Wagons, Tractors & Fun

By Staff
Published on September 1, 1994
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6277 Arbor Creek, Apt. 205 Memphis, Tennessee 38115

Antique engines and tractors have been familiar to me as long as
I can remember. Bill Brown, my father, (P.O. Box 344, Como,
Mississippi 38619), and collector of the aforementioned, was struck
with ‘Rust Fever’ long enough to have completely filled
every inch of usable space in his workshop along with several
out-buildings. He has recently completed restoring a horse-drawn
wagon that would have been used to cross the prairies in the early
1800s. A sizable amount of the restoration was actually reproducing
the original box of the wagon, complete with the buggy springs and
all metal detail work. The original running gear of the wagon was
in excellent condition, and used intact with only a few minor
adjustments. Along with the wagon, Daddy has collected several
flywheel engines: a 1951 B Allis Chalmers, a 1957 420T John Deere,
and a Gibson garden tractor.

My little brother Casey has a collection all his own. When Casey
was 12 years old, he bought a 1937 B John Deere. With help from
Daddy in the restoration and Mother doing the painting, the John
Deere has turned out to be one of Casey’s prized possessions.
In addition to his tractor, Casey has bought, traded and sold
several flywheel engines, Maytag washing machine engines, motor
cycles, miniature replica tractors, and antique spark plugs.

My mother, for lack of another word, accumulates. She has
accumulated everything from Redwing pottery to handmade birdhouses.
She has her own workshop, where the walls are hung with
out-of-the-ordinary antique tools; Chevrolet promotional posters
dating to 1930; and baskets covering the ceiling leaving no clue as
to what color the ceiling may be. There are dried flowers hanging
downstairs awaiting arrangement, and several thousand Sardis
Antique Engine and Tractor Show flyers waiting to be handed out.
For the past few years my mother, Leslie Brown, has helped organize
the Sardis Antique Engine and Tractor Show in Sardis, Mississippi.
Last year the show attracted over 140 gasoline flywheel engines and
well over 50 tractors. The three day show has proven to be one of
the finest displays of antique machinery in Northern Mississippi.
You’ll find crafts, singing, Bar-B-Q, and more tractors and
smoke-spotting engines that you can shake a stick at. So, I’ll
be looking forward to seeing you all in October at the Sardis
Antique Engine and Tractor Show.

And be sure to stop by and say ‘hello’ to my folks.

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