F
ollowing the political caucuses
earlier this month, the state of Iowa has begun to fade from the
daily news feed. In this issue of
Farm Collectorwith articles on collectors and tradi-, we come to the rescue,
tions that celebrate Iowa’s agricultural
heritage!I’d like to say this was
done by careful design. In fact, as the issue started to
come together, the referenc-
es to Iowa began growing as exponentially as the Power-
ball jackpot until we were
smack dab in the middle of a perfect geographic storm.
But why not Iowa? Why
not shed some light on Lo-ren Book’s lifelong collec-
tion of Minneapolis-Moline
tractors and memorabilia (Decades after meeting the MM line as page 30)?
a pup, pushing a broom around his dad’s dealership in north central Iowa,
Loren has evolved into an active pro-
moter, working to preserve the heri-tage of the Minneapolis line.
And then there’s Corren Olson’s
FFA project (day a 14-year-old tackles restoration page 18). It’s not every
of a 1922 threshing machine built in
Iowa. Sensing a teachable moment, Corren – who’s from Albert City, Iowa- both restored the Humming Bird and opened it up for view, creating a
highly instructive display.
signs is equally instructive (Hal Colliver’s display of vintage page
24 ). A unique exhibit of Americana
in southeast Iowa, Hal’s collection
showcases with early gas pumps and phone once-familiar names
booths mingled in for good measure.
Hundreds of wonderful old signs present a nearly endless visual delight.
We finish off with the Adams Ranch
in Odebolt, Iowa (Darrell Wrider (an Iowa page 34). Author
native, us along for the ride as naturally) takes
he travels back in time to
the early 1900s. In west-ern Iowa, millionaire W.P.
Adams farmed 10 sections
with 150 hired hands and more than 200 mules. Ad-
ams claimed each and ev-
ery one of those mules as a personal friend, which
little hands-on experience with suggests to me that he had any of
them.
planned romp through the Hawkeye Here’s hoping you enjoy this un-
state!2 March 2016 Farm CollectorFirst ThingsMemories Of A Former Kid®Leslie C. McManus
[email protected]Spotlight on Iowa
MMaRichard Backus Editor in Chief
Leslie C. McManus Senior Editor
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Farm Collector monthly by Ogden Publications Inc., 1503 S.W. ISSN 1522-3523 is published
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of the green-and-yellow persuasion, P.S. One more plug for Iowa: If you’re
don’t miss the Gathering of the Green, March 16-19 in Davenport, Iowa. Un-
paralleled displays, in-depth seminars
and outstanding tours make this a must for fans of John Deere – and it’s a pretty
darned good cure for cabin fever, too! FC