Mother Earth News - Mother Earth News 1974

Excerpted from the book Foxfire 2. Copyright1973 by the Southern Highlands Literary Fund, Inc., and Brooks Eliot Wigginton. Published by Anchor Press/Doubleday & Company, Inc.

Theyd come in and shuck mcorn, sing, and have thbest time. Youve never seen such a good time as they had! I wish you could go to a corn shuckin sometime.

Thoughts like this one expressed by Aunt Arie were what really kindled our interest in researching this chapter. When we got into it, we became truly fascinated by the various community activities that people were involved in back in the old days. Simple things like candy pullings and ice cream parties and singings delighted people no end particularly young people.

What really amazed us, though, was the way people took a dull, arduous task and turned it into a time for fun and warm fellowship. Corn shuckings and house raisings and log rollings became a time for neighbors to pitch in and have the best times of their lives while working with and helping each other.

We decided that the best way to get the real feeling across would be through the words of the people themselves. Here is what they had to say.

Florance and Lawton Brooks: We used thave them old shuckins. Theyd just pile up their corn in their barnyard, yknow, instead aputtin it in their crib. And then theyd ask all their neighbors around tcome in. And theyd always bury a drink right in thmiddle athat pile and pile their corn on top ait. Then wed have tshuck all thcorn tfind it. Wed shuck all night tget tthat half-gallon aliquor. Then wed all have a drink and probably have a dancin threst athnight, if we got done in time.

God, you never seen such shuckin corn.

Then sometimes theyd have it where thman that found thfirst red ear got tkiss thprettiest girl, and sometimes hed shuck like thdevil tryin tfind a red ear acorn. Somebodyd find one generally evertime. It was funny because back then at was thworst thing a boy and girl could do would be caught kissin. Thats thworst thing you could do!

Everbodyuz invited. Wasnt nobody skipped. They invited thyoung and old. They all come together. And you never seen such corn shucks in your life. And if we got done at midnightrsomethin like that, why wed have a big dance from then on to towards daylight. We never counted none on sleepin that night. No way when we was havin them big corn shuckins cause we knowed itd take thbiggest part athnight.

Bout all thway we had ahavinfun was at them shuckins. But I thought it was mighty nice athem thave things like that. I wish theyd haveem now back like they used to. Thereuz lots afun in that.

Will Zoellner: Sometimes thfirst one that got a red earud get a ten-dollar prize. Thats what they called pokeberry corn. Looked like poke come in it. And ever once in a while youd get a plumb red ear. And thgirl that got thred ear, she chose her partner tdance with later.

One I went to - was about fifteen families lived over there, Ledfords and Penlands and Duncans - whoever got thfirst red ear got a Jersey cow. Nicest thing you ever looked at. Well, we got tshuckin around there, and finally got in a fight throwin corn east and west. Somebody socked me with a ear down thside athhead and I caught ththing, and ituz a blood-red ear! When it hit my head, I seen thred corn fly. I cracked it right quick - pulled thshuck off - and says, Look what ydone! Gimme good luck!

So I got that, bout a two-year green-colored Jersey heifer. I sold it, got about a hundred dollars fert.

Mrs. Harriet Echols: Used tbe all these areas in here was big farms. Mr. Cabe would haul up wagonloads of pumpkin, watermelons, and corn. Well, they and all their neighborsud get their corn gathered in, and then theyd startntheyd go from placetplace maybe twice a week theyd have a corn shuckin at a different place. And all thmenud get in thbarn and shuck, and if there was too many women, theyd go help shuck too.And then thothersud cook supper have a big supper just like we have goin ta church supperr somethin like that.

And then theyd put thcorn in log cribs made where thair could go through and finish dryin thcorn theyd gathered in from thfields. And theyd store thpumpkins in a barn and coverem with thshucks and thleavins from thcorn tkeep them through thwinter.

And, well, its just fascinatin how they did.

Aunt Arie: Well, Pappyud raise a big crop acorn - maybe two hundred bushels - and put it in a crib shed. On a certain day theyd have a corn shuckin and get all thneighbors from everwheres tcome in here. If we hadem like we used to, wed have everone ayou younguns come down here and wed have thbest time.

Theyd always come at dinner time, some of them before dinner. Well, theyd sit down teat, and then theyd go on tshuckin. Sometimes theyd shuck till twelve at night before theyd ever get up, and sing and holler and hoop and all thdevil! And theyd take thshuck and hide people inem and do everthing. Why they had ever kinda fun in thworld. That made people love tgo toem. If youd been contrary or hateful, wouldnt abeen nobodyd wanted tgo.

When they got thcorn shucked, theyd put thman of thhouse on a rail and carry him tthhouse and setim down and comb his head comb thlice off his head down on thfloor and stompem with their feet. You know, that wadnt so, but they just done that fer thdevilment and fun!

Marinda Brown: I always got th biggest thrill out athat, just thchildren and me. Just thvery smallest children would get in and shuck corn and always look for thred ears. Everbody that found a red ear had tbe kissed. I didnt like that too much, though!

Theyd come all day and just spend thday, yknow, and go up into thnight. And then theyd have a dance. Wed have our lanterns and lights around, yknow, and wed shuck up into thnight and have a big feast with tables loaded with all sorts of good foods.

Mrs. E.H. Brown: That was just a good time for us all. We enjoyed bein together and doin somethin thelp somebody, too.

Mrs. Harriet Echols: If they was goin tbuild a new barn, they got all thlogs tgether, and all thneighbor men got in and put up thbarn. Theyd build a barn in a day and put in thsheds and stalls and everthing. And if they didnt finish, theyd come back thnext day and cover it. And they didnt have any pulleysranything thorse those logs up. Threerfour menud get on each end of a log and theyd just come up with it.

Of course, thkids at that time was usually at school, yknow. And thwomen gathered there and cooked, and theyd have up a quilt and be sewin on it.

They got all thmaterial tgether and had everthing there, and theyd set a certain day ferem all tmeet, and then they went twork.

Annie Perry: This house was built that way. Thneighborsud cut thlogs and split thlogs. Then theyd cut thnotches in thcorners tkeepem from rollin off. My grandma said that thlogs this houseuz built out of was right out of our woods cut right around in rollin distance. This houseuz built in 18 and 69. My grandmother moved here in August and she didnt have a fireplace tcook on, and she didnt have a cookstove.