Texas Basket Company uses mostly sweetgum trees to produce their world famous baskets.  It is easily recognized by its golfball-sized prickly seeds.  The sweetgum tree is commonly overlooked by most manufacturers for lumber or other uses but is perfect for baskets.  Cottonwood, hackberry, elm, birch, and magnolia are occasionally used too.  Trees usually come from within 400 miles of Jacksonville.  TBC looked for wood soft enough to bend but strong enough to hold a nail or staple without splitting and found the perfect combination in sweetgum.

Arriving in Jacksonville, the logs are sorted, graded, and stacked into large piles to be continually sprayed with water.  The watering process keeps the wood from cracking and splitting.  It also keeps bugs from boring holes into the wood and makes the logs easier to de-bark.  The logs are then cut to size, steamed overnight and veneered for each different type of baskets.  Each day timber is used to make baskets with the process beginning again the next day.  After being assembled into the various patterns, the baskets are dried, graded, and prepared for shipment.