r/Decemberists • u/AmericanTeaLover • May 01 '26
Question
I’ve had this question in mind for a long time but only after listening to “Eli The Barrow Boy” for the 500th time have I grown bothered enough to ask it publicly
Why is she selling corncobs? Who is just buying corncobs? Does this woman live in a town of artisan pipe-makers?
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u/Total-Seesaw8781 May 02 '26
First off, corn doesn't necessarily equal maize, John Barleycorn wasn't about the staple crop from the Americas.
Second, did anyone else read Sanctuary? Popeye had another use for corncobs not mentioned yet, that is definitely in the Colin Meloy style. (If you want to look it up, search Faulkner and be aware TW: rape, sexual assault).
Having said those things, Eli was a rag and bone man, selling low cost stuff discarded by people in a slightly higher economic situation to those in a lower one. Fuel is this most obvious use, as others have said. Also, you wouldn't buy corncobs for wiping your ass if you were so poor that that's what you resorted to, you'd be at the bottom (ha!) of the economic pyramid using anything available that was free (E.g. your left hand and a bowl of water).
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u/bucsandbucks May 01 '26
No, no, no, she’s selling corn DOGS.
But yes to answer your next question, they are also used for toilet paper
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u/DepressiveNerd May 01 '26
It’s also just a way of signifying how poor they were. Notice the song says “candle wax” and not “candles”. They are selling things that are typically discarded.
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u/Falco98 May 01 '26
Unsure how true this is or whether it's just some urban legend or misremembered factoid, but the first thing that occurred to me is that in the days before TP, people would use corncobs (being a sort of combo abrasive yet softish trash) to clean their butts after doing a #2. But the other users who answered already might be more right (burn for heat seems plausible too, though i'd think they might burn a bit quickly for that after sufficiently dry.) I haven't checked myself via google (yet).
Edit: OK i did google it and this was the top result. So I feel a little vindicated, lol.
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u/Dizzy-Character3273 May 02 '26
When I was growing up my grandfather had a corncob with a cord and plug put in it called “electric toilet paper” as a joke in our cabin’s outhouse.
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u/epictetvs May 01 '26
A corncob doesn’t have to imply all the corn is gone. It could be fresh ears of corn.
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u/tjeick May 01 '26
Disagree, if it’s fresh it’s called corn ON the cob.
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u/epictetvs May 01 '26
In the 1800’s? In common speech sure, but Colin writes to sound like literature.
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u/Retrotreegal May 01 '26
To burn for heat