100 Years of Mystery Solved
January 18, 2025
Source: FB/Nancy Peden Dunn
History is full of strange hiding places. Exhibit A: a weird, lumpy thing popping out from above a baseboard in an old house. This home is more than 100 years old. At first it might look like a hunk of plaster, a painted-over knob, or maybe just some mysterious bulge that’s always been there. But on closer inspection — and a little bit of help from their painter — the homeowner unearthed the real thing. It was in fact a corn cob that my sister was using as a corn cob door stop.
Yes, a corn cob, once a doorstop. It sounds wild, but it’s a clever vestige from the early 20th century. Back then, folks didn’t have the resources of a local hardware store around the corner. Or they didn’t have the cash to spare if they did. Instead, they made do with whatever they had on hand. For some, that included repurposing a trusty corncob as a doorstop.
Why Use a Corn Cob?
It can be difficult to remember that the early 1900s were so different than today. Houses like that in this story, which had been built in 1908, didn’t come with all the modern conveniences we take for granted today. Doorstops were no exception. If you had to keep a door from slamming into the wall, you made do with what you had.
Comes the corn cob: rugged, light and free. Once dinner is finished, instead of throwing the cob away, why not put it to work? Regardless of whether it was lodged in a hole or fastened against the wall, it served its purpose. No trips to the store, no extra expense — just simple resourcefulness.
Coats of Paint and Layers of Mystery
Somewhere along the way, these modest little corn cob doorstops fell out of favor. They were left behind as layers and layers of paint obscured their original purpose. By the time somebody would come along and ask, “Well, what is that thing on the wall?” it could have looked like nothing at all.
The 1908 home had a painter who’d dealt with this sort of thing before. After investigating, the women solved the mystery. They discovered an old corn cob, now encased in years of paint, still tucked in place by the baseboard. It’s a quirky fix, but one that yields a smile and a connection to the past. Especially since it’s a corn cob doorstop.
A Nod to Simpler Times
What’s so interesting about a corn cob doorstop isn’t just that it’s practical — it’s that it tells you something about the time. People 100 years ago did not have the disposable income to buy specialized products for every minor need. Instead they recycled and refurbished whatever they could find. There were plenty of corn cobs and they were strong. They were useful for all sorts of household chores, from fire-making kindling to doorstop — or even furniture.
It’s a reminder that people once were pretty resourceful. They did not squander what they had, and they certainly did not overthink small solutions. A doorstop made from a corn cob sounds silly to a contemporary reader. But to Wagoner it was just one more way of making life work with the raw materials at hand.
Opinion A Memento of History Worth Preserving
If you find something like this in your own home, don’t rush to dismiss it. “Yeah, it’s not the prettiest fix, but it’s history of your house,” he added. And it’s just a fun thing to talk about — what else can you tell people, with a straight face, that your doorstop is a literal piece of corn?
For homeowners who specialize in maintaining the character of their older homes, quirky finds like this one are treasures. They are also reminders of the people who have lived there. They show how they found solutions to problems or the small ways they made each place home. Coming across a corn cob used as a doorstop is one of those touching links to the past.