Mid America Show 44, Page 2

I arrived at the venue about 10:45 Thursday morning, Thursday advertised to be the opening day of the show.  But I arrived a bit early, for many of the featured items were not yet in place.  In fact, I spotted two semi transporters loaded with the old iron waiting to be unloaded.

 The Ford 9000 hauler was interesting in its own right;

it is more than 25 years old!

 Two trucks full of old tractors.

 Unfamiliar marque.*

 I don't know Empire, either.  *click*

 I do know Avery because I have a friend in Minnesota

who has been searching for a certain model Avery.

 I was not surprised that Porsche made tractors, but I was

surprised that someone imported them.

 Fageol: now that is an artistic wheel. *click*

 Long.  Really?  *click*

 Love Tractor.  Okay, there are those who "love" tractors.
*click*

 Silver King.  There were two of them, one behind the other on the truck.
*click*

 Custom, which begs the question, custom what?  *click*

Another fun summer day in the Midwest!

*A bit of digging on the Internet suggests that Farmaster is a defunct U.S. company who imported Chinese-made Jinma tractors and sold them under the name Farmaster.

Mid America Show 44

It's tractor time!  The Mid America Threshing and Antique show starts today here in Perfect.  I trekked out to the showgrounds on my bicycle and made the rounds.

Last year's featured brand was Allis-Chalmers and the year before that it was Oliver.  This year the feature is "Lesser Known Brands."  I am starting this tour by featuring a nice old Huber manufactured in Marion, Ohio.

Those solid rubber tires are bolted to the rims.

I've a feeling the operator is in for a rough ride.

 Need to saw some logs?  See that power take-ff there just

behind the transmission?  Four cylinders at your service!

Mid-America Show 43

Time again for the visit to the Mid-America Threshing and Antique Show.  This is the 43rd annual edition.  This year's featured machinery is by Allis-Chalmers.

Allis-Chalmers Company was formed in 1901 by the merging of the Edward P. Allis Company, manufacturer of steam engines and mining equipment, with Fraser and Chalmers, makers of mining equipment, along with Dickson Manufacturing Co. and Gates Iron Works.  They currently manufacture farm equipment, heavy construction equipment, generators and engines, stuff marketed worldwide.

Really old.

 

Not quite so old, but restored.

Besides A-C, there were many other marques represented.

These labels were on the tractor below.

And what's this?  My guess: Someone loves his wife or his daughter, or someone loves herself more than they love the tractor.  Nicely restored machine, though.

I have attended many editions of the MTA show here in Tipton.  But then it is close by.

2010

 2013 

2013

2014 

2015

2016

The Barn in The Attic #T

Pulled down the folding stair and laboriously climbed into the attic.  It has been a long spell since I roamed through this silent dusty old place.  I turned the corner and started walking down a narrow lane, clearly disused for some time, for the tracks were overgrown with weeds which had withered and died, drooped over and formed a carpet on which to tread.

Presently on my left I spied an old barn, wind-beaten and grey, and listing to the east.  Prevailing winds, you know.  Curiosity poked me in the side and I went through the open gate to the barn lot.  The door hung on a rail and would have been easily opened but that was not necessary for it stood open anyway so I walked inside.

Shafts of sunlight shot through the cracks that separated the siding in random places.  I stumbled through all sorts of clutter, disused machinery, even an old kitchen sink, and galvanized tubs, a 1940s vintage washing machine, its wringer dismounted and jammed into the tub.

Then what is that on this old bureau?  In stunned amazement I recognize this piece of long disused machinery as my old Idea Mill.  I have not seen it in ages and I have no idea how it got here.  I must have placed it in the refuse bin for disposal and somebody salvaged it, dragged it to this haven for old stuff.  Whoop! Perhaps I can now gin this thing up and work up an idea for a blog post.    I reached for the handle and discovered the first problem.  The handle was not mounted on its axle but rather it was sticking up from inside the hopper.

I took the crank and placed it back on its shaft.  I did not have a pin to hold it in place, but it fit snugly and would perhaps allow a few turns without falling off.  I tried to turn the handle.  Frozen.  Looking into the hopper I could see that the raw material for new ideas had been left in the hopper and it was all clotted, gummed up and hardened into an ugly mass.  I looked around for a tool with which to dislodge the stuff.  There is a tire iron.  Surely that will break it loose!  Not so.  All my efforts were futile.
 
I wandered, defeated, out of that place and shambled away.  Another hope dashed.


Word of the day:  shambled 

A Memorable Christmas

It was perhaps the year I was nine though more likely when I was eight. I am thinking eight because that was the year I was in grade three, the year I had the tonsillectomy, the year I missed nearly as many days of school as I attended; the year the teacher had no name.  Okay, she had a name, I suppose, but I cannot remember it.  I may have erased her the day she smacked the back of my hand with the ruler, which is about the only thing I remember about her.

This account is written in the first person whereas in most of my school tales I have identified myself as "The Boy."  This is not a school tale as such.  This particular year as the Christmas wish book arrived from Monkey Wards I began to dream my Christmas dreams.  And I wanted one thing under the tree this year.  This item was so precious, so dear in cost, that I knew to dream of more things besides would place me squarely in the realm of fantasy.  I wanted This. One. Thing.

A Wood Burning Set.

I had never used such a thing.  So far as I know I had never even seen such a thing but Montgomery Ward told me it existed.  And that I needed it.  Lust began.  But dare I hope?  Well, I did.  Hints dropped, days passed.  Hints became less subtle to the point that even Father knew what his only son wanted.

Then Christmas came, as Christmas will.  Sister and I, still p.j. clad, rushed to the tree, and behold there was a package for me which approximated the size I imagined would contain

My Wood Burning Set.

And it did!

I played with that thing a bunch yet no memorable events occurred, neither untoward accident nor fantastic creation.  No physical mementos of my efforts survive.  If I created anything no one remembers it nor do I.

And eventually I did not use The Gift  anymore.

But what do we say about kids and their toys, and the boxes they came in?

Word of the day: tonsillectomy

Happy birthday to my beloved daughter, Ivanelle, aka Ivy.

Old Machinery

I attended the Mid-America Threshing and Antique Show again this year.  I have rather made it an annual excursion, inasmuch as the venue is just a nice bike ride from home.

In the past I have shown you tractors and steam mills at work.  This year my camera concentrated on badging.  Here is some of what it saw.

 The A Model gets a full-vehicle shot.

Word of the day: badging

Found in the Cupboard

 I have no idea.  The can is still more than half full. The object is a solid metal can with a round flip out top like the old cocoa cans.  There is no UPC on the can.  Product was manufactured in Vermont by Bread and Chocolate, Inc. currently dba Burnham and Mills.  This item is apparently no longer available.

Wonder what it tastes like?  Personally, not likely to find out.  I mean, a milk product at least half my age?

McCormick at the Mid-America Threshing and Antique Show

A lot of red at the show this year.  What could the featured machinery be?

Then this baby, "Gray Tractor," went rumbling by.  It is a vintage
roller, or road compactor.