One of the local shows in my area recently asked me to create a flier, or handout of somekind, to give to show goers that would explain the importance of antique farm machinery to the general public, especially those people that have never farmed before. So, I wrote the following essay. I wanted to post it here and get some feedback from the antique engine and tractor community before we get some printed up. If I'm making any mistakes, I want to know. Sorry, in know it's long -- Why you should care about what you see here: Before 1920, most of the citizens of the United States were engaged in agriculture as their full-time job, but in most cases, it wasn’t a job like you or your parents have today – it was called subsistence farming, and it’s what a person did to feed and shelter their family. Most of the time, it involved only a modest profit, if any, but it did involve most members of the family who were old enough to work. Including the women. Livestock was raised for food and slaughtered at home. Vegetables were grown and preserved at home. Clothes were often made at home. Any cash from the sale of crops was used to buy flour, cloth, and other staples. Toys were more likely made than bought, and children sometimes had to quit school when they were old enough to work. But, something happened in the 1920s and 1930s to change all that. Something happened that made it possible for fewer people to have to farm for a living. Something happened that gave you and I a choice our ancestors never had – we CAN be farmers, but we don’t HAVE to be. Not anymore. In the 1920s and 1930s the gasoline traction engine, or tractor, was perfected. The lumbering and expensive steam engines of the 19th century were replaced with nimble and affordable tractors that most farmers could manage to pay for. These machines allowed one man to do the work of several men. And that allowed those several men to be productive in other ways than farming, whether that was working in a factory, as a tradesman, or in an office. A child could now complete their education and a farmer could make a living. This is a farm machinery show. There are exhibits here that chronicle the changes in mechanized agriculture that made today’s American society possible. Some of the machines here look like cobbled-together experiments from a crazy blacksmith. But, don’t be fooled by their appearance, these are not unwieldy contraptions bumbling along. They are history still alive before your very eyes. These are not machines LIKE what were used once. This is the actual equipment to which you owe a debt of gratitude. These unfamiliar and strange machines are the sturdy workhorses that transformed the American landscape from unsettled and unproductive wilderness, to hometown communities and productive farms. They reflect the men who created them. They are tough, ingenious creations that are, in most cases, still able to perform the job they were made to do, even now decades later. Ask yourself: will those cars selling for $20,000 today still be running when they are 60 years old? And, ask yourself this: will these tractors here today still be running 60 years from now, when they’re 120 years old? Well, I don’t know the answer to either of those questions, but I know which group I would bet on. Enjoy the show today, and ask a lot of questions. These machines deserve your interest and respect. The food you eat and the clothes you wear came from a farm, not the mall.
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