If this Ivan Ballard clothes basket ever had two handles back in the 1970s nobody can really remember but its still a workhorse in regular use and a long way off being either LANDfill or kindling.
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AND now its rather chic to buy such baskets on the internet for their 'heritage value' and possibly their durability – aesthetic and/or technical and/or idealogical given that they aren't 'PLASTIC'.
PHOTOGRAPH SOURCE: Dennis Wilde
Well made traditional baskets are usually repairable. The chickenfeed baskets were also well made but used undersized willow and may have been made by child labour.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your blog, found it very interesting. The Ivan Ballard laundry basket you mentioned would have had 2 handles. I remember on Dad's 70th birthday and old friend of his who he hadn't seen for years turned up with a laundry basket just like that. His friend complained that the handles had come off. Dad fixed the handles and complained to Mum that the basket had in fact been made by his father and how long do they expect these things to last. His friend turned up for the basket and Dad passed it over. His friend then gave it back and said that it had belonged to his mother and it was over 80 years old. He had played a joke on him. My eldest niece was given the basket, I don't know if she still has it.
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