News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-22
AN OLD TIME IIUSKING BEE.
WHAT 1T WAS IN ITS REALITY.
How the Boys and the Girls Enjoyed Them
selves in the t3lden Times
Tmentv vears since there was q nennin

Twenty years since there was genuiIl
S husking-bee in Vermont! Our father
and mothers went to them occasionally
but the custom WIS dying out then
; gradually it became Il thing of the past
and now you never hear of one. excer
as a sort of initiative reminiscence of tn
good old timeS-& mOngrel exhibition c
the real thing, gotten up more to set ot
the histriOnic talent Of the rural lvcern
than to revive the true spirit of the ven
erable custom. Nevertheless, we hav
traditions of the hGskiDg-bee, whicl
show what a truly delightful and roman
tic custom it was. Il we could but re
store the charm g.Iaf1e of our good
old-fashioend NJ, z5fil-S}1s,:...),ces zil--}s1:,...',c
by circulating th6 10 o. : fre'rri, we
should have gained the best means o
displacing the 'balIs " and "shows ,
which have so unworthily succeeded
them. will try and give you a picture
of the genuine husking-bee, as it used to
exist in Vermont, and as [ hope it may
again exist in our rural districts before
! the onward march of civilization re-
moves the conditions necessary to its
| observance.
These conditions still prevail, just as
truly as they did twenty or thirty years
ago. and there is no reason in the world
why the custom should have been aban-
doned, except that metropolitan ways
and fashions are being brought into the
country, and people think that they must
ape them or else be left behind the times.
Every village, forsooth, has to have its
dance hall, and a sort of ridiculous as
semhly manner is imported at fifth hand
from the metropolis, and the boys and
girls will be stylish, and dress after the
fashion plates, and have an idea of The art
of twinllling their heels. But put one of
them, at their best, in a city parIor,
and the wax will run from his wings
faster than it ever did from Icarus's when
he thought to get little above his
proper sphere and have look at the sun.
Country ways and country customs ale
the best for country people. They are
beautiful in their place, and they ought
to exist in their place as long as their
place exists for them. When somebody
invents n machine that will husk pile
of corn faster, better, cheaper and with
more satisfaction all around than forty
boys and girls, whose services can be had
for the asking, whether you offer them
pumpkin pies and doughnuts or the fun
and your thanks for their guerdon, then
it will be time to give mp the good old
custom of husbing-bees
Wei, here We are III the big fragrant
barn, with the forty lads and Iasses.
There has been Il clean sweeping be
tween the mows, and the floor is as neat
as the deck Of Il man-of-war. Tt is eight
o'clock OF .t Nove1sli,,4 ines--hnrp,
without, to he sure, and bit frosty
within, but what care we, with our coats
and caps and shawls and mittens on? \
goodIv number Of lanterns have been
hung from the beams and over the doors
and on a wire stretched between the
m0ws, and it is Light enough to see the
red corn peeping through the cmled
edges of the hUsks, as they lie piled up
in a great heap midway of the floor
light enough to see the glow of health on
the cheeks of the boys and girls and to
reveal the traces Of the paint pot and the
burned match and the powder rag, if
there were any.
The good man Of the barn and his
buxOm dame 90 about shaking hands
with the young people and asking after
the ''folks, " and when their " huskin' is
comm off, " and how many COWS they
were milking, and 50 forth, without once
troubling their heads about "intrO-
ducing" their guests, or seeing that they
are "paired off, " which is a spontaneous
process in country gatherings, and al
ways happens of itself. Later in the
evening it is expected that more
of the old folks will drop in,
| lust to see how the husl1ing comes
ont, and sample some Of the good cheer
The DAYS of gratuitous activity have
long since passed, but they do " love to
see the young people enjoy themselves p"
in the profitable combination Of business
and pleasure!
When the guests have all arrived the
boys go to work and pull great armfuls
IF hay from the NOV, which they spread
around the heap of corn. Then each
seats himself by his favorite girl, draws
a bundle of husks into the hay between
them. and the huslling begins. Work
is by no means suffered, however, to in
terfere with play.
The merry joke goes round; the stolen
mitten travels about the circle and back
to its owner at last. IF a girl happens
to pull the husk from q dark-red ear, she
must forfeit a kiss ,e lad who is near
est or quickest to snatch it. As fast as
the cars are removed from the husks
thev are thrown into two separate piles,
one for each party on opposite sides OF
the heap; and there is sure to be a deal
of pleasant rivalry to see which side will
have the larger heap of corn when the
huaking is done.
1t is wonderful to see how fast the
mountain of unhusked corn is lowered
though the farmer and his boys keeT
bringing fresh basketfuls and piline
them on the heap. A perfect storm o
| the golden ears keeps raining ON eacl
pile of corn. As the supply OF materia
fails the contest wakes warmer.
The girls throw off their hoods an6
shawls. and the boys fling aside thei
overcoats. The warm blood of healtl
,ushcs to each cheek, and the faster the
hands dv the brighter do the faces grow
and the last few ears are scrabbled 70
by the contending sides, and with shout
of mcrriment the husking is finished
The victorious side is first served wifi
refreshments. Great platefuls of dough
nuts and Efritters," and slices of snow
cake. pies cut in generous pieces, eide
and apples. nuts, and homemade cand
are passed around The old folks com
STAMPING in by twOs and threes, and ar
Immediately assailed by conflicting
! stories of individual prowess and associ
ate achievement, and then stuffed wit
, good things to stop their laughing. B
11.3O O'Clock the festivities are over
and the merry company disperses tw
! and two. The farmer takes down til
7 lanterns. closes the big barn, and rt
= tires TO the kitchen to smoke his pin
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