I’m watching an episode of Rocko’s Modern Life (loved that show), and they’re showing some country bumpkin giving him directions, complete with the stereotypical straw hat, and wheat blade sticking out of his mouth.
But why?
Why does a farmer want to chew on wheat? Why not tobacco, or grape leaves, or stride gum? Is there a practical horticultural reason for it, or is it just a stereotype that worked its way into cartoons? Both, maybe?
Some people chew on toothpicks. A wheat farmer is probably going to have easier access to a stalk of wheat than he would the toothpicks back in his kitchen.
[slight hijack] If you have access to a field of ripe wheat, grab some heads, remove the chaff from the kernels, and chew on them a while, spitting out the hard shards of bran as you do. Eventually, you will end up with fully developed gluten that greatly resembles chewing gum. [/slight hijack]
p.s. Yes, I was/am a hick.
I used to do it as a kid. It’s a lot like chewing on a toothpick except it tastes better (IMHO) and it doesn’t cost anything. There’s no practical purpose to it.
Usually, what they show hicks chewing on is the base of a stalk of timothy, not wheat, as in this poem.
The stem of wheat and timothy among other grasses has a bit of a sweet taste. Not unpleasant.
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Hicks chewing on wheat
[QUOTE]
Hmmm I could take that personally you know 
Although chewing on timothy may not be as innocent as you think! 
Ha! I knew what that was before I clicked!
But… Timothy was just the mule, right? :eek:
Anyway, that’s Scepter Records’s story and they’re sticking to it!
Heather is noticably sweeter when timothy sprouts up there.
It’s timothy you chew on, not wheat. And you chew on it for something to chew on–pleasant flavor and texture. And it’s free and easily available.
I’m sometimes amazed about how little people know about rural life. Of course, I’m sure there’s things about city life I don’t even know I don’t know to ask about.
So she is. So she is!
I believe the correct phrase is: it don’t cost nothin’.
Wheat is host to ergot which gives a hallucinogenic trip for the person chewing on it.
Maybe so, but you wouldn’t catch me putting this in my mouth.
Oh, but the wings are so delicate and tender…
Anyone ever suck on the tip of a petunia? Right near ruined a tub full of them one summer.
Err, is this drifting somewhat off topic? 
You already came up with something we didn’t know that went beyond it’s some thing to chew. Your answer would be my choice beyond the stalk is something to chew on. There has to be somebody that would chew it for the ergot high. I’m also betting there is a community out there that could be tricked into naming their high school Ergot High and not get the pun until after the media has a field day. Boy will they feel chaffed.
Hicks Chewing on Wheat
I’d see that band.
Well, the Lucky Luke (Belgian comic figure of a cowboy in the Wild West) for years carried a cigarette in his mouth, and was shown rolling cigarettes from tobacco. (which means that he had to spend the money to buy the tobacco, and find a store that sold tobacco). However, after several years, Morris, the artist, heard that Luke was influencing kids to smoke (as a positive, smoking, role model), and also Morris himself wanted to give up smoking. So suddenly, Luke started chewing on a blade of some undetermined straw.
See here for quotes.
I grew up in the country. We often chewed on stalks of fresh green grasses. Sweet and free and right at hand.
