The New Longaberger

beach-mom · ‎03-09-2010

I've loved baskets since my mom gave me an antique one when I was a teenager. It kind of became my "thing." I got a lot, of every kind, as gifts. A friend made me a fabric one. Another friend won the table centerpiece at a party she went to. It was a white ceramic basket. She gave it to me. I treasure one shaped like a cat my late brother gave me when he was in his teens. And so on.

So years later I found out about Longaberger. I became our neighborhood's Christmas hostess. Another friend was the Spring hostess! We were all crazy about them. I stayed with them until the Longaberger family ownership ended.

Since I knew a lot of consultants I knew a lot about the family. I knew people who knew both of the Longaberger daughters.

After the first post Longaberger owner failed, the second one brought the baskets back to close what they were before. And they showed up here.

A few days ago I got an email to watch Longaberger live, with special guests Kristine Zell and Heidi Ripka. There are two names that sound familiar!
Heidi is Judith's DIL.

The video I watched featured Kristine selling jewelry designed by Heidi. It seems Rachel is very involved too, which I find ironic. One consultant told me Rachel didn't want much to do with the company at one time. She had a line of jewelry for a time that was equine themed. But it didn't last. Tami Longaberger was the president of the company.

The jewelry is nice and it's on sale until Sunday, November 21. A lot of it has a basket weave look. I don't see it on QVC yet, but they have some of the baskets.

10sluvr · ‎03-10-2010

i have quite a few LB baskets, too. We went to the factory and little factory shops. It was amazing. We even got a couple of baskets signed. The home office was really something. I have lots of seasonal ones, too.

i saw they were on the Q site but didn't buy any. I like the liners. I didn't follow the family and family connections, like you, but i still appreciate what they accomplished.

JeanLouiseFinch · ‎10-03-2011

I was BIG into Longaberger for many years. My house was loaded (cluttered) with them in every room. The first demonstration I attended was in the early 80's. Back then, your basket orders took several weeks to fulfill because each one was made as ordered and the pottery only came in the blue motif and could only be ordered by the piece, by hostesses. Years later Dave hired more weavers and struck an arrangement with a local pottery company and began mass production. The pottery motifs eventually included red, green, or no painted motif at all. Eventually I became a consultant in order to purchase at a discount. Over the years I amassed a huge collection of baskets and pottery. I've been to the Homestead and Dresden numerous times, stayed at the Longaberger hotel in Newark, ate at Longaberger restaurant when it was in Dave's old house and more times when it moved to downtown Dresden, ate at Popeye's a bunch (not a chicken franchise), made baskets on the weaving floor, had lunch at Tami's old estate a few times, had a nice visit with her at a Christmas event and walked to the tree lighting together,

After Dave's passing, things went downhill. Tami tried, but ended up running the company into the ground, going to overseas production of the pottery where it sometimes took forever to receive orders. The "Big Basket" (office headquarters) got so shabby looking, the Homestead went to pot, and Dresden, which once was booming with business, became a ghost town. The bottom really fell out of the local economy. I ended up selling off most of my baskets but still have a few along with certain seasonal favorites. I still have my huge multiple collections of dishes, bakeware, and serving pieces, which I love more than the baskets, in solid ivory, classic blue, and traditional holly. When I die, my kids will probably be swearing about me as they sort through it all and try to sell it - 😆

I never got into the jewelry. 😊

CJC · ‎03-11-2010

You summarized Longaberger so well. I never heard of them until my son married his small town Zanesville OH bride in mid 90s. Her family had basket overload. I still have a few I purchased from a Zanesville consultant. DIL tells me every resident of Dresden had a giant cement Longaberger basket in their front yard. They really were lovely baskets , but the country look has gone out of style and collectibles are a thing of the past. My kids will have to deal with my Lladro and teddy bear collections. 😉

beach-mom · ‎03-09-2010

Thanks for posting your stories ladies!

When my brother died I inherited his bread basket from New England. I had never heard of Longaberger. One of my good friends, who was from southern Ohio, asked if it was that. I told her it was from New England. She said if I liked baskets I would like Longaberger. She had a party and I got a lot, mostly as gifts. I really liked the Christmas baskets.

