Can-of-corn Definition

Origin of Can-of-corn

• The phrase, first used in 1896, makes reference to a long-ago practice where a grocer would use a stick to tip a can of vegetables off a high shelf, then catch it in his hands or outstretched apron. Note: the reason a can of "corn" is referenced and not a can of green beans, pumpkin or spinach is that corn was the best-selling vegetable and so was heavily stocked and on the lowest shelves, making it the easiest of the can "catches" for the grocer. (See Seattle Post Intelligencer - Sports Answer Guy article)

  From Wiktionary