Thursday 16 February 2012

Corn Sheller Revisit

 
Back in the early days of my blogging life I ask my followers to guess what this contraption
was. And if you remember this post, you've been a faithful follower for a long time! Thank
you! For my newbies who weren't around then, it's a corn sheller. You put the whole cob
in and turn the crank, and out comes your corn kernel.
I sure wish my grandpa had had one of these on his little homestead. I remember helping
him shell corn, and let me tell you, it made for some pretty sore thumbs afterwards.
My grand father was one of those men who could do anything. I suppose with nine mouths
to feed during the depression, one had to take work where ever one could find it, and either
raise ones own food or hunt for it. He was a fisherman, a hunter, a gardener, a butcher,
a wood carver, artist, and musician. But what stands out the most in my memory is that
he was a 'piano' man.

Yes, before Billy Joel appeared on the scene, my grandpa was playing piano in the bars of
rural Missouri. When my dad and his brothers were at home they, along with Grandpa
and my great uncle, had a singing group. They were tailored after 'The Sons of the Pioneers'.
They sang on local radio stations and traveled around the communities to the fairs and
auditoriums performing. But when the boys left home, grandpa was on his own, so that's
when he became a 'piano' man. He had never had any lessons, he played by ear only.
Which is really a blessing when it comes to songs requested by folks.
I don't really know how I got off on that whole story! Oh yeah, the corn husking memories.
You know how one memory leads to another, than another.
Well anyway, I'm joining Lisa at Two Bears Farm  for Rural Thursday. Please pop over
and see what her other rural friends are sharing today.
Have a good one-Kimberly





19 comments:

  1. My brother had 1000 sows. We had a corn sheller like that and we would take the corn and shell it and then he had all of these crockpots that he made this junk that he cooked all day and fed them at night. :) We had so much fun putting the ear of corn into that deal and seeing how fast we could make piles of corn. He was trying to make money on his sows so that is why he would buy his corn like that. We had the radio on and we would stay down in the barn and do that for hours.
    I love that your Grandpa was a piano man.
    Mine was a guitar man. :)
    I loved your story.

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  2. I'm so glad you linked up today! I like the corn sheller - I have never tried to shell corn by hand but I would imagine it would leave some sore thumbs! Love your story today :-)

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  3. That's an awesome bit of farm history. Those corn shellers were so beneficial. A wonderful post, Kimberly.

    Thank you for sharing at Rural Thursday!

    (Lisa's co-host)

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  4. The good old days... sure miss 'em.
    Thanks for sharing your memories, and I love the picture!

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  5. Wonderful memories...they can lead us all around Robin Hood's barn.

    So were they any good? That band of brothers and their dad? I bet that you loved to listen to your grandfather play. I certainly loved listening to my grandmother play.

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  6. Love stories like this..now I'm off to visit the others. xo

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  7. Oh I just love stories like this! And I think we have a corn sheller somewhere in storage. We'd kept some things my dad had and that was one of them. I'll be busy the next few days, but hope to get to check out the others stories!
    Have a nice day!

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  8. I'd give anything to run across one of these on the next cleanup day in our old barn. Not because I need one, but just because I love the looks and its history. Thanks for not making us guess!

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  9. I have one like this. Is very helpful. Have a nice week. Greetings from Romania.

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  10. Sometimes the old tools would have been nice...but then wouldn't that shorten the times we had that made memories together?
    I like hearing old stories...

    thanks for sharing!

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  11. how neat is that! i've never seen one before, you learn something new every day!

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  12. this is such a wonderful post, beautiful, thankyou for sharing,

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  13. What a rich family history!
    Anyone write all this down?

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  14. These are wonderful memories of your Grandfather, Kimberly. That's neat that he could play all those songs by ear. I can remember husking a lot of corn when I was a kid too. :-)

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  15. I do remember the corn sheller and have never seen one before. I love the story of your father, the piano man, and his travelling band. Have a great day! Pamela

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  16. What a fun story and I love the corn sheller. Hopped over and enjoyed the visit.

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  17. Love family history best of all. My maternal grandfather came from Missouri...had land in Branson but sold that "pile of rocks"

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  18. Thanks for the farm history! I remember using one of those growing up!

    http://theredeemedgardener.blogspot.com/2012/02/veggie-seed-give-away.html

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  19. Cute story about your grandfather! Such talent! My grandfather learned to build barns in Gladwin, MI. He always puttered with some kind of carpentry his whole life.
    The corn sheller is pretty cool- can't say that I've ever seen one before!

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All of your comments are read and much appreciated.
You are dear and lovely friends!