Cornsilk

Cornsilk is a gift from the agricultural civilization of Native Americans. Around 5000 BC, the early peoples of Central America began domesticating corn. At the tip of every ear of corn grows a tuft of silky styles, the female flowers of the plant. Once dried, these corn silks turn a very pale, warm yellow. The ancestors used them to stuff pillows and weave mats.

During the pioneering era on the Great Plains of the American Midwest, cornsilk was integrated into the visual memory of the settlers. In the October corn harvest season, farmers would peel back the husks and hang the ears to dry under the eaves of barns. Myriads of corn silks fluttered in the autumn wind like a golden curtain. Women collected the cleanest silks, boiled them soft in lye water, and wove them into pale gold coasters.

At the end of the 19th century, the American Regionalist school of painting began to depict cornsilk. Although painter Grant Wood is famous for the figures in 'American Gothic,' the interiors of the Midwestern farmhouses he painted heavily featured cornsilk walls. That tone, warmer than lime white and simpler than butter yellow, defined the American vernacular aesthetic.

In the mid-20th century, Cornsilk became a standardized color name. In 1957, the American crayon brand Crayola officially added 'cornsilk' to its product line. This was the first time in history a commercial entity named this color and established a standard color card for it. Following this, cornsilk entered the interior paint and textile industries.

Modern country-style design uses cornsilk to its fullest potential. Whether on the cabinet doors of a French country kitchen, the linen curtains of an American farmhouse, or the cotton storage bags of a Japanese natural-style brand, designers from different cultural backgrounds use this color to respond to a collective nostalgia for rural life amidst urbanization.