History of the Liverpool Willow Industry
Local tradition credits John Fischer, a German salt boiler, with weaving the first Liverpool willow in the early 1850's. Fischer noticed a stand of wild willow that closely resembled German basket willow and experimented with an old-country craft. He sold his first basket for 50 cents and contacted his friends and relatives back home. By 1870 scores of Liverpool weavers, many of them German, worked at producing baskets, furniture, and other objects.
Mid-20th century basket
weaver
Caption says: "JOHN WIEGAND
was
of the more modern vintage of basket weavers."
As the industry grew, domestic willow lots were planted in and around the marshy areas of Liverpool, Euclid, and Clay. This ground, cheap and good for few other crops, was ideal for perennial clumps of willow. Large plantings were also made near Geneva, Lyons, Clyde, Montezuma, and Cicero; the harvest came to Liverpool by wagon, sleigh, canal boat, or train. Beyond the weaving industry itself, willow provided economic opportunities in growing, harvesting, processing and marketing at a time when the local salt industry was declining.
Willow cutters in the field.
Notice
that the willow grows like a bush, straight out of the ground.
Willow production reached its peak in about 1890, as the last salt blocks ceased operation. In 1892, some 360,000 baskets were shipped from this village whose residents then numbered somewhat less than 1300. Liverpool willow traveled to San Francisco, New York, and points beyond. Despite this volume, the industry remained a backyard, family-centered occupation. Although growing, steaming and selling willow reached industrial proportions, the weavers' craft remained in the family shops.
Depression-era economics, cheap imports, and better transportation to more lucrative employment helped doom the Liverpool willow industry by the early 1930's, although a few weavers were still at work in the 1960's.
All the Liverpool weavers are gone now, but many of their descendants remain in Liverpool. We invite you to visit the Liverpool Willow Museum to learn about a 19th century way of life in a village that retains much of the character of the time.
Learn why a local
(Canastota) farmer
has planted willow:
Farmers
plant willow as energy crop
Learn about willow as a biomass fuel crop. Very timely!
Short Rotation Woody Biomass Program SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY