CORN SAMPLER

[Ridgegrass]

I see these all the time in shops. Questions:
1. It's a corn sampler, right?
2. It looks to be blacksmith made/ no markings, hand hammered rivet, wire wrap, hand cut leather thong. Is that normal or are they factory made?
3. How are the two "points" used and at what stage of corn development?
Thanks, I'm a city boy. A friend gave it to me thinking it was some kind of knife.

[robpa]

I think it is a corn shucker. I have one made of wood and leather loop. A finger goes thru the leather thong and is grasped by the hand to jab the prong into the tip of the ear and begin a downward rip to remove the shuck from the cob. Ive never seen one like you posted, got this from my dad. I have used it in the past when we picked corn by hand. I discovered a glove with little plastic nibs on the palm was more efficient. Now a combine does it much better!

[Gunsil]

Rob has it. Corn shucker, probably still found and used in some rural corn growing area. If you gotta shuck a lot of corn like maybe for a big party these babies save your hands.

[jerryd6818]

My granddad called his a shucking peg & it was used for picking (shucking) corn by hand. He would hitch his team of horses to a wagon with a high side board on the opposite side of where he was picking. Rip off an ear of corn and throw it in the wagon. I have his shucking peg. See below.

[1967redrider]

New one on me, but we always bought cracked corn for the butchering steers. I bet Ken would know more about this.

[btrwtr]

Very interesting thread with some quality contributions. My brother and I grew and sold sweet corn back in the sixties. Never knew about these husking tools.

[Ridgegrass]

Thanks all. I've only shucked corn to eat it, never dry. Guess you'd need a tool on that hard husk, all day.
As I said, I can buy one of those any day in any local antique store. Worcester (pronounced "WOO-ster") County is mostly corn and soy bean fields.
This husker is a bit different than the palm type and smaller, maybe for a youth or a woman's hand. Interesting addition to my non-knife items. J.O'.

[tongueriver]

I used to have one of the leather palm gloves with a steel hook in it. Long gone to who-knows-where. When I prepare sweet corn for the table I microwave it in the husk and it pulls right off afterward, no sweat. I wear those big red rubber gloves that all farmers and livestock fellows have for various purposes so I don't burn my delicate hands. I grow Mandan Red heirloom corn that has been handed down by indigenous survivors of the Mandan tribe. It is pure dark red and I grind it in a blender for corn bread. It is not sweet corn. I also steal a few dried ears of dent corn from the field when I visit in Minnesota. About a penny's worth, I suppose, but something I am not ashamed of, to grind for corn bread.