How many readers have heard of the MacDonald car that was built in nearby Garfield, Ohio? For that matter, how many have heard of Garfield (not Garfield Heights), Ohio? Garfield is a tiny community of about twenty homes and a busy feed mill along Ohio State Route 534, right along the Norfolk Southern railroad a [...]
During the 1800s and early 1900s, many American farmers were extremely conservative and disliked innovation and the unconventional. This was especially true when the first automobiles appeared on country roads about 1900. The first cars were bought by more or less affluent individuals who mainly lived in towns and cities and who headed for the [...]
Erma Dickey Wonstetler was appointed assistant Postmaster of the tiny U.S. Post Office in Signal, Ohio, in 1906, at the same time as her father, Jefferson John Dickey was appointed Postmaster. She served as his assistant until he retired in 1940, and then succeeded him. Typical day. The Post Office served about 200 customers and [...]
Someone recently asked me why some horse drawn plows throw the furrow to the left, while others (most in fact) throw them to the right. The answer is that it’s strictly a matter of preference, custom, and prejudice. The right-hand plow is well-rooted in history. Illustrations of seventeenth century English plows show that they all [...]
Wilbur George, a friend from near Carrollton, told me he had an old, wooden grain drill that he had bought some years ago at the Rogers sale and used every year to plant a couple of acres of oats for his horses. Local dealer? The stenciling on the hoe-type drill reads, “Missouri Force Feed Grain [...]
As everybody knows, there were many, many manufacturers who tried their hand at building tractors back when the world was young. Most of these didn’t last long; their early demise was caused by competition, poor design, lack of reliability, high cost, lack of working capital or bad economic times. Republic Many of the early automobile [...]
As some of you may have gathered, I have an extensive collection of old farm magazines from the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s. I like to read through these from time to time, and sometimes I pass along some of what I find interesting. In the March 1940 issue of the Farm Journal and Farmer’s Wife [...]
How many times have I driven Route 30 through Canton, Ohio, and passed the big Timken factory with its many tin stacks topped by conical caps? Of course, I’m familiar with Timken High School and Timken Mercy Hospital (now Mercy Medical Center) in that city. I know that for many years, the city of Canton [...]
Probably 20 years ago, I was prevailed upon by my late cousin Peg Townsend to write down recollections from my childhood. At first I was reluctant, but I finally did it. The following ramblings are excerpted from those memories through what we ate on our farm during the 1940s. Sweet as sugar. Before the war, [...]
This past fall, Oct. 23-24, to be exact, Aumann Auctions were in charge of dispersing the large collection of antique tractors and paper ephemera belonging to Gary Parker of Churubusco, Ind. It was a large sale and, although I wasn’t there, it’s interesting to review the prices realized for some of this “Rusty Iron.” What [...]
