Wendel - Encyclopedia of American farm implements & antiques

SECOND EDITION

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF

American
Farm
Implements & Antiques

2004 by C.H. Wendel

Published by

700 East State Street Iola, WI 54990-0001
715-445-2214 888-457-2873
www.krause.com

Our toll-free number to place an order or obtain
a free catalog is (800) 258-0929.

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a critical article or review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper, or electronically transmitted on radio or television.

Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2004092436

ISBN: 0-87349-568-3

eISBN: 978-1-44022-533-8

Designed by Stacy Bloch
Edited by Tom Collins

Printed in United States of America

Table of Contents

Introduction

Since the 1997 introduction of this book, we have acquired additional materials that made this Second Edition possible. The many new illustrations include a sizable showing of wagons and carriages. The biggest change for the Second Edition is an extensive database. Under each section is a listing of all the trade names we could find.

For instance, under Corn Shellers, there are nearly 300 different trade names, along with their manufacturers. This makes it relatively easy to identify the Favorite as being built by Marseilles Mfg. Company, and so on. Included in the listings is the year we first found reference to this entry. In many instances a particular machine or implement might have been built for some years before and/or after this listing. Thus, the year shown is done so in a relative sense, rather than an exclusive one.

In the same way, a 1905 patent number on a machine doesnt necessarily mean that it was built in 1905. All it tells us that it was not built before 1905.

Building the database for the Second Edition was a formidable task that took months of work. After some health problems, I was forced to limit my daily schedule. This gave me a lot of idle time, so working on the database filled in many hours that would have been wasted by watching endless news programs and soap operas. I was able to acquire some very early implement directories that provided lots of new information. These have been carefully gleaned for anything that would expand our knowledge of farm implement manufacturers and their products.

Despite all the information and data in this book, there is still much more to be found. We have spent most of a lifetime collecting literature on early farm equipment. Even so, our collection is woefully inadequate, especially for certain implements.

Some companies survived for only a short time, probably fading away before their first catalog was issued. Other companies were notably stingy with their catalogs. For many, magazine advertisements were the primary means of getting their sales message to the farmer. Some companies worked through a drummer, or a traveling salesman, and others displayed their goods at county fairs and similar events.

Local hardware stores, blacksmith shops, and implement dealers often made the decision for a community by stocking those makes which had a personal appeal.

Current prices for collectible farm machinery are virtually impossible to determine. Prices vary considerably from one auction to another, even in the same geographic area. Perhaps one auction was well advertised and was held on a beautiful day. Another might have been on a cold, foggy day when all but the hardy souls stayed home.

Let it be said that collectible farm machinery prices are on the rise. Today, the decrepit remains of an old sulky plow might bring up to $100, even though a nice example of the same plow likely sold for under $20, just a few years ago.

It never ceases to amaze this writer that we had so many talented workers in our past. For instance, the wheelwright usually learned the trade after a long apprenticeship. Today, not very many of us would be capable of making a set of wheels, even with a shop full of expensive woodworking machines. The early wheelwright of the 1880s used chisels, mallets, drawknives, spoke shaves, and other hand tools.

We might look at the intricate castings in some early machines. Patternmakers and iron founders conspired to produce parts that are completely foreign to our world of welded fabrication. Little wonder that many of us have become interested in vintage farm machinery. Perhaps a few of us, like myself, have become completely enamored with the quiet beauty and serenity of these pages from the past.

Hopefully, we will eventually be able to produce yet another edition of this book. In that regard, we encourage anyone having old farm machinery literature, history, and photographs to write: C. H. Wendel, c/o Krause Publications, 700 E. State Street, Iola, WI 54990-0001.

We hope you will enjoy this book for many years to come.

C. H. Wendel
Jan. 6, 2003

Trademarks

This section contains dozens of trademarks gleaned from the pages of the Patent Office Gazette. They are arranged alphabetically by companies. While many of these companies will be found within this book, others are not referred to, simply because their trademark applications are the only information within our files. The trademark listings can prove valuable in several ways. First, they provide a facsimile of the mark that might have been used on a specific machine. Looking at Avery Co., for instance, you can get a conception of its Yellow Fellow trademark. Another interesting feature is that most trademarks include the date when it was first used. For instance, under Grand Detour Plow Co., its Grand Detour trademark was used since 1837. That phrase nails down the first use of the mark, obviously and makes it plain that the Grand Detour plow had its first public life at that time.

Trademark listings also manifest a number of interesting companies for which we have no other record. One example is the Monitor trademark of Minneapolis Plow Works, filed in 1898 and used since August 1875. Our research thus far has never found a clue regarding this company. Also of interest, there are many trademarks that appear in farm equipment literature that we have never located, despite a perusal of the Patent Office Gazette from 1872 onward. Having a trademark doesnt necessarily mean that the trademark is registered and this must have happened to some extent. On the other hand, International Harvester Co., in particular, seems to have registered every mark it had, with dozens appearing in the following section, plus many others for tractors and other equipment.