Tobacco Baskets - Carolina Country
Feature Story

Tobacco Baskets

From the floor of the warehouse to the walls of your house

By Donna Campbell Smith

Tobacco Baskets

Tobacco baskets, once a common utilitarian product in the tobacco markets, have become a hot commodity as wall art in homes across the country. The first baskets were made in Kentucky, but North Carolina became the primary producer of tobacco baskets by the late 1800s. There were at least six manufacturers of tobacco baskets in Yadkin County at one time, earning it the title of "Tobacco Basket Capital of the World."

Tobacco was first exported from the colonies in huge wooden barrels called hogsheads. The barrels held about 1,000 pounds of the leaves. But the barrels made inspecting difficult and therefore cheating easy. The good leaves were packed on top, hiding inferior tobacco in the bottom of the barrel. Some crooked producers even went so far as to hide rocks and bricks under the tobacco. Eventually the hogshead method of marketing gave way to loose leaf auctions and private sales. Baskets were used to take tobacco to market even then, but apparently once it reached the warehouse the tobacco was placed on the floor.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company is credited with coming up with the idea of using large flat baskets to keep their tobacco clean in the auction houses. The warehouse floors were filthy with mud, dust and manure brought in with the mule-driven wagons as tobacco was unloaded and stacked on the floor.

The baskets were made of oak that was split into strips. The oak strips were soaked in boiling soda water to make them bendable. The rim of the basket was fashioned with a double thickness of the strips. The bottoms were woven by machine, and another machine helped with putting the bottoms and the rims together. The tobacco companies purchased the baskets, and their names were stenciled on the rims.

There was an art to packing a tobacco basket so that it presented the tobacco well, and so that it stayed on the basket. After tobacco was picked and graded, several leaves were bound together in what were called hands. The hands were tied onto a stick (about 35-45 hands per stick) and the sticks of tobacco were hung in the barn to cure. After curing, the tobacco was taken off the stick, packed in baskets and transported to the market. The hands were usually arranged on the basket in a circle, stems ends out for good presentation in the auction (read more about the lives of North Carolina tobacco farmers).

Tobacco Farm Life

The Tobacco Farm Life Museum in Kenly, eastern Johnston County, shows how people lived and worked on eastern North Carolina tobacco farms for generations. It includes a turn-of-the-century homestead comprising a restored house, detached kitchen, smokehouse and log tobacco barn. Exhibits are housed in a 6,000 square-foot museum, open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tobacco Farm Life Museum
709 N. Church St.
US Hwy. 301 N
Kenly, N.C. 27542

(919) 284-3431

This method of hand tying the leaves was time-consuming, and eventually the tobacco was brought to market untied, wrapped in large burlap sheets. This pretty much spelled the end for the tobacco basket market, and by 1969 the basket companies had closed. The J.A. Miller Basket Company reopened in 1976 to make baskets for the burley tobacco market, but by 1990 that market had also faded. Bud Miller, the son of J. Anderson Miller, who started the company in 1945, still makes a small number of tobacco baskets, some full size and a miniature version, which are bought and resold in shops to decorators and homeowners to use in homes as wall art.

Flea markets, thrift stores, antique shops and yard sales are good places to shop for original tobacco baskets for your own decorating project. Craig's List, Ebay, Etsy and other online sites will often yield the baskets. Prices range from $50 to over $300 plus shipping charges. If you live on a farm and have an old barn full of junk, check and see if you have a fortune in forgotten tobacco baskets.

About the Author

Donna Campbell Smith is a Carolina Country contributing writer who lives in Franklin County.

Comments (13)

  • I was given a very old tabacco basket and it has blue painted corners. My brother has one with yellow corners. Curious to the meaning of the painted corners.

    Judy Addison Bohlken |
    September 20, 2017 |
    reply

  • Hi Judy, That is a great question. Mine is yellow. I think the people at Tobacco Farm Life Museum in Kenly might be a good place to ask. Here is their website: http://tobaccofarmlifemuseum.org/ There you will find a phone no. and email.

    Donna Campbell Smith |
    September 20, 2017 |
    reply

  • Good evening. I purchased an old tobacco basket today and it has a very strong odor of smoke. Would you have any suggestions to help get that out? I want to use it in my decorating indoors, but shoo weee...it stinks!

    Cayce Graham |
    September 30, 2017 |
    reply

  • Hi, I use to work at a tobacco warehouse in Richmond Ky. When it went out of business the owners gave me a 1/2 basket. I hear they are very rare. Do have any idea what it is worth? Thank You
    Kathy Allen

    Kathy Allen |
    June 02, 2018 |
    reply

  • Hello, can you elaborate on the machine that put the bottom of the tobacco basket together? Would you perhaps have a picture you could share with me? Thank you.

    Christine Nelson |
    February 07, 2019 |
    reply

  • Christine and Kathy, I can't answer your questions. Maybe the folks at http://tobaccofarmlifemuseum.org/ can help or steer you in the right direction.

    Donna Campbell Smith |
    February 07, 2019 |
    reply

  • Trying to find vintage tobacco baskets any does anyone have any idea where I'm in Blythewood South Carolina

    JohnShields |
    February 27, 2020 |
    reply

  • What does the number mean on an old tobacco basket. The one I have says goldleaf and the number 20.

    Kay Ballance |
    April 25, 2020 |
    reply

  • I don't know what the numbers mean. Th name of the company that owned the basket is usually stenciled on the edge of the basket.

    Donna Campbell Smith |
    April 26, 2020 |
    reply

  • I have a tobacco basket from my grandparent's farm. It has been in our family pack house for years. My parents recently brought it to me to use in my house but it is dirty! Lots of caked on dirt and dust. Do you have any recommendations on how to clean it and preserve it? Thank you!

    Melissa Durham |
    May 17, 2020 |
    reply

  • I would brush off the dirt and dust with a stiff brush and wipe off with a damp rag.

    Donna Campbell Smith |
    May 18, 2020 |
    reply

  • I own a pair of tobacco baskets with the name MILLER stenciled/burned into the edge. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of absolute information available on whether this is a Miller basket or not? I hope that someone can enlighten me. Thank you

    Steve |
    May 22, 2023 |
    reply

  • I am looking for a large tobacco basket from the fairmont/whiteville, nc southeastern tobacco warehouses. Any suggestions?

    Stacey |
    November 08, 2023 |
    reply

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