So.
I’ve been watching the greatest movie of all time {Hoosiers} for over 30+ years now {I starting watching it on DVD in highschool and have burned through 2 DVD’s in adulthood so when I say that I’ve been watching it for 30+ years now, what I really mean is that I’ve probably seen the movie over 1,000 times} and to this day, I STILL don’t know what’s happening in one of the scenes.
Now maybe I’m just an idiot. But I still can’t figure it out. I’ve even tried asking the Google {in about 100 different ways} over the years what’s going on and still, I have no answers.
So maybe you can help.
What I know:
It’s late fall and all the corn has been harvested.
Coach Dale {played by Gene Hackman} stops by Myra and Opal Fleener’s place for supper and the scene starts with them outside stripping the leaves off corn stalks.
Then, the old farmer puts the corn stalks through some sort of horse powered grinder.
Which produces some sort of liquid {I’ve always figured this was the beginning process of making corn syrup}.
Note the date on the machine: 1863. So clearly whatever they’re doing has been going on for a long time.
Then, with a giant piece of old wood, Myra stirs the boiling liquid.
And then what happens after that, I have no idea because they cut away to another scene. What does this “liquid” become? I seriously don’t know. I don’t see how it can be anything other than corn syrup.
But when I ask the Google how to make corn syrup from scratch, I can’t find anything on the internet that explains what is going on in the pictures above.
Although I did come across an article on How to Grow and Harvest Your Own Corn Syrup which I thought was pretty funny. đ
So if you know, please tell me.
What is the liquid and what are they going to do with it? It would be really nice to know after all these years.
~ Mavis
P.S. Do you have a movie that you’ve watched over and over and over again and just can’t seem to stop watching? If so, what is it? I need to know there is someone else out there as weird as me.
Dana says
A couple of sites I just check indicate itâs not corn, itâs sorghum that they are processing to make syrup.
Dana says
*checked
Linda M says
Yes, sorghum. I am in southern IN. My grandparents used it like you would honey ….on toast, in beans…basically as a homegrown sweetener. It was very common. It tasted a lot like molasses.
Sandy says
My grandmother lived on a farm during the Depression and I seem to recall her talking about making sorghum that way. That was my very first thought when I read the post.
Lainey says
That’s what I thought they were doing since we grow that here and it looked familiar
Sunny says
That is also what I found
sorghum. Its stalks are crushed to release the juice, which is boiled to make syrup.
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[â] Elephantlips 6 years ago
Ah ha! Thanks!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poWPZdJas0Q
making sorghum syrup or molasses
Tamara says
The Spitfire Grill. I have not watched it 1000 times but I am sure a few hundred, mostly if I’m feeling a little melancholy.
Julie K Whitmore says
Signs. I grew up on a farm in the Midwest. That house is just like my parents’ and my grandparents’ houses. The endless corn. The canned goods in the basement.
No aliens, though.
Brianna says
Sorghum cane processing into a thick âmolassesâ because sugar was expensive or unavailable to pioneers.
https://www.lehi-ut.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/PioneerPursuitofSomethingSweetByJillMulvayDerr.pdf
https://digitalheritage.org/2010/08/making-sorghum/
Carole says
Probably sorghum. In Texas it is everywhere, looks like corn sort of but isn’t. Its delicious if you have not tried it. Make sure it is pure sorghum, not mixed with molasses. Grew up on it, especially good on biscuits!!
Melissa says
My Mammaw and Pappaw, God rest their souls, loved sorghum on biscuits!
Barbie says
That is sorghum. It’s harvested and processed in the fall. The stalks are similar to corn stalks. The taste is similar to molasses but more sour to me.
Toni says
LOL They’re grinding sorghum stalks which look almost identical to corn stalks. Sorghum is like molasses that is made from sugar cane.
Melissa says
I love to watch Dead Poets Society over and over again. Hoosiers was a good one, too.
Carolina Cooper says
I love Dead Poets Society also, for a special reason. It was filmed at my son’t boarding school, St. Andrews, in Middletown, Delaware. He had a bit part, but what was really fun was him telling us about how Robin Williams would jump up on the tables in the dining hall and ask the students to throw him any line or comment and then he would make a whole routine out of it. The boys were supposed to go to study hall after dinner but often just stayed to listen to Robin Williams crack them up. It was an important part of my son’s great education at St. Andrews.
