Elderly Father Sustains Family for Nearly Four Decades with Teapot Business
80-year-old father of two has been earning his living from a teapot for 39 years
In Samsun, 80-year-old Zeki Yılmaz has been making his living from “teapot repair” for 39 years. Despite wanting his children to pursue different professions, Yılmaz still continues to work in this field.
Zeki Yılmaz, a father of two, runs his teapot repair shop in a 20 square meter space in the İlkadım district. He repairs an average of 5-6 teapots a day but laments the fact that he can’t find anyone to work with him.
“I have been in this business for 39 years now, and I don’t even have someone to assist me. I replace burnt and destroyed parts of teapots with new ones. No one even comes from my village to work with me,” Yılmaz shared.
Yılmaz added, “I’ve been in this shop for 39 years. I work alone. We also have items that we buy from scrap, fix, and sell. While there are others in Samsun who do this job, I was the first to start 39 years ago.”
When asked about the future of his business, Yılmaz expressed his concern saying, “There is no one like me in Samsun. If something happens to me, my children will just sell it all to the scrap dealer in one day. Even my children say ‘let go, dad’ but I can’t seem to leave this profession.”
