OLD THRESHERS30 YEARS OF AMERICAN HERITAGE

By Staff
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Box 156, Cumberland, Iowa 50843

What is this show, this reunion, that has come forward on flying
feet for 30 years. Why do upwards of 250,000 people invade the
small town of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa every year, Labor Day weekend,
Thursday thru Monday? Why, if you go once do you feel you must go
back, to endure the crowds, the mud, the heat and smoke?

Since 1950, when 15 steam engines and 8 threshing machines were
viewed by 10,000 spectators, the show has grown into a giant
display of living, breathing, American history attended by great
numbers of people from across the United States and many foreign
countries.

Whatever your interest in the past might be, it is there at Old
Threshers for you, and you can participate. Ride the vintage
trolleys around the 40-acre campgrounds, and visit the log village.
Take a trip on the Midwest Central Railroad to the Midwest Village.
While at Midwest Village stop at the general store for an old time
dill pickle on a stick, or stick candy, or cheese and crackers. Go
on past the popcorn stand and into the tavern. Belly up to the bar
and have some sweet cider, watch a girlie show and listen to the
clop of horses’ hoves as buggies pass thru on Main Street.
Revisit country school while it’s in session, or attend one of
three churches for some moments of quiet reflection. If you like
the theatre you can attend the Toby show, a chautugua or the Museum
of Repertoire America. Get your tickets early for the Country
Western show each night in the grandstand. Such names as Dolly
Parton, The Statler Brothers and Charlie Pride have played to
packed houses.

The great machines of years gone by are really the stars of the
show and you can sit in the grandstand all afternoon and watch them
pass in review. Over 100 old cars, 60 steam engines and 150 gas
tractors are on the grounds for your enjoyment. A short trip by
ground train will take you to the Heritage Museum where the big
stationary engines are housed. The big Allis Chalmers Corliss sits
in black splendor at one end of the museum, it’s 14′
flywheel slowly turning. Many other smaller stationary steam
engines run close by, their governors moving slowly, their restored
framework glistening with new paint and striping.

Outside the museum is steam engine row. From Old Threshers giant
110 HP Case towering 15 feet in the air down to the smallest model
all of them steam up every day for the Calvalcade of Power and pass
in stately review in front of the grandstand crowds.

Wilbur Ries, Murray, Iowa, at his 29th Reunion. Wilbur was one
of the first to display gas engines at Old Threshers.

If you happen to be an old tractor fan a trip to the tractor
area will gladden your heart. Climb up on the big 30-60 Aultman
Taylor or Twin City and look out at the rows of Oil Pulls, John
Deeres, Allis Chalmers, and Internationals. Avery, Hart Parr,
Moline, Universal, Bullock Creeping Grip and the rare LaCrosse rein
drive tractor have been visitors to the tractor display area. This
years tractor display had a special visitor. Miss Cass Bowyer, the
grand-daughter of the founder of the Rumley Tractor Company visited
the reunion and drove one of Brubaker’s Oil Pulls in the
Cavalcade of Power.

The gas engine display area has grown from only a handful
displayed at the early reunions to nearly 450 at this year’s
reunion. The gas engine and tractor swap tent is a very busy place
with standing room only. Large crowds inching along the tables of
parts and along the rows of engines and tractor wheels outside the
tent. A new and very nice display this year is the farm powerhouse.
With sides that remove for display to spectators, it is a welcome
addition to the show. A 5 HP Economy engine drives the line shaft
that operates everything from an old bread crummier to a butter
churn.

Perhaps the spirit of the reunion can best be illustrated by the
many people who continue to return year after year. One of these
people is Wilbur Ries of Murray, Iowa. Wilbur was one of the first
to display a gas engine and he has been back every year for 29
years. Any of you who have the March-April 1966 GEM, look on page 6
to see Wilbur at one of the early shows. Wilbur has continued to
come back every year in spite of some health problems that almost
kept him away a couple of times. Mainly, Old Threshers is just what
the name says, a reunion. Not just a show, but a meeting of
friends, and a visit with the past.

  • Published on Jul 1, 1981
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