Chris says
That’s amazing! I love learning about behind-the-scenes of favorite movies. Dead Poets Society is one of my all time ultimate favorites.
Jennifer says
Dh and I have watched Hoosiers maybe 3 times but mostly for the sports aspect of it. Its a great movie and Gene Hackman is amazing as usual. I can’t think if a movie I’ve purposely decided to watch more than a few times, but dh got on a Fast and the Furious kick where watched at least one of them a day for 4 months. If you like cars, this is your franchise.
Kathy says
I agree with the sorghum!
The national park service sometimes offers sorghum making demonstrations in the fall at Mabry Mill and other sites.
Bonnie Baine says
there is an episode on the Waltons where grandpa and the kids grow and process the sugarcane for syrup with a mule and then they sell it . a lot of work and they didn’t make much money. kinda like maple syrup where you need a lot to get a little. i guess it makes you appreciate it more.
Teri says
I wish I could see your reaction to learn it’s sorghum!
Mavis Butterfield says
Very excited! If I can figure out where to rent one of those machines… maybe I’ll try growing it. I think it would be interesting.
Maxine says
âThat 1870âs Homestead has a video on YouTube entitled âSyrup from your garden harvestâ, where she makes syrup from corn cobs if it helps. You wouldnât need the machine and she has an outdoor canning setup like yours
Hanna says
Oh Mavis, I love your excitement. You’ll probably need another religious family sized garden.
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes. That’s what I was thinking too! đ
Dianna says
You’d have a bigger yield with sorghum than the maple syrup! They have a Sorghum Festival in my grandmother’s small town every year.
https://www.springfieldkychamber.com/sorghum-festival/
Allison says
Jaws, Sleepless in Seattle and Out of Africa are my favs.
Mavis Butterfield says
Jaws and Sleepless in Seattle are on my short list too. Ha! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Out of Africa.
Melissa says
Yes! Out of Africa. I can quote whole sections. Mavis, you MUST watch it!!!!! And I agree, theyâre making sorghum syrup.
Nancy says
I agree with Allison, Out of Africa is my all time favorite.
TBL says
Probably a sign of my unwholesome thought process, but my first thought was moonshine LOLOLOL. Quick google search nixed that. Plus the husband said,â they would be undercover in the woods for thatâ. Syrup it is!
Joyce says
They are making sorghum and it is labor intensive but so very good. My great grandparents made it (before my time) but the equipment wasn’t theirs. The owners would go around to different farms grind the cane and then take part of the harvest as payment.
I agree, it tastes wonderful! on biscuits, cornbread and waffles.
You have to grow a lot of cane but they had the time and land to do so, the leavings were fed to farm animals. Even today if you buy animal feed one of the ingredients is often sorghum or the ground cane.
Silkifae says
Yes, sorghum canes look like corn, but without the ears.
I rewatch Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail even with its outdated computer & email technology. Also, Jane Austin and Charles Dickens-based movies along with the 20-episode TV series “Dickensian” which fuses characters from many of his different novels together in its story line.
Tsutee says
Not sorghum. Sorghum grain is higher in protein and lower in fat content than corn, but does not contain carotene as corn does. In the U.S. there are three main types of sorghumâgrain, forage and sweet. Grain sorghum grows to about 5 feet and is used for livestock feed, biofuels, pet food and human consumption.
Connie L says
Pride and Prejudice, BBC version. And the LOTR trilogy. đ
Apple cider press and sorghum processing are on my list of things to learn/do/experience/try!
Sue D says
My friend and I have an apple cider pressing and pumpkin judging fest every autumn. The cider press was all done by hand, mostly kid-power. Her OH figured out how to hook his drill up to do the chopping part. Definite game changer.
Linda Practical Parsimony says
I have never seen the movie or heard of it. However, I turned and asked Tommy. Ten minutes later, he is still giving me a play by play!
Lindsey says
I have not weatched any movies more than once but my comfort videos are of series: I, Claudius; the original All Creatures Great and Small; and the original Upstairs/Downstairs.
Mark says
Okay, I live about 10 miles from the gym Hoosiers was filmed at and havenât seen it that many times.
Donna Nance says
One of the gyms was at what used to be the high school in Lebanon, IN. My oldest daughter was in middle school and wanted to skip school so she could be an extra.
