THE RUMELY RECOLLECTION

By Staff
Published on July 1, 1982
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This beautifully preserved Model 'E' Oil Pull was brought by the Bronson family of Kalamazoo, Michigan.

P.O. Box 486, LaPorte, Indiana 46350

The exhibition ‘Power and the Plow,’ scheduled for the
July 4th weekend in LaPorte, Indiana will be the second annual
gathering of Rumely fans from across the country. This year’s
events will include Allis Chalmers as well. Rather than being
staged at a festival grounds, the event will be held in downtown
LaPorte. And the event will feature former employees of the
Advance-Rumely and Allis Chalmers implement works. It promises to
be a rare meeting those who built farm implements with those who
ran them on the farms.

This year’s event builds on the unusual and unexpected
success of last year. Called ‘the Rumely Recollection,’ a
date was chosen by a few former Advance-Rumely employees to
celebrate the demise of the venerable company in 1931-fifty years
past. A public service ad or two showed up in the collectors’
magazines and the response was immediate. From February on (the
date of the event was set for the first weekend in April) letters
and phone calls came in from all over the country, inquiring of
lodging, whether equipment was needed, and other details.

Over 100 people attended, some from as far away as Florida,
Canada, the Dakotas and New York. The Bronsons of Kalamazoo showed
up with a beautiful Model ‘E’ Oil Pull; the Millers of
Geneseo, Illinois brought reproductions of song books used by Oil
Pull salesmen; the Brubakers of Iowa came in force with piles of
memorabilia. Models were uncrated, old brochures were shared and
technical information (along with a lot of trivia) was in
abundance.

Some 20 employees are still around LaPorte who date their
employment to the pre-1931 days making implements for
Advance-Rumely. Many thousands of Allis Chalmers employees are
still here. This expertise was appreciated by the collectors who
were curious about many aspects of the organization and the LaPorte
plant. A tour of the original Oil Pull plant was arranged by Allis
Chalmers and many visitors made comparisons: imagining the old
engine works in the midst of the modern cornhead lines and cotton
stripper assembly areas.

Joe Park of Princeton, Wisconsin, delivered a detailed talk on
the nature of the financial failure of the company in 1913 (ending
M. Rumely and beginning Advance-Rumely). Joe is one of the foremost
experts on Rumely lore. He came away from the weekend with a better
working knowledge of the engines themselves, having spent some time
with collectors.

On Sunday, the second day of the Recollection, Earl Marhanka of
Dowagiac, Michigan opened up his famous collection for display to
the collectors. Since Marhanka has about every product made by the
Advance-Rumely line (including every model of Oil Pull, a truck,
Do-Alls, and gas tractors), it was like a pilgrimage to Mecca for
the buffs.

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