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 The rustling
of the old-fashioned heath broom is the sound my generation principally associated with
house cleaning. Today, however, this is drowned out by the roaring of vacuum cleaners, the
inevitable symphony of today's homes. However, my intention is not to bore you with
nostalgic memories of brooms in general, but a special kind, the bridal broom. The bridal
broom or mirror broom was once a part of every young girl's trousseau, and after her
marriage adorned a corner of her house. In Edirne there are still a couple of
craftsmen making brooms by traditional methods, resisting the tide of time and technology
that has brought mass production to even this old-fashioned domestic article. In the past
people did not ask what brand a broom was, but the name of the craftsman, and makers of
excellent quality brooms could win a reputation that went far and wide. Before the advent
of the electrical vacuum cleaner, one of the first domestic goods purchased in
anticipation of a young girl's marriage was a bridal broom decorated with mirrors and
colored ribbons, particularly in Turkey's northwest region. The order for the bridal broom
would be given in good time before the wedding so that the craftsman did not have to make
a rushed job of it. Demand for these brooms was so high that mothers would place their
order with the town's most renowned broom maker as soon as their daughters reached
puberty.
Although mirror brooms were unique to this region, the stalks of particular varieties of heath gathered around Edirne, watered by the Meriç and Tunca rivers were sought after for broom making all over Turkey. Trade in this commodity as well as the finished brooms themselves was an important part of the local economy, and remains so even today, although in the main the brooms are no longer the meticulously handcrafted objects of yesteryear. Considerable numbers of people in the province are employed in this sector, which even has its own bourse and several trade organizations. Like every craft, broom making has its own finer points that require special care and skill. First of all the raw material has to be just right. The heath stems are reaped with scythes in the countryside and the seeds stripped away before they are laid out to dry in the sun. They are then made up into bales and taken to the heath bourse, where they are purchased by the broom makers. The stalks are first soaked in water to soften them for the manufacturing process, and then baked in a sulfur kiln to improve their durability and flexibility.
Now the broom is ready for use. The decorated bridal and mirror brooms, of course, took longer. In the past these brooms had a symbolic language of their own. If the mirror broom belonged to an unmarried woman, a nail with a large rounded head would be fixed to the handle. If the mirror broom was hung outside the house door it signified that the household included a girl of marriageable age. Another curious aspect of old-fashioned heath brooms is their relationship with cats. Whereas cats tend to seek a hiding place the moment the vacuum cleaner is plugged in, they have a particular liking for heath brooms, as I was reminded when we visited the broom workshops in Edirne. In each one we saw cats happily stretched out on the piles of heath, which make a bed that is cool in summer and warm in winter. We were told that taking care of the cats is one of the apprentices' tasks.
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The raw
materials were as important as the craftsmanship. The best heath stalks, both flexible and
hardwearing, had to be used. Not only young brides but almost every household had one or
more brooms decorated with small mirrors and pink, green, yellow or blue ribbons, to which
brightly colored tassels were sewn.