When we moved north I was in Toys R Us and saw a shopping cart with a Longaberger purse. It turns out not only was she a consultant, but she lived around the corner from me! She was so into the baskets, and we had so much fun for years until she moved far away.

I went on a lot of bus trips, and like you @JeanLouiseFinch , I experienced a lot of the same things. I never had lunch with Tami or saw her estate, but I went every year while Longaberger was in its heyday. We got a tour of the Big Basket and did get to meet Tami. Dresden was a sweet town, and I have fond memories. I still remember our usual "first night" restaurant for many years. The big tour bus could barely make the turn to go up the hill! I think it was the house Dave lived in with his ex-wife when his girls were growing up. It overlooked the city. Then there was the regular drive by Grandma Bonnie's and the hope she would come out and wave (I think we saw her once)!

I enjoyed hearing more about what really happened @JeanLouiseFinch. I always knew Tami ran things, but I never knew how she struggled. I heard she was in a legal situation with the first post-Longaberger owner.

I saw Dave's model of what he wanted The Homestead to be. It was almost like Disney! It's too bad. And I'm glad I didn't see it at the end. Our last trip before my consultant moved was 2003 or so.

I still have my baskets, and I too use my dishes every day. I have the multicolored ones. Good memories!

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

Back in August, I had to empty out a friends home who is in a nursing facility. She was a Longaberger collector. She had a basket for everything.

i brought a few to my house. They are still in the garage. I need to find a home for them. I donated the majority of them. They did not do well at a yard sale, even though they were priced right... $1-$2. Some basket even had liners. All were in excellent condition.

They seem like really nice quality baskets, but I have to wonder if they fell out of favor.

dmeasy · ‎03-14-2021

I have been purchasing from QVC since the beginning and have purchased many items that I was pleased with. But recently I have had to return shoes in particular. The presentations and the actual shoes when received were quite different. There was no arch support and yet the presentations stated that the shoes had support. Well this morn I ordered a nail kit and then went back later and ordered 2 more kits. Then as an after thought read the reviews. The reviews were the opposite of the presentation this a.m.. So I canceled the two latter orders but could not cancel my first order. Q VC where is your QUALITY CONTROL? The reviews were very poor quite a different perception when the customer got it home. Why would a company sell inferior products? I am very disappointed in QVC and have thoughts of not purchasing any more items.

homedecor1 · ‎03-09-2010

@dmeasy

you may want to post this in QTalk or Customer Service forum.

This is talking about Longaberger baskets unless you are comparing quality problems.

@beach-mom

I was the same with Longaberger, Princess House, Party Lite, Home Interiors back then every week someone was "hosting" a party.

I still have many of the beautiful things bought from these companies and still search for PH and Longaberger at estate & yardsales. I bought 5 nice LB baskets with liners for $15🙂🙂.

Only thing I no longer have is Tupperware and boy do I miss those great canisters that had the star design on top that you pushed to seal.

Speaking of baskets I started buying Peterboro from QVC long ago and loved watching that gentlemen who weaved them on air (I think his name was Walter)...oh the good ole days of Q😊

Lucky Charm · ‎03-09-2010

@dmeasy wrote:
I have been purchasing from QVC since the beginning and have purchased many items that I was pleased with. But recently I have had to return shoes in particular. The presentations and the actual shoes when received were quite different. There was no arch support and yet the presentations stated that the shoes had support. Well this morn I ordered a nail kit and then went back later and ordered 2 more kits. Then as an after thought read the reviews. The reviews were the opposite of the presentation this a.m.. So I canceled the two latter orders but could not cancel my first order. Q VC where is your QUALITY CONTROL? The reviews were very poor quite a different perception when the customer got it home. Why would a company sell inferior products? I am very disappointed in QVC and have thoughts of not purchasing any more items.

@dmeasy I can understand accidently posting on the wrong thread/subject, but how could you change the title of the thread *mid-stream*. I thought only the Original Poster @beach-mom could do that. Scratching head....

Venezia · ‎03-09-2010

@Lucky Charm - Nope anyone can "edit" even the thread title. I've seen it done on numerous threads over the years. I don't think it should be possible, but it is.

"" A little learning is a dangerous thing."-Alexander Pope