Jack Martin

broommaker, Selmer
Tennessee Folklife Heritage Award (2015)

Artisan, educator and devoted tradition bearer, Jack Martin of Selmer, Tennessee is a fourth generation broom maker continuing the craft he learned from his grandfather. Owner of Hockaday Handmade Brooms, Martin has given his life, and his livelihood, to this family heritage. Still operating his great-grandfather’s nearly 100-year-old equipment, Martin creates every broom by hand, selecting materials, winding, sewing and carefully finishing each, one at a time. After replenishing and since preserving the lost broomcorn stock in late 1980s, he reinvigorated Hockaday Handmade Brooms and began to sell his products at regional craft fairs and small retailers around the southeast. His brooms are found in prestigious museum and archival collections, including the Smithsonian.

Media

• “Jack Martin,” short film from the Tennessee Governor’s Arts Awards, 2015.
• “Jack Martin-Hockaday Brooms,” short film from the Stones River Company.
• “Hockaday Brooms,” on Creative License.
• “Hockaday Brooms,” on Tennessee Crossroads.

More Information

• Official Website
• Beuerlein, Karin, “Hockaday Handmade Brooms of Selmer,” Tennessee Home & Farm, September 2005.
• Pitts, Shawn, “McNairy County Brooms, Better and Cheaper Than Any Brought On,” Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin LXV, no. 2 (Fall 2009).
• Cogswell, Roby, “Jack Martin,” in Traditions: Tennessee Lives and Legacies, pp 84-89, 2010.