SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Business is brooming - excuse me, booming at a Pennsylvania broom company that sells to witches and non-witches alike. Meckley Brooms is a family-run business and is racing to fulfill huge orders of handmade brooms ahead of today's Halloween celebrations. Briana Meckley, co-owner of Meckley Brooms, joins us now from Lopez, Pennsylvania. Thanks very much for being with us.
BRIANA MECKLEY: You're welcome.
SIMON: So did you grow up wanting to go into the broom business?
MECKLEY: I never knew I was going to be a broom maker. I married into this family. My husband is the fifth generation, but we do involve our sixth and seventh generations at this point.
SIMON: Forgive me for not knowing, but what makes a good broom?
MECKLEY: Well, a good broom is made with a material called broomcorn. It's a stiff but soft enough material that it doesn't scratch any surfaces. And here at Meckley Brooms, we use equipment from the 1870s that's been passed down through the generations.
SIMON: Wow. And does business broom - boom during Halloween?
MECKLEY: It does. This is a broom maker's busy season. And for us, it started this year way back in February.
SIMON: And forgive me. I realize there's probably such a thing as broom-seller-customer confidentiality. But how many of your customers are witches?
MECKLEY: I cannot answer that 'cause I learned a long time ago - I don't ask how people use their brooms.
(LAUGHTER)
SIMON: All right. Good answer.
(LAUGHTER)
SIMON: You make both sweeping brooms and - I hope I pronounce this correctly - besoms.
MECKLEY: I pronounce it besom. But, you know, I guess it just depends on where you're from.
SIMON: And that is a witch's broom?
MECKLEY: So it's typically referring to a round broom, so anything round. And typically, witches use round brooms.
SIMON: How long does it take to make a broom?
MECKLEY: We do all the processes in-house by hand - my husband and I and my father-in-law. So we dye the colors of the broomcorn. My husband does all the handle work. So we dye the handles and seal the handles. Sometimes we do the lightning process on the handles. So everything is done before we even get to make a broom. We weigh the broomcorn specifically to grams. We'll mix the colors. And then it's time to work in front of our kickwinder, which is from the 1870s.
SIMON: What is that? Tickwinder (ph) is the word?
MECKLEY: It's called a kickwinder, and it's a piece of equipment. It's from the 1870s. It's a tensioning device. It allows me to get wire or thread very tight, and it attaches the broomcorn material to the handle.
SIMON: I am chagrined and embarrassed to say I think our family uses a - forgive me - nylon-tipped broom.
MECKLEY: Oh, no (laughter).
SIMON: Yeah. Well, what are we missing?
MECKLEY: Well, first off, you're missing the longevity of a corn broom. These brooms, when they're made properly, can last decades. And that includes with proper care. Proper care is to always hang a corn broom or flip it upside down. Never let it sit on its bristles, or you're going to get that swoop shape in your broom bristles, and you don't want that.
SIMON: It sounds like you get a great deal of satisfaction out of this business.
MECKLEY: I do. I enjoy it.
SIMON: I don't mean to put you on the spot again, but have you ever seen a customer fly away on one of your brooms?
MECKLEY: So we actually use a disclaimer that our brooms do not fly. You got to put that on the tag.
SIMON: Oh. 'Cause otherwise, the lawyers would be all over it, right?
MECKLEY: That's right (laughter).
SIMON: So they probably wait for a full moon anyway, right?
MECKLEY: Yeah.
SIMON: Briana Meckley is co-owner of Meckley Brooms in Lopez, Pennsylvania. Have a good Halloween.
MECKLEY: Yes. You too.
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