This is something fun and exciting to do while sipping a game day beverage from your cup holder:
On first appearances, the sport of cornhole seems bizarre and more than a little unusual, similar to a person seeing our drink holder while searching through countless wheelchair accessories. Why in the world would anyone name a sport cornhole? And, for a game that is a strange variant of the basic bean bag toss game, why choose whole kernel corn to fill these bags with? It all seems a bit random and not completely thought out. Why choose corn and not some other grain, such as rice or oats? Why not a legume? What, did beanhole not sound weird enough?
Well, for whatever reason, the inventors of this nascent sport opted for that great American grain called corn. Perhaps the most logical reason is that America produces so much corn that we are literally swimming in the stuff. Maybe the inventors were a little low on cash and corn feed from the local agricultural supply store was the cheapest thing available. Today’s cornhole bag is filled with 14-16 oz of whole kernel corn; or roughly one pound.
Though we may never know why corn was chosen, cost and availability have to be a few reasons why. But, there are a few other possibilities as to why corn was chosen. Cleaned and thoroughly dried corn is actually very strong. The game of corn toss can be very tough on cornhole game bags. The constant pounding and impact with the cornhole boards is significant. Whole kernel corn stands up very well and takes a long time to break down. Any other grain or bean, or filler of any kind, may break down much quicker and leave you with mush-filled bags. However, when corn kernels get wet, they will begin to rot and smell fairly quickly. This is why it is vitally important to keep your cornhole bags in a water-tight plastic container when not in use.
One last reason why corn may have been chosen is the dust it provides with every strike to the cornhole board. Many cornhole pros consider this dust an absolute necessity; which is why they have taken to the saying, “Dust is a must.” This dust provides a great billow after every strike, similar to a catcher’s mitt in baseball. This dust can also coat the boards and provide for a perfect surface to slide the bags into the hole for what cornhole purists refer to as a “slider.”
We don’t really know why corn was chosen to usher in a new era of backyard games, and it may always remain a mystery. We just know that cornhole game rules are very clear on the matter, and we love playing the game of corn toss. Wanna play?
