Roland Rein

Wooden basket maker Roland Rein got his start in the craft after attending a mountain man rendezvous. Surrounded by frontiersmen and craftsmen of all kinds, a guy in the neighboring camp got drunk and Roland (ever the salesman) ended up selling the stranger’s inventory of baskets.

Maybe as a thank-you, or maybe because the guy knew a good salesman when he saw one, he later hired Roland, launching this Indiana Artisan’s basket-making career more than a quarter-century ago.

Roland persuaded the basket maker to teach him the craft, which ultimately led him down a path to launching his own company.

“When 9/11 hit, it changed the retail and wholesale markets. The company closed its doors, and I purchased some of the equipment and materials and began crafting baskets solo,” Roland says. “It was exciting because I was 100 percent in charge of every aspect, from design and material selection to weaving techniques and stain selection.”

Being in charge allowed Roland to dictate how he does business.

“I have the ability to make a basket so strong and durable that I can offer an unconditional lifetime guarantee on each basket,” he says. “No matter what happens to any of my baskets, I will fix it or replace it, no matter what.”

His goal is to make America’s finest baskets.

“I get calls from all over the United States,” he says, “from people who have bought my work in the past. The biggest compliment an artisan can get is when people buy more.”

Having been at his craft so long, Roland now designs a lot of his work.

“Many of the trapper baskets I make date in design to the 1700s,” he says. “In history, baskets predate pottery and have had as many shapes and sizes as the imagination can create.”