THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 14, 1996 TAG: 9607120187
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: 94 lines
When Ed Crocker, proprietor of Crates Unlimited, was handcrafting country folk art, he would have to spend long hours on weekends at craft shows to sell his New England clam baskets, rocking horses and other colonial-style creations.
Sometimes he would sell a lot, but other weekends, sales were discouraging.
``I thought there must be an easier way,'' Crocker said the other day in his Green Run home.
The road to an easier way - from crafts to crates - all started with the New England clam basket, an oval basket traditionally used to gather the shellfish. Crocker, a native New Englander, was making several sizes of the clam basket as part of his line of colonial crafts.
One day he was sitting at a Farmers Market craft show, getting weary of marketing his creations. ``Too many people are duplicating the same thing in country folk art,'' he said to himself.
Crocker walked into a Farmers Market florist and saw pretty things, like flowers and seashells for sale. ``But they weren't in anything,'' Crocker said. ``Wouldn't they look good in a New England clam basket?'' he asked.
The owner agreed and purchased some baskets from Crocker and he was on a roll. He went to Taste Unlimited and they purchased baskets, too. ``Then he just went gung-ho,'' said his wife, Mary Crocker, ``and started developing treasure chests, bunny rabbits and Christmas tree crates.''
And Crates Unlimited was born. Crocker sells the decorative wooden baskets wholesale to be used as gift baskets for jellies, jams and other condiments as well as for gourmet foods such as wine and cheese and for many other gift items.
You've seen the baskets in gift and gourmet shops. They can be simple, little crates made with wooden slats, or more elaborate, seasonal containers such as baskets with ends shaped like Christmas trees, rabbits or Easter eggs.
Often the baskets are stuffed with straw and barbecue sauces or herbs and spices are nestled inside. They may be small enough to hold two jelly jars or big enough to be later used as a magazine rack.
His baskets are a familiar sight in local gift shops such as Virginia Sampler, East of Napa and Cookie Bouquet as well as in shops in several states. Crocker said he doesn't yet have a lot of competition. He knows of a crate-making business in Culpeper, one in Alexandria, another in Texas. ``They are just scattered,'' he said.
Mary Crocker thinks the wooden crates filled with goodies make a special gift, because there's always a use for the basket long after the contents are gone. For example, folks use the tree basket to hold Christmas cards or maybe paper napkins at a holiday buffet, she said.
Ed Crocker, always handy, has made the dining room and bedroom furniture for their Green Run home. ``He can take a piece of wood and make it beautiful,'' Mary Crocker said.
Still woodcrafts have been Crocker's avocation. He has spent most of his career in produce and is now on medical disability leave from Be-Lo food stores produce department. Meanwhile, Crates Unlimited continues to grow.
Crocker works out of a small warehouse in the London Bridge area. There, the crates, made of pine or spruce, are cut, sanded and stapled together. Crocker brings the crates home to be painted and shipped out. He makes his standard baskets and he also will make baskets to certain specifications. For example he's creating made-to-order crates for Vickie's Jelly Jar, a local business that sells homemade jellies, jams and cakes.
Crates Unlimited is a family affair. Mary Crocker takes care of the orders and shipping and their daughter, Heidi, helps with the painting. Baskets have family names, too. Three different sizes of clam baskets are named for Heidi and their two sons, Craig and Corey.
``Small, medium and large!'' Mary said.
Now 300 Christmas trees, their best-sellers, are under a tarpaulin in their backyard ready to be painted. Before the year is out, 3,000 of the trees will have made their way from the Crocker backyard to gift shops around the country for the holiday season.
``It's our family tree,'' Mary said.
P.S. The Old Coast Guard Station is sponsoring Water Safety Day with demonstrations of lifeguard rescues at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday on the beach in front of the station at 24th Street. A Sea Air Rescue demonstration by a Coast Guard helicopter will be at noon. The program is free.
THE 42ND LOTUS LUNCHEON, featuring homestyle country cooking, will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday at Tabernacle United Methodist Church on Sandbridge Road. The cost for adults is $6, seniors, $5.50, and children, $2.75. A country bazaar will be held on the lawn.
WATCH AS FLAX is harvested and processed into linen cloth from 2 to 4 p.m Wednesday at historic Francis Land House on Virginia Beach Boulevard. The program is free with admission. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know
about Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555.
Enter category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY REID BARROW
Ed Crocker creates and sells his decorative wooden baskets wholesale
to be used as gift baskets for jellies, jams and other condiments as
well as for gourmet foods such as wine and cheese and for many other
gift items. by CNB