| Carving walking sticks wasn't meant to be a | | | | most also had leather handgrips. The leather |
| money-making hobby for me. I sometimes made | | | | came from old leather coats I bought at |
| them when backpacking, and I had always | | | | thrift stores for $5 each and cut into |
| enjoyed taking my pocket knife to a piece of | | | | strips. It was attached with glue and small |
| wood to see what I could make. I just hadn't | | | | nails. Each stick had about fifty cents in |
| thought of doing anything more with the | | | | materials in it at most. |
| hobby. | | | | |
| | | | A Money Making Hobby |
| One summer, when my wife Ana and I briefly | | | | |
| got into the flea market business, I noticed | | | | They sold for as little as $6 each to as much |
| the occasional vendor selling walking sticks. | | | | as $24. This was less than others sold |
| If the event was more of an arts and crafts | | | | walking sticks for, but then we were mostly |
| show than a flea market, they sold for as | | | | selling them at flea markets, rather than |
| much as $50 each. Ana suggested that we could | | | | arts and crafts shows, where they would get a |
| sell them too, so I went to work. | | | | higher price. I also wholesaled them to a |
| | | | vendor who sold them at gun-and-knife shows, |
| I could cut 20 or young poplars in an hour | | | | and to a friend who sold them at Native |
| with my "shortcut" saw, and get two sticks | | | | American pow-wows. |
| out of half of them. My favorite wood, | | | | |
| however, was white cedar. In the Cedar swamps | | | | How much could you make selling walking |
| near home, it grew straight and died young | | | | sticks? Who knows. I sold about $1200 in |
| from overcrowding. Cedar wood remains solid | | | | walking sticks that summer, before we moved |
| for many years after dying, so I could | | | | on to try an internet business. They were a |
| quickly cut many straight and perfectly dried | | | | nice addition to our other crafts and the |
| sticks. | | | | stuffed animals we sold at various flea |
| | | | markets. My advantage was that I was very |
| There was soon a pile of wood shavings behind | | | | efficient in making them, spending less than |
| the house, as I cut the bark off and carved | | | | an hour even on the most elaborate ones. |
| each stick into various forms. Many were just | | | | |
| rounded off on top. Others I cut into a | | | | The most I sold was $250 in walking sticks in |
| spiral, or pyramidal shape. I put padding and | | | | a day. However, I saw vendors who paid $300 |
| leather covers on some, and drilled out the | | | | to rent a space for the weekend (we typically |
| tops to inset nice stones on others. This is | | | | paid $10/day for a flea market space), and |
| a hobby that lets you really exercise your | | | | sold only walking sticks. They were |
| imagination. | | | | undoubtedly selling much more than I, but in |
| | | | any case, doing something you enjoy AND |
| I wrapped the walking sticks with leather | | | | making a profit is a nice advantage of any |
| near the bottom, to prevent splitting, and | | | | money-making hobby. |