2200 Fairmount Rd., Hampstead, Maryland 21074
More than 125 pieces of J.I. Case equipment were at the affair
on August 18-19, 1990 at the Carroll County Farm Museum in
Westminster, Maryland. This year’s event was the first time the
J.I. Case Collectors Association has ever met in the East and the
first time an all J.I. Case only show has ever been held. The
weather was perfect, the spacious grounds of the Farm Museum
provided an ideal setting to display and demonstrate vintage farm
equipment, the attendance was good with an estimated 2000 people
each day, and there was a wide variety of Case equipment.
The event was hosted by Case collectors in the Maryland,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Delaware area who several years ago
invited the JICCA to have their 6th annual summer convention in the
East. The equipment on display was not limited to those states as
there were tractors or displays from West Virginia, North Carolina,
Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan.
The collectors were most impressed by the wide variety of
equipment. At many shows there may be lots of steam engines or lots
of cars or lots of tractors but they had never seen a show before
that had as many different items built by the Case Company. There
were steam engines, cars, tractors, plows, wagons, hammer mill,
silo filler, corn and grain binders, garden tractors, power units,
cultivators, and four threshing machines. Combines were on hand
too; a 1926 model B prairie type, an A6 pull type, and a 600
self-propelled. Horse drawn equipment included a grain drill,
mower, riding cultivator, and a manure spreader. There was a Case
dozer and several Case industrial tractors. There was working scale
model equipment too. A half scale model 25-45 made and exhibited by
Milt Deets of Ohio was one of the star attractions of the show. A
scale model sawmill owned and operated by Gilbert Wisner, president
of the Maryland Steam Historical Society, created a lot of
excitement. Ronnie Smith’s scale Case steam engine also brought
lots of applause from the crowd during the parade which was held
each day. In the headquarters pavilion there were two four foot
cast iron eagles standing guard and several large dealer signs on
display. Inside there were Case toys, some one of a kind and
handmade. There were also scrapbooks, Case literature, photos, and
other Case memorabilia. Case tee shirts, hats, and other items were
offered for sale.
Dave Reed was in charge of a general and craft flea market but
most of the Case people seemed to hang around the ones that had
Case only stuff. Saturday afternoon’s all Case auction saw an
SO from Virginia and a DO from West Virginia find new homes as well
as a load of cross motor parts from Virginia and various other
parts from Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Some of the exhibits were rare and the first time ever seen at a
Case show anywhere. One such piece was a 1915 10-20 three wheel
tractor with a Case 40 engine. There were only 203 of these
tractors ever made and this one is one of perhaps only two in
existence today. It was shown by Jim Suter of Virginia. In the Case
car lineup was a 1922 Case Touring owned by Joe Henriques of
Maryland and a 1924 Suburban Coupe with a fresh restoration by Herb
Wessel of Maryland, Leo Hissong, the Case car historian, announced
at the banquet that this car’s original owner was a chief
engineer of the J.I. Case Company. Space does not permit mention of
all the nice cross motor tractors but among the ten on the field a
nice 10-18 by Dan Spampinato of Maryland and a 15-27 from Gary
Lineweaver of Virginia stand out. There was quite a line up of the
light and dark grey series tractors, a big flock of the flambeau
red ones including a high crop version of the DC and the VAC, and
several desert sunset series tractors.
While Case did not make the one lung gas engines we are used to
seeing at all the shows, Case did buy E.B. and Rockford who had
made the engines. There were several of these operating, just to
show the varied genealogy of the Case Company. Also, a giant EB
Peerless steam engine owned and operated by Gene Lawson was on
hand.
As with most shows, it is not the lineup that interests the
people, it is the activity, and there was plenty of it. Clarence
Cook’s nice LA powered the sawmill and a DC-4 was on the
shingle mill. Corn was chopped into silage and blown in a snow
fence silo with a model Q silo filler and corn was ground by a Case
hammer mill.
Plowing demonstrations always attract a lot of attention. First
a 1918 two cylinder 20-40 gas tractor attempted to pull the 1916
six bottom Case-Sattley prairie type plow. The sod had not been
plowed for many years and the 20-40 had to have a pit stop to
adjust the clutch. The six bottom plow was play for the 60 HP Case
steam engine owned by Bob Butts and for Gene’s Peerless. Chuck
Noonan, a previous antique plowing contest winner, finished the
plot with his L and two bottom plow.
As at most shows the threshing is one of the most interesting
events and this one was no exception. In fact Russell Wolfinger,
who was in charge of threshing, treated the spectators to something
they had never seen before. Russ had three threshing machines
operating simultaneously: one 22 x 36 and two 28 x 47, with one by
steam power, one by gas power and one by diesel. The diesel was a
1954 Case 500 which was the first diesel tractor made by Case.
After the threshing Fred Sprinkle’s nicely restored C operated
the 17 x 22 hand tie baler and along with Alvin Patterson’s NL
and Chuck Noonan’s 130 balers made quick work of turning the
straw stack into bales.
One feature of this year’s show was that any JICCA member
could participate, even if he did not bring equipment. President
Fred Buchert from Illinois worked up a sweat and got chaff down his
back helping to thresh. Members who had never threshed before
pitched bundles, bagged off wheat, and tied wires on the baler.
Vice President Tom Graverson, from Indiana, brought his collector
toy DC and pushed it past the announcer’s stand on his hands
and knees in the parade.
The banquet on Saturday evening was attended by JICCA members
and many of the local exhibitors. President Buchert announced that
the winter meeting will be held at South Bend, Indiana and the 1991
summer convention at Le Sueur, Minnesota. After the business
meeting the special feature of the banquet was a talk by Mr.
Raymond Young, who is active in local steam clubs and who is a
former farmer, blacksmith, and steam engineer. In his 89 years he
has seen the complete evolution of the mechanization of farming. He
has operated a horse power to thresh, a steam engine and a modern
combine. He remembers vividly his father flailing rye on the barn
floor. Mr. Young demonstrated the art of flailing at the show. He
kept the audience spellbound with his talk on the way farm life
used to be. Robert Hewlett from Michigan received a hand crafted
truck and lowboy with one of the show model L tractors for bringing
a tractor the longest distance.
The 6th annual meeting was truly a family type meeting. The
ladies took a bus trip to historic Ellicott City on Saturday and
there was a kiddie pedal tractor pull both days with the winners in
each class proudly carrying off their prize model tractor which was
donated by local Case IH dealers. Fred Miller, president of the
Mason Dixon Historical Society, was in charge of this popular
event.
Sunday morning the show started out with worship under the
pavilion with engineer Gene Lawson conducting the service. Then
there was a repeat of all the Saturday activities. The day ended
with some of the machinery heading back home and some of the JICCA
members packing for home and others planning to visit other points
of interest to complete their vacation east.
As exciting as all the activity at the show was and as
interesting as the lineup of vintage equipment, there is one thing
that stands out at every JICCA meeting and this one was no
exception: the camaraderie and fellowship of the Case collectors.
At each meeting new friends are made and old ones renewed. In the
six short years JICCA has been organized there has developed a bond
of friendship from coast to coast in the U.S. and Canada and
several other countries. The bond goes deeper than just the
friendship as there is also a common interest in preserving an
important part of our agricultural heritage.
