Brooms

The othe day I was walking home for lunch and the city maintenance people were out cleaning up the streets (you know, all those doggie droppings I talked about? apparently someone does pick them up). I can imagine if the street cleaners (and these are people with shovels and brooms) weren't out cleaning up the street there would be a big pillow of all the discarded cigarette butts and cars wouldn't be able to drive. The streets also have quite a bit of discarded gum on them. Random observations I know, just trying to give you an idea. The point is though, that these workers were cleaning the streets, as they must do quite often and as I approached them I noticed the broom they were using. Here's what it looks like:

Now why I ask, do Europeans still use brooms like this? I'm not a frequent broom user, but I'm quite certain there have been developments in the broom industry from the kind that were made in the 1500s. It isn't just the French either. When I visited Italy, the men cleaning up St. Mark's Square used brooms like this too. Maybe they are cheaper? What could possibly be the other advantages over modern brooms? Ah the conundrums of living in a foreign place.