Johnson County History

ROBERTS, YODER

Posted By: Mistina Christner (email)
Date: 7/26/2018 at 12:08:54

Source: Kalona News Unsure of date

Johnson County History

Husking tool helped in corn harvesting

This handheld leather and metal tool was used to husk corn before mechanical corn pickers became popular on Johnson County farms in the 1930s and 1940s. To husk corn, one would strip the ears of their dried out leaves at harvest time.
Emily Roberts, a member of the Johnson County Historical Society, remembers when she and her brothers would walk the rows of her family's corn crop and husk and pick ears right off the stalk. They used two kinds of huskers, a husking peg and this buckled, leather husker with a metal hook about 2 or 3 inches wide.
"Each person had their own husking tool," Roberts said. "We'd walk along the left side of the horse-drawn wagon, husk and pick the corn and toss it in the wagon. It was a matter of pride to have a clean load of corn."
Roberts and her six brothers and sisters helped their parents, Omar and Emma Yoder of Sharon Township, harvest corn each fall.
The husking tool, above, and other Johnson County farm tools of the era are on display in the Heritage Museum's foyer.