Libman Co

General information

The Libman Company started in 1896 with one mission: to make the finest, most durable wire-wound corn brooms. William Libman left Lithuania for the United States in the 1890s. He landed in Chicago and started life in the New World by peddling sundries from a pushcart, selling everything from brooms to clothes-pins. The old-fashioned corn broom was always a top seller. Seeing a need and an opportunity, the company opened a corn broom factory on Kinzie Street in Chicago, the commercial heart of the Midwestern broom corn market.

William’s three sons later joined their father in the broom-making business, adding a new generation of ideas and energy. In 1932, they moved operations out of the big city and into Tuscola, Ill., a town in the heart of “broom corn country.” Located 180 miles south of Chicago, Tuscola and the surrounding towns produced much of the 374,000 acres of broom corn harvested each year in the United States. Being close to the crop allowed The Libman Company to keep an eye on the harvest, streamline operations and increase production.

During World War II, The Libman Company joined the effort with wartime production. The company produced more than 2,500 brooms a day for the War Department from 1942-1945. Made to specification, these brooms cleaned the decks of aircraft carriers and troop ships in the Atlantic and Pacific.

Post-war, the great economic boom of the ‘50s found The Libman Company looking for a bigger location. In 1957, The Libman Company moved into a converted red brick schoolhouse down the road, in Arcola, Ill. Two of the founder’s grandsons, William (Bill) and Robert, joined the company in the mid-1960s. Like their father and uncles before them, Bill and Robert looked to the future and expanded to create radical new production lines utilizing modern technology. They invested heavily in injection molding, blow molding, fiber extrusion and steel tube fabrication.

By 1980, all major production was pulled under one roof, turning The Libman Company into one of the largest vertically integrated housewares facilities in the country. During the past 15 years, the company has expanded its product line to become a leading manufacturer of high-quality brooms, mops and brushes in the United States.

Today, Libman is 1.1 million square foot facility still located in central Illinois with the fourth generation of Libmans who have come on board. They are as committed as their predecessors to providing high-quality, American-made cleaning products including mops, brushes, cleaning tools, and of course, brooms.