Longaberger Travel 2: Road Trip!

A Small Gathering Basket is a very useful size, and with a Protector and Road Trip Lid added, it will help keep you organized wherever you go. Wooden Dividers introduced new uses to many baskets, and then Longaberger's heavy wooden Road Trip Lid and its coordinating plastic Protector took dividing a basket to new heights. 

Of course, the Road Trip doesn't need to go anywhere further than the deck or patio with you. Organize all sorts of items right at home.

The Road Trip Lid has two round openings, a larger and smaller rectangular opening, and indentations for a square sticky-note pad and pen or pencil. The Lid can be used with a regular Small Gathering plastic Protector, but it's even better with the Divided Protector offered at the time. Each Lid opening has its own space in the Divided Protector, with a higher floor in two center square sections to make them shallower and more accessible for items such as a cell phone. 

Several binders in my office hold Longaberger's colorful old WishLists and monthly feature flyers in clear pocket pages in order. Looking back through them trying to find out when the Road Trip Lid was introduced was fun. Around 2000, things were really going well for Longaberger, with innovative designs and unique accessories. 

The two lower photos are from old WishLists with the Road Trip set ready to go on the road when it was introduced and later used on a buffet. Another showed it used in a nursery. 

If you have a vehicle that has no center console, the Road Trip set will sit between riders solidly and comfortably on the seat and hold all sorts of needs. Kids traveling in the back could keep drinks, snacks, small games, coloring supplies . . . the perfect traveling companion! 

One of Longaberger's most popular baskets was (is!) the Medium Gathering, perfect to carry your 9" x 13" Baking Dish or a big batch of cupcakes. The Small Gathering Basket has the same useful dimensions and shape in a slightly smaller size and is almost as useful. It was first introduced in 1979 and was made with two swinging or one stationary handle through the years. One of my other favorites, the Pantry Basket, is made on the same wooden form as the Small Gathering but has two leather loop ears instead of wooden handles. The Road Trip Lid will only work with the two-swinging-handles version. 

The demise of Longaberger is often attributed to consumers no longer liking baskets and country decor, but TLC designers innovated over the years to appeal to a wide range of styles. Looking back through that old literature reminded me of Longaberger designers' creativity and drive. They offered all sorts of designs through the years! Poor and incredibly wasteful management of the company after Dave Longaberger's untimely death on St. Patrick's Day 1999 was a huge factor in its gradual waning and loss. Had Dave survived cancer and continued management himself, we would still have the original Longaberger Company flourishing.

Still to come: three more handy Longaberger travel baskets.

Longaberger Travel 1: Large Picnic Basket

What is more American than going on a picnic?!? Longaberger's generous Large Picnic Basket is great for carrying food and a picnic blanket, but don't stop there! Heading to the boat or beach for a day or weekend? Load the Large Picnic with your beach towels, swimsuits, and toys, and the plastic protector inside will get those items home safely when wet. 

The Large Picnic's big wooden 17" by 14" lid conceals the basket's contents well and can even help keep cool in when icing beverages in its protector. The lid is also great to turn the basket into a small table. An artistic friend painted a checkerboard on the lid of her Large Picnic Basket, and her family traveled with checkers and chess pieces for time inside their boat resting and getting away from the hot afternoon sun.

Travel with it as a suitcase this summer, if you dare. If you're a brave tent-camper or have limited space, the Large Picnic Basket can easily be kept in a vehicle back seat or covered pickup bed until needed. Most fifth-wheel or bumper-hitch campers would have space inside for this useful basket that can double as a low table. 

Longaberger's Large Picnic lids were created to fit each individual basket, with the weaver literally turning the newly-woven basket over on the wood and tracing around it before cutting. You can see where the lid's corners were rounded off from the pencil line (on the back of the lid) in these photos. Sometimes on a really old one, you can even find a penciled number that kept the lid and basket together until attached with leather hinges. An Ohio craftsman's hands did that. Don't you love truly handmade American products?!?

Large Picnic Basket lids are so handy to stack other baskets on, hold a plant, or display all sorts of things, but often the lids are ruined in the process. Always check attached lids for discoloration, and be sure to protect yours. Luckily, the wooden lids can be painted to personalize for your family or an occasion while conveniently covering up any stains. Wouldn't it be fun to paint a cute chalkboard on a lid, using chalkboard paint, and be able to write messages or celebrate special events with it? Having friends and family members sign the back of the lid with Sharpie markers is another possibility to capture memories of a specific event or an entire summer.

Longaberger created several different sizes and shapes of picnic baskets over the years, so you will see other variations. This longest-running, traditional Large Picnic Basket was offered off and on from 1979 through 2017 in many different stain colors and collections. It usually came with a wooden riser with four legs that helped with layering items in the basket.

When you ever use a Longaberger Basket and regular protector to hold ice or to ice down drinks, be sure to put something absorbent between the basket and plastic protector to help with condensation. I use a hand towel or two. While it doesn't hurt most baskets to be damp for a short time, you don't want to let lots of moisture stay against your basket and definitely not against a lid. When family events end, I always grab my ice-filled baskets quickly, empty them, and let them dry completely.

It is no surprise that many Americans are traveling this summer and that sales of campers and RVs are very high. We're free!! If you're traveling by vehicle, Longaberger will fit perfectly into your plans. Many big baskets are handy when traveling, and I'll be sharing four more especially great ones.