Gina says
My two favorite movies to watch over and over are- Last of the Dogmen (Tom Berenger) and Jeremiah Johnson (Robert Redford). Jeremiah Johnson is based on the even better book, Mountain Man by Vardis Fisher. I have read it soooo many times! Jaws is also a favorite but I think just because it takes me back to seeing it so long ago.
I think Mother Earth News had an article on growing sorghum and making molasses with it. Delicious stuff!
Mary Custer says
Sugar cane is grown for a sugar substitute.
The stalks are cut and put in a grinder/press.
A horse drives the power for the press , around and around!
Then there is a cook off to reduce the moisture of the liquid.
The end result is sorghum molasses.
When I grew up in southeastern Ky, the whole town turned out for this celebration in the fall!
The taster was usually an older lady from the community and she would decide, by tasting, if the molasses was thick enough!
Dawn says
Sugar cane makes cane syrup actually. That is different from sorghum which is turned into sorghum syrup/molasses.
Kathleen Williamson says
I live in Missouri and we have people that still do this. They are making sorghum molasses. Usually they’ll save the spent stalks for ruffage feed for animals. You can also make corn jelly
or syrup by boiling down fresh corn cobs that the corn had been cut off of.
Linda Sand says
Pride and Prejudice but only the Kiera Knightly version and stop just before the last scene. Kiera is the only actress I’ve seen who gets “I love to laugh” but that last scene is just irritating.
Tarah says
Too many âcomfortâ movies to list them all, but a couple: Holes; The Godfather 1 and 2 (never saw the third and have no plans to do so!); and Oh Brother Where Art Thou? Also Jaws and Jurassic Park (only the first one though).
We also have some movies we rewatch on specific days every year and thatâs kind of comforting too.
Kippy says
If my fella makes us watch Jeepers Creepers one more time, I may implode
The Intern is a movie Iâve watched repeatedly. Also almost any Nancy Myers movie
Pam says
Sorghum was my first thought! We use to go to a festival in the fall when we lived back East. It was fun to watch them process it and squeeze out all that liquid đ
Vy says
Nightmare Before Christmas and Mamma Mia đ
Vicki in Birmingham says
I didn’t read through all the comments, so I may be repeating someone, but it looks like sugar cane to me.
Pam says
Elf, Cousins, Moonstruckand The Sound of Music are ones that I can watch over and over !
Rory says
Interesting tidbit. Sorghum definitely, which is not really related to molasses even if some sellers call it that. Sorghum is made from a grass. Some varieties are harvested for grain and livestock food. Sweet sorghum made into syrup.
Maple syrup probably tastes better, actually and I’m not sure sorghum would grow well in Maine.
It originally came to U.S. from Africa.
Meanwhile, I’ve watched ‘Love Actually” and “The Godfather.” Not sure why but if they are on, I’ll watch them.
Tamara says
Glad everyone figured out what it was for you! FYI your RSS feed doesnât seem to be updating to Feedly.
LindaT says
I love The Princess Bride and have probably seen it more than others, because itâs wacky humor is right up my alley. But Out of Africa was phenomenal, too. And so many others.
I certainly enjoyed reading all about the making of sorghum and researched it some. I learn from you regularly, and enjoy your column so very much!!
Deborah says
I found this on line . . . https://civilwartalk.com/threads/syrup-from-corn-stalks.192566/
Hope this helps
Amanda T says
Weird Science, Ferris Buhler’s Day Off, She’s All That and Funny Face with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astare are movies I have seen many, many times.
I keep forwarding your blog posts to my husband because lately so much has been about gardening and we are working on a big garden. Our goal is to grow 80% of our food to feed our family of 6.
Jules says
Glad to know it’s sorghum. My first thought was corn mash alcohol!
Favorite movies we watch All the time are: Return to Me, Hunt for Red October, Princess Bride and While You Were Sleeping
Pam says
“The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” is my favorite movie. I watch it at least once a week on Netflix. Sadly, it isn’t available on DVD to America, only a DVD that plays on European DVD players.
Peg says
Ooohhh, I liked the book! I should watch this.
Susan says
There’s a restaurant in MIssouri called Lamberts where they throw rolls at you and walk around with bowls full of sorghum, fried okra, black eyed peas and a few other things plopping spoon fulls on everyone’s plate. (They do ask politely if you would like some first) It’s a true experience and very delicious.
As for movies, I love disaster / alien movies both good and bad.
Susie says
Movies on repeat: “Drop Dead Gorgeous”, “Monty Python & the Holy Grail”, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “The Truman Show”.
