Showcasing American Agriculture: The History of Corn in America

By Leslie C. Mcmanus
Published on November 11, 2014
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Jim and Barbara Sorrell, Sparta, Tenn., with their collection of corn shellers.
Jim and Barbara Sorrell, Sparta, Tenn., with their collection of corn shellers.
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Jim Sorrell's Pride of Georgia sheller.
Jim Sorrell's Pride of Georgia sheller. "It's one of my favorites," Jim admits. "There are not many of them." Several years passed before he was able to persuade the previous owner to part with it. "And you know it's all about the hunt," he says. "Once I got it, it was like taking a pin to a balloon. There was just a big let-down."
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These heavy iron
These heavy iron "silo climbers" were used during final stages of construction of silos built from glazed tile, allowing the wearer to climb metal bands that wrapped around the structure. "I've never seen anyone who said they'd used them or seen them used," collector Jim Moffett says.
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Bill and Susie James, Forest, Ohio, with their display of corn items, including hand-held shellers, tiers, tighteners, pegs and hooks.
Bill and Susie James, Forest, Ohio, with their display of corn items, including hand-held shellers, tiers, tighteners, pegs and hooks.
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This antique sweet corn cutter strips kernels from the ear in one breathtaking swipe. Patented in 1922, the device was manufactured by Burpee Can Sealer Co.
This antique sweet corn cutter strips kernels from the ear in one breathtaking swipe. Patented in 1922, the device was manufactured by Burpee Can Sealer Co.
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Antique seed-corn drying racks (from the collection of Bob and Carolyn Chamberlain, Warrensburg, Ill.) made an effective backdrop.
Antique seed-corn drying racks (from the collection of Bob and Carolyn Chamberlain, Warrensburg, Ill.) made an effective backdrop.
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Sitting down on the job was essential in using this sheller, which is from the collection of Jim and Phyllis Moffet. The operator sat with the shelling strip in front of him, beneath his legs.
Sitting down on the job was essential in using this sheller, which is from the collection of Jim and Phyllis Moffet. The operator sat with the shelling strip in front of him, beneath his legs.
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Fred Pickett keeps his fleet of seed corn semis safely under glass. He showed nearly 60 at the recent meeting.
Fred Pickett keeps his fleet of seed corn semis safely under glass. He showed nearly 60 at the recent meeting.
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Fred and Donna Pickett, Salem Ill.
Fred and Donna Pickett, Salem Ill.
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A salesman's case of husking hooks and pegs manufactured by R.F. Clark Mfg., Chicago, from the collection of Richard Humes, Little York, Ill.
A salesman's case of husking hooks and pegs manufactured by R.F. Clark Mfg., Chicago, from the collection of Richard Humes, Little York, Ill.
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A souvenir pennant from the 1941 national cornhusking contest in Tonica, Ill. Below the pennant is a celluloid souvenir—a tiny ear of corn—from the event. Both are from Richard's collection.
A souvenir pennant from the 1941 national cornhusking contest in Tonica, Ill. Below the pennant is a celluloid souvenir—a tiny ear of corn—from the event. Both are from Richard's collection.
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Roger Sullens' Hawley sheller.
Roger Sullens' Hawley sheller. "It worked," Roger says, "but not well."
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A wooden bar suspended from the EZ Way potato-picking belt held a sack that the picker straddled while picking with both hands.
A wooden bar suspended from the EZ Way potato-picking belt held a sack that the picker straddled while picking with both hands.
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Patent 1,696,509: Raymond B. Tresner, Mabton, Wash., was awarded a patent on Dec. 25, 1928, for his EZ Way potato-picking belt.
Patent 1,696,509: Raymond B. Tresner, Mabton, Wash., was awarded a patent on Dec. 25, 1928, for his EZ Way potato-picking belt.

Want to see the big picture of America’s agricultural heritage? Drop in on a meeting of the Corn Items Collectors Assn. Members of that group share a passion for literally everything related to corn.

At a recent CIC meeting held in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa (the group’s meetings are held all over the Midwest), displays ranged from scale model toys to handmade husking hooks, early hand-cranked shellers to shock tiers, husking contests to sweet corn cutters. Some of the pieces dated to the American Civil War; all told eloquent stories of the past.

Hitting the road with cornhusking hooks

An avid contestant in contemporary cornhusking contests, Richard Humes, Little York, Illinois, has a particular interest in collectibles related to husking contests of yesteryear. At the Mt. Pleasant show, he displayed an original salesman’s case packed with 33 husking hooks and pegs produced by R.F. Clark Mfg., Chicago.

The case, which dates to about 1911, looks to be made of leather. In fact, it is made of a heavy cardboard, a material commonly used in inexpensive luggage decades ago, stained to look like leather and trimmed with metal buckles and hinges. “That’s what makes it so neat,” Richard says. “It’s the only salesman’s case I’ve ever seen.”

Boss and Key were the leading manufacturers of hooks and pegs, he says. A smaller competitor, Clark was a glove manufacturer that must have sensed the possibility in a related market. Volume business was the key. “Hooks and pegs didn’t sell for much,” Richard says. “Hooks for maybe 25 cents, pegs for about 8 cents. You would have bought them at the general store.”

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