Good Old Fashioned Corn Husking Bees!

 Fall always makes me think of harvest time.

Apples, pumpkins, fields turning gold, cool evenings, and all those old-fashioned chores people once did together because there was simply too much work for one family to manage alone.

One of those traditions was the corn husking bee.

I’ll admit, I had never really thought much about them before, but they were once a familiar part of rural life. After the corn had been harvested and dried, neighbors would gather to help remove the husks from the ears.

And, as so often happened back then, work turned into a social event.

People talked while they worked. They laughed. There might be friendly competition to see who could husk the fastest, and once the work was finished, there was often food, music, and sometimes dancing.

It was practical, of course. Many hands made the work go faster.

But it was also community.

One of the more charming traditions connected with corn husking bees involved finding a red ear of corn.

In some places, the lucky person who found one earned the right to steal a kiss.

Naturally, that probably made the corn pile a little more interesting to certain young men and women.

I can imagine the teasing that must have gone on whenever someone uncovered one.

There is something appealing about the whole idea.

Today, harvest work is mostly mechanized, and most of us are not gathering in barns to husk corn by hand. But once upon a time, a necessary autumn chore gave neighbors a reason to come together.

The work got done.

People shared a meal.

Someone might pull out a fiddle.

And if you were lucky, perhaps you even found a red ear of corn.

It’s funny how ordinary work could become a celebration when everyone did it together.

Maybe that is what I like most about these old fall traditions—the reminder that life did not have to be elaborate to be memorable.

Until Next Time,

Kit