Corn Husking Tool
The above is a slightly larger version of an image taken for the Macro Mondays group that exceeds the group's 3-inch guideline, but is presented here to provide context for how it was worn. The smaller macro version that was posted to the group is in the first comments box.
This vintage tool was among my father’s things when he died. It was probably worn by him when he was a young man or perhaps by his father before him for use in harvesting corn by hand.
The tool consists of a metal hook riveted to a formed leather piece that straps around the hand and wrist using attached straps and buckles. Users walked beside horse-drawn wagons in the fields as they husked the corn manually and threw it into the wagons. The hook on the tool was used to rip the corn husk open so that the ear could be easily broken off the shank that leads to the stalk. Though labor-saving machinery was available for corn harvesting by the 1920s, some farmers still husked and harvested corn by hand into the 1940s.
The text on the tool metal says “The Raidt Make, Shenandoah, Iowa.” A bit of Googling reveals that there was once a company called Raidt Mfg Co. in Shenandoah, which is not far from where members of my family have farmed for generations in Southwest Iowa.
HMM
Corn Husking Tool
The above is a slightly larger version of an image taken for the Macro Mondays group that exceeds the group's 3-inch guideline, but is presented here to provide context for how it was worn. The smaller macro version that was posted to the group is in the first comments box.
This vintage tool was among my father’s things when he died. It was probably worn by him when he was a young man or perhaps by his father before him for use in harvesting corn by hand.
The tool consists of a metal hook riveted to a formed leather piece that straps around the hand and wrist using attached straps and buckles. Users walked beside horse-drawn wagons in the fields as they husked the corn manually and threw it into the wagons. The hook on the tool was used to rip the corn husk open so that the ear could be easily broken off the shank that leads to the stalk. Though labor-saving machinery was available for corn harvesting by the 1920s, some farmers still husked and harvested corn by hand into the 1940s.
The text on the tool metal says “The Raidt Make, Shenandoah, Iowa.” A bit of Googling reveals that there was once a company called Raidt Mfg Co. in Shenandoah, which is not far from where members of my family have farmed for generations in Southwest Iowa.
HMM