Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2024 i Farm Collector

The name Murray Baker means nothing to folks today, but in the first quarter of the last century, Murray Baker had a huge presence in the birth of the mechanized agricultural industry in the U.S. In this issue, we include a 1952 interview of Baker, when he was 80 and reflecting on a career in which he worked as a salesman, district representative, dealer, branch manager, promoter, financier and manufacturer. Early on, Baker was unusually nimble in his career, transitioning from company to company and position to position. Clearly he gained from each experience and steadily applied his business acumen to the advantage of each employer. But by 1909, the die was cast and he would remain as a leader of Caterpillar in Peoria for the next four decades. In…

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 January 2024 items will appear in the March 2024 issue. Answers for new items in this issue must be received by Jan. 2, 2024. JANUARY MYSTERY TOOLS NOVEMBER ANSWERS TO MYSTERY TOOLS E. Lice killing machine. Identified by Larry Harpster, Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa.; Nick Caldiero; Wayne Hayenga; Bruce Granger; and Ronald Bush, Long Island, N.Y. “This is a chicken delouser,” Larry explains. “The strings on the ‘bag’ were loosened and a liberal amount of delousing powder was put inside. Several chickens were put in the bag (or drum),…

A century ago, the farmer lived and worked with horse-powered equipment on steel wheels. He often considered how far farming had advanced since his father started farming at a young age. His father could carry on his back the equipment necessary to prepare ground, plant and harvest. By the 1920s, horses and horse-drawn equipment – and even early tractors – provided farm power. More could be done in less time, and that allowed for more leisure time. In those days, businesses were closed on Sundays. Only illness kept the family away from church. If at all possible, church suppers and picnics were attended. The whole community usually came together for 4th of July celebrations. School plays and sporting events were popular events. Friday and Saturday evenings at summer “town team”…

I thought your readers might like to meet a veteran from the sales, dealer and manufacturing end. I refer to Murray M. Baker of Peoria, who was breezing past his 80th birthday and visiting his dentist with orders to “fix them up for another ten years” when I interviewed him at his beautiful home up on the “Arrived” side of Moss Avenue when I was back in the Corn Belt recently. Mr. Baker is the man who is today the biggest stockholder in Caterpillar Tractor Co. and was the big influence in bringing it to Peoria when the California firm decided the automobile had started a road-building trend that called for their tractors to get over near the center of the market. That was back in 1909, the same year…

For harvest crew, everything that could go wrong, did We were moving from Weatherford, Oklahoma, to Plains, Kansas, in 1964, with four trucks and four combines, a pickup, house trailer and crew trailer. Everything was going smooth until I heard a new rattle on my outfit. I pulled over and before I got stopped, Arnie, who always followed behind me, went right on by. Arnie was always supposed to be last because he had the only truck with air brakes and air hose with quick connects to an air tank, in case anybody had tire trouble. If he would have stopped, we probably could have aired up my flat header trailer tire and made it the last 20 miles to Plains. At the least, he could have called on the…

The Western expansion and Industrial Revolution that occurred in the U.S. during the 19th century required billions of board feet of lumber. Trees were thick in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, around the Great Lakes, in New England and in the pine woods of the South. The problem was transportation; how to get the heavy logs from the wooded hillside to the sawmills. In the early days, logging was limited to the banks of rivers and large streams. Trees were felled, trimmed of branches and cut into sawn logs, all by hand. Oxen dragged these logs to the river’s edge where, during the winter, large piles, or “cold decks,” of logs were assembled to await the spring floods. When the floods arrived, the logs started on a wild ride…

How many hog oilers is too many hog oilers? Dan Laurie, who, with his nephew Zac Laurie, has amassed a collection of more than 200 hog oilers, struggles to take the question seriously. “We’re still actively looking for hog oilers,” he says. “I will buy any oiler.” Zac, on the other hand, would be happy to tap the brakes. “I keep trying to get him to quit buying common oilers,” he says. “If it’s not rare, I don’t want it. But at the end of the day, we will never have them all. There are just too many.” Some of the pieces in the collection are duplicates, and some will be spun off. “We do get rid of some,” Dan allows. “But if we find a broken one with a…

CALEB RADSEK AGE 8 CALEB RADSEK IS OUR FEATURED ARTIST FOR JANUARY! Caleb Radsek, the son of Katie Starman and Jeremy Radsek, Owatonna, Minnesota, is this month’s featured artist. Caleb will receive a Farm Collector T-shirt: Congratulations, Caleb! Have a budding artist in your family? Send your kids’ or grandkids’ farm-related artwork to Farm Collector, and we’ll send a T-shirt to the monthly winner. Send submissions to Farm Collector, 1503 SW 42nd St., Topeka, KS 66609-1265. Please include the artist’s name, age and hometown and a recent photograph. A release form will be sent to the parents of each artist whose work is selected for publication; the release must be signed and returned to Farm Collector before the artist’s photo can be published. For more information, contact us at editor@farmcollector.com.…

Hog oiler patents can be found as early as 1902, but a decade passed before the device really took off. By 1915, oilers were in wide use throughout the Midwest. Promotional claims (“Prevents Disease!”) were likely exaggerated, but farmers desperate to protect herds against hog cholera saw oilers as cheap insurance. Rowe’s New Idea oiler (right), manufactured in Galesburg, Illinois, dispensed oil on contact. “It surely does the work, not only on hogs, but say, you ought to see the sheep rub their backs on it. My little flock of 300 sheep never did look prettier, or hogs either,” reads an accompanying testimonial from Anton Machacek, Buhl, Idaho. Hog oiler memorabilia like this ad is exceptionally hard to find; vintage postcards, for instance, have sold in online auctions for more…