorns and all. One was decent. I bought it, paying way too much. I decided the trip was not worth one basket, so I headed over to Oxford, NC and found another- though smaller and less intricate. In Oxford, they know their baskets by what grower and warehouse they came from, treasuring those imprinted with "Oxford" on the rims. Some Oxford homeowners collect them, endeavoring to have every local warehouse displayed in their homes. It is a local Southern Living kind of thing.... And some elegant homes line the old shady streets of Oxford.
These old baskets, once used to transport tobacco leaves to market (tobacco markets in themselves another blog-worthy affair) were originally around 3'x3'- some smaller and some larger. For those of you who "aren't from here", here is a bit of history: http://www.telegram.com/article/20120408/APN/304089984/0
After looking at some photos, I have become a bit obsessed. WHY?? Well, they add the warmth of wood, without being fussy. They are graphic and striking in a "I can be rustic or I can be graphic" kind of way. I could see them in a spare, minimalist setting or in a cabin with lots of stacked stone. See for yourself:
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| This one is a reproduction. It is only 14" square. Old baskets really look their age because they were workhorses! http://primitivebasketcase.blogspot.com/2011/02/items-for-sale.html |
Crate &Barrel has seen the graphic/decor value of the tobacco basket-- and created one from woven antiqued zinc. It can be hung horizontally or vertically. I actually like it. Crate$Barrel offers it for only $269 with nary a word about it's history in the tobacco marketplace.
Here are the two baskets I bought yesterday. I have brushed off the extraneous dust, acorns, and pine needles but have yet to do a more thorough cleaning. I am thinking a light coat of polish or wax might bring out their patina.
I am sure you have seen these in many Raleigh homes over the mantel, over the bed, in the kitchen. They must call to our sense of history. When my husband was a kid, he worked in the summers "priming" (we don't say picking..no-no) tobacco. He has mentioned the backbreaking hours of bending over the rows, the sticky hands, the sun beating on his head and back. Long before he was in the tobacco fields, others far less fortunate than he labored in this state's fields, working as slaves, then sharecroppers, later as migrant workers, on plantations and small rural farms. The tobacco industry has a motley past, built on the backs of others. Though these baskets were no longer made after the late 1960's, their imprint remains as an indelible part of our past.
Want to read more about tobacco growing in the south? (p.s. wish they had known about crop diversification..a good lesson for stockholders, too)
Tobacco and Slaves: The Development of Southern Cultures in the Chesapeake, 1680-1800
I will be offering these baskets at Everyday Ellie at the Warehouse at 1107 Capital Boulevard.
Make a tobacco basket part of your home, so you can see it everyday.
