what was a corn dolly

[impact5]

A insurance broker asked a question. we regard to jobs what did a corn dolly maker do

[Aquagility]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_dolly - this tells you.

[Narolines]

Well, traditionally it wouldn't have been a job in the usual sense, though some makers might have occasionally been paid for their work. A corn dolly (or kern dolly) is a piece of decorative straw-work. Originally the name was give to a humanoid figure made from the last sheaf of corn cut at the harvest, and erected in the cornfield to ensure that the corn spirits would look kindly on the next year's crop. Later it came to mean decorations - from just a few inches long to several feet, and sometimes of amazing complexity - made from plaited and woven wheatstraw (sometimes barley, but usually wheat) associated mainly with harvest festivals. These days you come across corn-dollies at craft fairs or sometimes in gift-shops.

[sddsddean]

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http: //www.wicstun.com/corndolly/images/towel1.jpg& imgrefurl=http://www.wicstun.com/corndolly/cor ndollies.html&h=548&w=350&sz=75&hl=en&start=1& tbnid=FOC5bTmxcEXleM:&tbnh=133&tbnw=85&prev=/i mages%3Fq%3Dcorn%2Bdolly%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D1 0%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DISO-8 859-1

[Octavius]

In roof thatching, it is at the ridgeline on completion that the individual thatcher leaves his personal "signature", a decorative feature, a 'corn dolly' is constructed which marks the job as his alone.