Photo by cstein96

As I was doing some research yesterday for a post on the Maine Avenue Fish Market (soon with stuff other than fish!), I came across an interesting sub-chapter in the D.C. Code titled “‘Barrel of Corn’ Defined.” The law, which dates back to 1899 but remains on the book in 2012, does exactly what it says: it defines what a barrel of corn is.

Three hundred and fifty pounds of corn on the cob shall constitute a barrel and 280 pounds of shelled corn shall constitute a barrel; provided, that nothing in this section shall be held to prohibit the sale of corn on the cob by the barrel.

Some cursory research finds that barrels of corn were used as units of measurement in parts of Europe as far back as the 1600s. They were also used as part of the barter economy, as I discovered in a 1928 Post article about Evelyn Harris, a local orchard owner who used barrels of pears to pay for medical care and corn for haircuts for her kids. (A clip from the article is below.) An earlier article from 1906 tells of a quarrel between two Loudoun County men over a barrel of corn; one was stabbed and killed during the fight.

So, now you know. If some enterprising salesperson knocks on your door in D.C. and offers to sell you a barrel full of corn, it’s perfectly legal. You just need to make sure that it’s the full 350 pounds of corn on the cob or 250 pounds of shucked corn. If not, well, there aren’t any consequences outlined in the law, but let’s assume they’re pretty serious.