Judy says
Hi Mavis. No you are not weird, there are movies that I’ve watched many times. The first Jaws, all the Godfathers, all the Harry Potter’s, Moonstruck, A Million Ways to Die in the West, The Revenant and Sausage Party (it’s animated and hilarious) and It’s a Wonderful Life. Just to name a few. Now I don’t care for chick flicks or love stories. But my most favorite movie that I’ve probably seen at least fifteen times and plan to watch it fifteen more is a newish one. It did win an Oscar for best picture and it is a love story. The name of the movie is The Shape of Water. At the end of the movie is a poem written in the 11th or 12th century. It makes me cry every, single, time. I think because it acknowledges that after death those we love are still part of our lives and live on through us. It’s a quirky movie (which I love) so it’s not for everyone.
OregonGuest says
Heaven Can Wait, starring the one, the only, Warren Beatty. “They don’t have a football team in heaven, so God couldn’t make me first string!” When Betty recognizes Joe Pendleton (in his new body) in the final scene, it makes me cry every time!
Judy says
Yes, I love that movie too. My favorite part is when Warren Beatty and Julie Christie are in the tunnel and the lights go off. Not much dialogue but such an important part of the film.
Michelle S. says
Moonstruck. It’s my favorite movie and l never tire of watching it.
I would also include Signs in there. It’s another favorite!
Dee from East Tennessee says
I will watch Dirty Dancing, O Brother Where Art Thou, and ⌠Steel Magnolias, knowing that I will choke up without fail when Sally Fields goes racing to get her grandson . Yes to all who said sorghum⌠my grandparents loved it .
KCB says
Steel Magnolias & The Help
also love First Wives Club
Jenny says
Movies I can watch again and again: Picnic, Bus Stop, The Harvey Girls, The Clock, Glen Miller Story, The More the Merrier, Miracle in the Rain, State Fair- all from the 1940s, 50s (thereâve been some horrible remakes). Imitation of Life, both the Claudette Colbert and Lana Turner are pretty good, Mildred Pierce is similar, and lots of old crime movies with Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, etc. like Key Largo, Moontide. My favorite ever is âThey Drive By Nightâ. Lots more from 60s The Incident, Beach Blanket Bingo & all the related beach movies, and 70s- Dog Day Afternoon, Straight Time, The Graduate, The In-Laws, The Out-of-Towners, American Graffiti, & American Graffiti 2 are also great favorites. More recent- Remember the Titans, American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook, Movies are so much better on a big screen. Iâve never seen Hoosiers.
Judy says
I’ve forgotten how much I liked The Out of Towners, haven’t seen that one in years.
Beth says
Movies I can watch over and over again.,,
Dirty Dancing
Grease
Sleepless In Seattle
Youâve Got Mail
Pretty Woman
Steel Magnolias
Notting Hill
My Best Friendâs Wedding
joely says
Love all of those, too!
Julie P says
I too have watched some films several times, I loved Independence Day, and the Star Wars first three got them on video and we still have a player soâŚ.. I loved Star Trek and will watch the movies but now not so much the original series, Out of Africa is a favourite and Dances with Wolves, I also like the odd romantic film like youâve got Mail and sleepless in Seattle and watch them whenever they are on tv, also pretty woman! So quite diverse. My daughter, when she was small (31 now) watched the little mermaid 735 times day after day over one or two winters. We had a rule tv on rainy days only before she went to school. By that time, I knew a lot of the dialogue off by heart. Lol!
Gerri G says
I’m quite sure that is either sugar cane stalks or sorgum. My Dad made sugar cane using the same method shown in the movie. BUT, we lived in the south; this appears to be a northern scene which would indicate sorgum.
Diane says
Out of Africa is my vote as well…love seeing it getting the nod here. Yes, you must watch it! And the music is amazing. Your heart will soar.
Bettina says
Native Mid-Westerner here. That’s sorghum. I grew up going to the Sorghum Festivals every fall, and I’ve eaten flapjacks as well as corn bread with sorghum syrup. Absolutely hate the taste of it, but I have wonderful memories of going to the festivals with family and school groups. Speaking of which, does anyone remember if this machine is also used to sort walnuts out from their outer green husks? I can’t remember if it was this machine or the thresher and every time I ask anyone around here, they look at me like I have 4 heads.
debbie in alaska says
Out of Africa and When Harry Met Sally