Central Ohio is basket country! The Longaberger Company, headquartered in Newark, Ohio, has a basket presence throughout Newark, Dresden, and surrounding areas.
The Longaberger basketmaking tradition started in 1918, when John Wendell Longaberger took a job with the Dresden Basket Factory. Known as "J.W.", John would lay the foundation for the Longaberger Company as it exists today.
As a full-time apprentice, J.W. learned the basketmaking art by crafting basket bottoms. In 1936 J.W. purchased the Dresden Basket Factory for $1,900 and renamed it the Ohio Ware Company, specializing in Ware Baskets and pottery.
In 1934, J.W.'s fifth child, Dave, was born. Dave arrived in this world with a host of problems--he was poor, he stuttered so badly people often could not understand a word he said, and he was epileptic in an era where epilepsy was widely misunderstood.
Despite his shortcomings, Dave worked hard and became a successful businessman. In 1963 Dave bought Harry's Dairy Bar in Dresden and later purchased and expanded the closed A&P Grocery and reopened it as the Dresden IGA Foodliner.
In 1972, Dave reportedly noticed department stores were selling imported baskets and that baskets were becoming very popular. Dave asked his father to make several dozen baskets and they all sold within a month. Unfortunately, J.W. died before he could make more.
Dave opened J.W.'s Handwoven Baskets in 1972 in Dresden; from that small store, The Longaberger Company has grown into a multimillion dollar business with over 67,000 sales consultants in all 50 states. Just outside Dresden is the company's manufacturing campus, with their corporate headquarters in nearby Newark, about 30 miles east of Columbus.
