John Fischer

John Fischer was born in 1811 and died in 1897. He is known as The Father of the Willow Basket Industry. He came from Germany in 1832, where he had been a Willow weaver, to work in the Liverpool Salt Industry. In 1852, he noticed wild willow bushes growing along the road in Euclid. These bushes resembled willow bushes raised commercially in his native home, Germany. He stripped the reeds and made a work basket which sold for $0.50. Mr. Fischer soon left salt for baskets and wrote to family and friends in Germany. He invited them to come and be part of the basket-making trade. About 30 families eventually came and settled in Liverpool.

The peak of the Willow Industry in Liverpool was between 1880 and 1920. The baskets that were produced in Liverpool were of very high quality. So high, in fact, that the baskets were renowned across the nation. In the 1880s there was a transition in the Willow Industry. The weaving of the common clothes baskets gave way to a greater variety of willow ware. These included market baskets, jardinieres, baby bassinets and elaborate willow furniture

The weavers, at first, used wild willow for the baskets. As the industry expanded, local farmers began cultivating willow in lots around the village. Side industries also developed in steaming willow branches, retail, wholesale merchandising, and shipping. During the winter, willow branches would be stripped of the branches and would be piled in front of the basket maker’s home or workshop. In the spring, the strips would be burned, creating a unique acrid smell. They say that one could always tell if a person was truly from Liverpool if they smelled like burning willows. It took the average worker about 1-2 hours to complete a common basket. Male workers in the largest willow shops earned $1 to $3 a day while women were making $0.25 to $1.00 a day.

Transcribed by Olivia B, Jada N, William A, Nathan K