Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2022 i Farm Collector

Taking on a big project? This is probably not the time to satisfy the need for speed. In big projects, slow and steady often wins the race. Bob McLaughlin knows all about that. I won’t spill all the beans right here, but elsewhere in this issue of Farm Collector, you’ll find an article about Bob’s uniquely clever approach to retirement. It’s as if he flipped a switch and transitioned instantly from a full-time job to a full-time hobby, one that allowed him to take on a challenge, pursue a decades-long interest and create something of lasting importance – while staying as busy and active as he wanted to be. Bob’s multi-year approach to retirement is a bit unusual, but it is consistent with what many of you are already doing:…

In the 1920s, American designers such as Henry Dreyfuss and Raymond Loewy established the first important industrial design studios in the U.S. They emphasized the beauty in functionalism, elimination of unnecessary decoration and simplified arrangement of components. Among the first products to reflect this aesthetic planning were automatic refrigerators designed by Loewy, and telephone equipment and clocks designed by Dreyfuss. Loewy was born and educated in France and served as an engineering officer in the French army during World War I. After the war, he immigrated to the U.S., where he became an industrial designer with a reputation for a flamboyant lifestyle. At the 1937 International Exposition in Paris, Loewy won awards for his designs for the Coldspot refrigerator and the legendary streamlined GG-1 electric locomotives that served the Pennsylvania…

Terry Kaufman, manager of Clark Rural Water, often comes down to pick up a motor or other piece of water-related equipment for the system. Plus, we have drilled several of their wells over the years. One day, he mentioned wanting to build a small, woodenfan windmill. On the ground next to the shop were the remains of one I had built 20 years ago. It was nothing fancy, but the dimensions were there, which worked, allowing the fans to fold in or out in response to the wind. I gave this to him, along with a blade or two, leftover from when I built a unit. Terry also works with wood. At any rate, recently he came down with his girlfriend, Lorie, with wood showing over the pickup box. It…

A sweetly aromatic memory Another Prince Albert tin can story. Back in the 1960s, my brother gave me an unusual “lion” bracelet. One lion was holding onto the lion in front by holding his tail in his mouth. There were probably 10 lions in the bracelet altogether. I loved this bracelet. My brother is 13 months younger than me and always doing something different: He used a Prince Albert can to “wrap” my present that Christmas. I still have the can! Every time I wore that bracelet, I could smell the tobacco odor. Anyway, those cans served a lot of purposes. Mary Jane Richards, Morgantown, Indiana Still call them burrs In reading the article about black-smith-made bolts in the June 2022 issue of Farm Collector, I noticed the reference to…

North Wales-based trucker and mechanic Peter Owen has come to realise that an awful lot of vintage tractors simply don’t run properly. “So many collectable tractors just get driven onto a trailer, taken off the trailer at a show, and, at the most,” he says, “they chug around the ring, and while they might run, they run often badly.” There is a fashion these days for preserving tractors in unrestored condition, so much so that it is often rather frowned upon when someone repaints an old tractor. Some people think that cosmetically “doing up” an old tractor is sacrilege, believing that old vehicles should show their years and that a great deal of history lies in the worn paintwork and the dents. However, this tendency to leave things alone can go…

Scenes of daily life on the farm are showcased in this chromolithograph poster dating to about 1900. Created as a promotional piece for Advance Thresher Co., Battle Creek, Michigan, the poster illustrates a threshing scene of the day. Shown in the clouds at the center is an image of Advance’s trademark “banner boy” waving the Advance flag. Advance produced at least three different chromolithograph posters, each featuring the banner boy. The company was known for colorful advertising items including needle holders, playing cards, checkerboards, trade cards and catalogs. Advance Thresher Co. was founded in 1881 in Battle Creek, Michigan, to manufacture wood-sided threshing machines. The company began manufacture of steam traction engines in 1884. Dr. Edward Rumely of M. Rumely Co. purchased Advance in December 1911 (Rumely also bought Gaar-Scott…

The genius of pioneer inventors can confound us. Countless contraptions that revolutionized farming in the 19th and early 20th centuries have become contemporary curiosities, or even mysteries. Here are six sent in by readers. Do you know what they are? Answers to the September 2022 items will appear in the November 2022 issue. Answers for new items in this issue must be received by September 9, 2022. SEPTEMBER MYSTERY TOOLS To submit photos: Send prints to Farm Collector, 1503 SW 42nd St., Topeka, KS 66609. Send digital images to editor@farmcollector.com. • Photos should be taken in a well-lit area against a plain background. Include dimensions and any markings on the piece. We cannot guarantee every photo will be published, nor can we respond to inquiries regarding when photos will be…

After a long career at Pennsylvania State University, where he had worked in the Office of Telecommunications, Bob McLaughlin had a plan for a retirement project. He just needed a little help getting launched. “In 2007, I approached the Nittany Antique Machinery Assn. (NAMA), Centre Hall, Pennsylvania, and asked them if they’d be interested in me building a gristmill on their showgrounds,” he says. “But they’d have to pay for it.” Bob had no farm background. He was not a collector of antique farm equipment and he didn’t belong to NAMA. Shoot, he didn’t know anyone who did. “I was hoping to find a place where I could help restore an old gristmill but that didn’t happen,” he says. “So I started thinking about NAMA. They put on tractor shows…