{"id":36068,"date":"2021-04-19T17:40:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T21:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=36068"},"modified":"2021-04-20T13:04:15","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T17:04:15","slug":"matt-snyder-follows-grandfathers-footsteps-handcrafting-brooms-with-1800s-equipment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/04\/matt-snyder-follows-grandfathers-footsteps-handcrafting-brooms-with-1800s-equipment\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt Snyder Follows Grandfather\u2019s Footsteps, Handcrafting Brooms With 1800s\u2019 Equipment"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Matt Snyder makes brooms in the family tradition at Snyder\u2019s Brooms in Saratoga.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Christine Graf<\/p>\n

Matt Snyder is proud to call himself a second generation broom maker.<\/span><\/p>\n

His grandparents, George and Ann Snyder, started making brooms in the 1970s after purchasing several pieces of 19th century broom-making equipment at an auction. Matt began working in their broom shop, Snyder\u2019s Brooms, when he was 8 and also traveled with them to arts and crafts fairs where they sold their products.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love the brooms and started collecting them when I was adult,\u201d said 34-year-old Snyder. \u201cAs soon as I started to see my grandparents get older, I realized that when they stop doing this, that Snyder\u2019s Brooms will no longer exist. I can\u2019t let that happen. I\u2019m doing this to keep it going.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For that reason, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when much of the world was shut down, Snyder decided the timing was perfect to establish Snyder\u2019s Handmade Brooms of Saratoga. He started making brooms out of his home and sold them at the Farmer\u2019s Market.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a hit. I ended up selling about 300 brooms last year, and it just started to expand. It went full tilt from there,\u201d said Snyder who works full-time in sales.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe demand is there because it\u2019s something you can\u2019t get anywhere else in the world. There are some broom makers out there, but they don\u2019t make brooms like we make. The dyed broom corn and the braiding makes them unique. They are functional pieces of art and will last a lifetime.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have a broom that I use in the shop that my grandfather made in 2003. They sweep better than any broom you will ever get in the store. They aren\u2019t synthetic and are made just like the old timers made them. They are definitely lost pieces of history.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Snyder\u2019s brooms are decorative, functional and handmade using antique equipment that was given to him by his grandparents. Handles are hand turned on a lathe and vary in design and intricacy. One of his most unique brooms\u2014the Snyder\u2019s Flyer\u2014was inspired by the Nimbus 2000 from the Harry Potter movie series.<\/span><\/p>\n

On average, Snyder\u2019s brooms range in price from $40 to $150 and take up to three hours to make. He signs all of his broom handles just as his grandfather had always done.<\/span><\/p>\n

Snyder spent the winter building up his stock of brooms and also started making handmade wooden dust pans. He will sell his products again this year at the farmer\u2019s market and is willing to ship brooms to out of town customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

He promotes his business through Facebook and Instagram but hopes to have a website up and running in the near future. His dream is to open an \u201cold school storefront\u201d in downtown Saratoga, where people can buy brooms and watch them be made.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a ton of money in it when you think of the time that goes into making them. You\u2019re building something on machinery from the 1800s. It\u2019s hard work,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t do it for the\u00a0 <\/span>money, and I definitely don\u2019t do it for the exposure. I do it to keep the brooms alive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Christine Graf Matt Snyder is proud to call himself a second generation broom maker. His grandparents, George and Ann Snyder, started making brooms in the 1970s after purchasing several pieces of 19th century broom-making equipment at an auction. Matt began working in their broom shop, Snyder\u2019s Brooms, when he was 8 and also traveled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":36069,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\r\nMatt Snyder Follows Grandfather\u2019s Footsteps, Handcrafting Brooms With 1800s\u2019 Equipment - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/04\/matt-snyder-follows-grandfathers-footsteps-handcrafting-brooms-with-1800s-equipment\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Matt Snyder Follows Grandfather\u2019s Footsteps, Handcrafting Brooms With 1800s\u2019 Equipment - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Christine Graf Matt Snyder is proud to call himself a second generation broom maker. His grandparents, George and Ann Snyder, started making brooms in the 1970s after purchasing several pieces of 19th century broom-making equipment at an auction. 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