The summer had been unusually dry, and we all wondered if the
wheat would be ripe enough to cut and thresh by Reunion time. As it
turned out, all the worry was for nothing. This happened at the
1965 Antique Tractor Show & Reunion organized by the Pioneer Gas Engine Association, Inc., which was
held July 30, 31, and Aug. 1st on the grounds of the Mendon
Pioneer Museum in Honeoye Falls, N.Y. The weather was nice; on the
cool side with the threat of rain now and then. The much needed
rain came at 9:00 Sunday night after the engines were put to bed
and almost everyone had left for home.
There were twenty-three gasoline tractors in operation in the
daily parades. Among the largest were a 22-44 Minneapolis owned by
Harry Schoff of Honeoye Falls; a 1924 Aultman-Taylor 22-45 owned by
David Shearns of Marion, N.Y.; and a 1926 cross motor Case 25-45
owned by Donald Luteyn Sr. of Palmyra, N.Y. Other makes
represented were Huber, Oil Pull, McCormack-Deering, Ford-son, John
Deere, and Hart-Parr. Harold Ball of Honeoye Falls had his homemade
run-about powered with a 4 H.P. International Famous vertical gas
engine. He was kept busy giving rides. Other attractions were a
1924 Huber steam traction engine and a Monarch steam road roller,
both owned by Harry Schoff.
I have been collecting old Gas Engines for several years. I now
have 31; from single cylinder Maytag to 7 hp. Sears. I have several
reconditioned and painted in original color and plan to recondition
them as time permits. The one on three wheel truck is a Win.
Galloway Handy Andy. My wife and I purchased it around 1925 from
the Wm. Galloway Co. to operate our wood Maytag washing machine. I
think the price was $32.50 plus freight. The wood base that it is
on is the original base that came with it. The trucks I picked up
in junk yard. Have just given it a paint job. The fly wheels are
10” in diam.
There were 146 gasoline engines in operation. Some were powering
allied equipment, such as generators, corn sheller, feed grinder,
water pump, milking machine pump, small baker fan, etc. One of the
most interesting exhibits was owned by Dick Wood and son from
Livonia. Dick’s daughter was dressed in a long dress and
sunbonnet, and did her wash many times over with an old washing
machine run by a gasoline engine. Dick also had a D.C. generator
which lit up several bulbs. It is exhibits such as these that make
for an interesting show and attract the visitor’s
attention.
There were three flatbed trailers loaded with gasoline engines
bolted to the floor. This provides an excellent way of transporting
the engines and saves time in setting them up. All that is needed
is good blocking under the trailer.
A new attraction this year was the 40 H.P. Olin engine, owned by
Harry Schoff, who owns the grounds where the Reunion is held. This
engine was started, for the first time since Harry had it home, on
Saturday. You would have thought the entire place was on fire, with
all the smoke from the exhaust. When it was all cleaned out, it ran
like a top and one could carry on a conversation between the
‘pops’.
We had a nice model display of about 30. They were run entirely
on compressed air. This proved to be much cleaner than the steam,
but of course some of the old steam buffs said it just wasn’t
right, and took all the fun out of it.
As was mentioned in the first paragraph, the wheat threshing was
sort of in doubt, but it turned out all right. Four acres of wheat
were donated by Charles Rolf of Hemlock. The Sunday before the
show, several men with a tractor and a McCormack Deering binder,
cut and shocked the grain. As it was too late to draw and stack,
(it would sweat and not thresh well), some of the men with a truck
drew the grain direct to the Batavia thresher as it was needed. The
old tractors would bark away, and the men who were feeding would
try their best to stall them. The straw was baled with an
International stationary baler. The bales made good seats for the
ladies and older folks under the tents.
The old sawmill was working good and quite a number of logs were
sawed up. The shingle mill was a big attraction, and many people
took home a shingle for a souvenir.
On Saturday our Queen, Mrs. Charles Rolfe, Sr. of Avon, was
crowned by our President in front of a TV camera. Mrs. Rolfe
insisted on taking part despite a broken ankle.
On Sunday, the Livingston Antique Automobile Club members
brought 14 cars to the show. They had fine display. The United
States Navy had an interesting trailer display on the grounds Sat.
and Sun.
The ladies were set up at headquarters and sold memberships and
souvenirs. Several of them helped by working at the gate.
Subscriptions to IRON MEN ALBUM and ENGINEERS AND ENGINES were
sold. There were two booths of handmade jewelry. Delicious dinners
were served in the dining hall by Mrs. Schoff. Shirley and Dorothv
manned the hamburger trailer. Also available were popcorn, french
fries, and candy apples. There was Western music and dancing at
night.
We consider the Reunion to be a great success. It took much hard
work by the members to get it ready, and to do all the work
necessary to put on a successful show for the public. Our
membership is growing and we feel that the public is becoming more
interested all of the time. It is getting harder to collect these
old relics. We believe it is necessary to restore and preserve them
so people in future years will know that not everything was always
done by push-button. Our ancestors tried, as we do now,to improve
their way of life and the invention of the gasoline engine was one
of the greatest things to revolutionize their way of living.
