Thumb Hook

This picture appears in the January 18, 2019, issue of the "Midwest Messenger" with the challenge of "What's this".  I hadn't seen a copy of the publication recently until today when a neighbor dropped it off for us. It is a division of Lee Enterprises, with weekly publications located in Tekamah, NE.  Here is my response.

      Terry: Your picture in the January 18, 2019, Midwest Messenger brought back memories of my youth and husking corn with a "Thumb hook" like the picture of "What's This"?.  A Palm Hook was more common but I tried the Thumb hook once and liked it. I grew up on a farm in the Bohemian Alps north of Garland. Our neighbors to the west and north both included young men who were good corn huskers and we could often hear each others "speed" on a quiet morning as we heard the ears hit the backboard. We were good friends and played on the Garland Town Team Baseball team. We thought of "picking corn" as an athletic event and worked at perfecting our skills. My record was 135 bushels in one day. Getting 100 was a standard for each of us. The Thumb hook helped but I also learned to never look at the ear I was working on but look at the next one and program your mind as to how to approach it. A lesson that I carried forward in my career in management with the USDA Soil Conservation Service.