Jerk that corn! Jerk it! Jerk it! Jerk! Jerk! Jerk!
Hoopeston is a town of 4,900 in east central Illinois, right on the border with Indiana. Flat, rural, and lots and lots of corn. Industries formerly included canning that corn, as well making the cans to can that corn. Today, it looks like we’ve got wind farms instead.
Me? You all care about lil ol me?
The town is know for its sweet corn festival, as well as being home to the Miss National Sweetheart Pageant. The latter is a beauty pageant for runners-up from state Miss America pageants. Finally, Wikipedia lists 2 athletes I’ve actually heard of, along with a politician and an author I have not.
The high school has 340 students, 16 different sports teams, and a website that appears to be way too clever by half (including sliding graphics, which give us some “interesting” combinations).
As for the mascot, it dates back to the 1920s, and was coined by a sportswriter, in derision. Somewhat along the lines of Yankee Doodle, the school embraced it.
As for the word “cornjerker” itself, Wikipedia explains it all in gory detail:
“In times before modern machinery, sweet corn was pulled or jerked from the stalk. The leaves were shucked off and the golden ears were thrown in a wooden wagon pulled by a team of mules. This was called ‘cornjerking.’ In other parts of the United States, this harvesting process may have been known as corn snapping, corn shucking, or corn husking. The many laborers who walked the fields to harvest the crops were called cornjerkers.
The invention of the corn picking machine has made this hand harvesting process obsolete. By using modern machines, a farmer is capable of tending larger fields, thus producing more food with less effort. As a result, the term Cornjerker as used in the agricultural industry has become a colloquialism.”
For “hick,” I would imagine.
In something you often don’t see on Wikipedia, the author goes on to wax positively poetic:
“Cornjerkers come in all shapes and sexes. Brawny football players, lanky basketball players, speedy track team members, petite cheerleaders - all of these students are Cornjerkers. Coaches, faculty, and fans are also a part of the Cornjerkers.”
The mascot is named “Jerky,” which makes me think of another foodstuff entirely.
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