Speaking of the Broom Factory...

 ...or the Broom, for short.

I had an unexpected opportunity today - invited to pull up a chair and talk about the history and my model of the Bailey Broom Factory, still located and still open at the corner of Rideau and Cataraqui Streets. Olive Autumn works with the Kingston Canadian Film Festival (KCFF) making a series of interviews on the history of the Broom - the Broom Heritage Series - the Festival's head office. Olive, videographer Noah and marketing manager Julia (left to right- top candid photo) welcomed me into the backstage 'green room' and asked some excellent and insightful questions into the whats and whys of my interest in studying and modelling this unique building. 

We chatted about the longevity, eras and reimagining of the Broom. It was an 'out-of-building' experience to be inside this structure that I've long studied and was the last one to be reproduced in HO scale on my Kingston's Hanley Spur layout. It was that intimidating, that central, yet that important to get right. 

We made our way outside post-interview for some B-roll footage for their project. Julia kindly sent this photo she snapped during our time on Rideau Street, showing me and Little Broom with Big Broom in the background! 

This was a fun hour, one of many opportunities I never could have predicted when starting on my Hanley Spur Journey back in 2018!

Even before that, the photo that unexpectedly started my interest in the Broom (above). Standing on the same street corner randomly snapping photos in the year 2001, thirteen years before the building was in danger of demolition, and twenty-four years before today's visit. It has been rebuilt, rebranded, and it's still remarkable! A photo from the KCFF website shows not rows of broom makers toiling, but people enjoying being in this unique space: