Bob,
Although I grew up in Minneapolis, I did attend summer camp operated by our church. The camp drew kis from all over Minnesota. I can recall the farm guys talking about what kind of tractor their dads had on the farm. I thought I discerned some kind of pecking order in the manufacture of tractor on a given farm. John Deere and Farmalls gave the highest status. Allis and Oliver were OK, and Ford accorded the lowest status. This was back in the Fifties. Tom ________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf of Bob Werre [[email protected]] Sent: Friday, October 05, 2012 10:05 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Re: Tractors -- us vs. them Tom, My hometown used to have several dealers, but even if you bought orange, red or green every farmer would take the day off for John Deere Days. It was a day where the dealer would unveil the newest equipment. But more than that everybody including the wives would gather to chat, brochures handed out, prize drawings held, and little freebie's flooded the area. Small towns thrived on the farmer's business. John Deere always rented the local movie house. They sponsored short live segments for the wives and then unveiled the movie you are talking about. My guess is, they produced dozens like that. The first girl I ever kissed, father was a JD dealer. The girl I married father had been an IH dealer. I also picked rocks on a farm that had only Allis Chalmer's tractors. A girl in my class dad was the MM, Case and Oliver dealer. Another classmates father became a Ford dealer but sold Chrysler products. Not much happens in a small town! My S scale town of Madra does have an implement dealer, so lots of weathered tractors are in the used lot! This also gives you the excuse to remove wheels and stage repair scenes. This also lets you take some of those really old units and put them under a shade tree to rust in peace. Bob Werre PhotoTraxx On 10/5/12 6:15 AM, Thomas Baker wrote: Steve, your reference to green tractors brought up a old 16mm film that must have been produced by or at least heavily sponsored by John Deere. It featured a grandmother, her son who farmed, and his son who was a seven oreight-year-old. The scene was set on the D&RGW on the line that ran south from Denver to Colorado Springs and then northwest to Salida and on to the mainline. I have tried to locate that film but have never been able to find it. It is worth having just for the photography of Colorado scenery, the depot--cannot recall exactly where--the trains, the John Deere stuff, and the old pickup the family had. Until that time I had never seen a film devote so many shots to a railroad and to farm equipment as that one did. Tom
