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A True - As Far As We Know - and Fun Success Story - Research:
None
Once upon a time there was a family named Longaberger and they
had 12 kids. The Daddy was named J. W. and the Mother is named Grandma Bonnie.
They didn't want to live in a shoe but no ordinary house would work so they
built (wove) this huge basket - the world's largest, we're told. Maybe they didn't like the "smell"
living in a shoe; we really don't know the whole story...just bits & pieces.
And we're not saying they "lived" in the basket either. We don't
think it even has (yes, it's still there) a roof so they would've got very
wet when it rained.
Anyway, the Daddy had to do something drastic (we feel sure he had a job but
it probably didn't pay enough to feed 12 kids) and Grandma Bonnie certainly
couldn't go out and get a job away from home...can you imagine leaving 12
kids in YOUR house without a Mother or Daddy at home, even if it WAS a
basket. Besides, it must have taken Grandma Bonnie 12 or 15 hours a day just
to cook the food and do the laundry. We have NO idea when she found time to
clean the house - whatever the house was. ~ Note: We stand corrected...Leona has
reported that Grandma Bonnie had 6 kids, then worked
at the Woolen Mill between 6 more kids. ~ As is our policy, no research has been done to
verify this information.
But, Grandma Bonnie must have thrived on it...she recently turned 91 years
old and in 1998, she got her own Grandma Bonnie's
Two-Pie Basket with her name on it and everything! As was customary, Grandma
Bonnie received a yellow rose for each of her 91 years - 91 yellow roses for
her 91st birthday in July, 1999, from Dave who had made the arrangements
before his death.
So, as luck (more likely, a lot of work) would have it, Mr. J. W. started
weaving and selling baskets. We think
he sold them to friends, neighbors, and stores (where they resold them). Again, we're just not sure about all of it. Then,
one day a lady named Mrs. Cuckovich came along and
asked Mr. J. W. if she could try to sell some of his baskets and he said it
would be o.k. but she would need to buy a minimum of $200.00 worth.
Back then, that was a lot of baskets. But Mrs. Cuckovich
knew she had a winner so she bought them and started showing them to her
friends and neighbors (and their friends and neighbors) at their homes.
They'd just get a few people together; she'd haul her baskets over in her van
and unload them; they would have a snack and some coffee or tea; and mostly a
lot of fun. The main thing is they
bought a lot of baskets. Please
notice, we said "bought". Anyone
who has to "sell" a Longaberger basket is working too hard.
The last we heard, nobody knows how many Longaberger baskets were sold until
one year, the Longabergers hired someone to keep
track of Mrs. Cuckovich's sales and it was a
"huge" number. Math is not our strong suit but it stands to reason
that it was a lot of baskets if they hired someone to keep track of them.
Now, so many Longaberger baskets and other Longaberger products are sold
that, guess what. They have a few
factories (big ones) and it takes so many people to keep track of their sales
that they built...(yes, they did too) a huge basket where Mr. Dave (he's #5) ~ Bye for now, Dave
(3/17/99) ~ and
his kids, Tami and Rachel, and all the other kids and executives and all the
other people who work in the corporate offices go to work every day and we're
pretty sure IT has a roof!
Tell
Me Another Story, Please ~~ Stop It Helen
UPDATE - We heard that
roof on the corporate headquarters is just a "great big window"
(they call it an atrium). It's true, we saw it in August, 1999
- just a great big window for a roof.
AND, that an "ultra-light" (whatever that is) flew under those
great big handles so the FAA (we think that's some kind of secret government
organization) declared it a "no-fly zone".
And, guess what else! They built a big ole barn on Labor Day Weekend, 1998.
Somebody told us it's called a "barn-raising" and they do it with
draft horses. Now, that should be sight for sore eyes. We thought
"draft" only applied to beer. Go figure...now they have it in
horses, too.
They sold a Barn Raising Basket Combo too...but it doesn't look a bit like a
barn...just looks like a basket, but we saw the pictures on
Basket City U.S.A. and it looks real pretty. Mr. Dave's real smart and he probably knew
no one would buy a basket that looked like a barn so they probably just call
it a Barn Raising Basket because of selling it at the Barn Raising Event.
We think all those kids probably have wives/husbands now...and there's
probably a whole bunch of their kids and grandkids too and they don't all fit
inside that big ole basket anymore. Maybe
the barn will have a "real roof". We'll keep our fingers crossed. Well, the Barn does have a
roof but no one's living there - wonder where all the kids and their kids and
grandkids live...and hope they have a roof.
Next year, they may build a real house - but, of course, they will probably
call it a "homestead" like everyone did back in the Olden Days. If they do build one, we hope it's real big
and has a real roof because after possibly living in a basket without a roof,
and working in an office, also without a real roof, we think they all deserve
to have a really big house with a "really, real roof". Well, they did it - built a Homestead - With a Roof - but it's a
great big store - wonder where all the kids, kids and grandkids are?
|
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