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| Illinois bros. build private farm toy and construction museum |
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Brothers Tom Gaspardo and Robert Prince of Illinois have combined their collections into a private museum to share with friends and family. Tom, who collects Caterpillar construction models, and Bob, who collects farm toy models of primarily Case and Case IH, built a special building in 2001, with 10-foot ceilings to house the shelving for their toys.
Tom started collecting toys after going to work for Caterpillar in 1974. “I just retired from Caterpillar in September; I worked there 34 years,” he shared.
Along with his equipment models, Tom also collects memorabilia and literature. “I collect a little of everything,” he said.
Some of these items include a Joliet Girls Club Caterpillar First Aid Kit, a CAT bib and fans, both old and new. He has two Caterpillar coats like those worn at the factory and a helmet from the Decatur plant. He also has a Caterpillar watch and a really neat paper globe.
“It was made in the 1930s, and you turned (it) to see where their machinery was made,” Tom explained.
He has many rare and unique items, such as a few Caterpillar D4 pedals that were built in London, Conn., by New London Metal. They were made in both the pedal and the electric version.
The Caterpillar collection began with Tom’s first item, a 941 Traxcavator. “I had to get one for my sister, for my brother in-law. Then I had to have one. That is when I started collecting. Next came a 627 push-and-pull scraper. Then came a D10, and it kept going from there,” Tom shared.
Special construction models he has include toys built by Gilson Reicke, Terry Rouch and extensively, from Don Campbell, who is well-known for his mine machinery. A model that Campbell, of Gaylord, Mich., made sits front and center upon entering Tom’s and Robert’s museum. This is a half-scale Caterpillar Model 10, like the real one Tom owns.
Bob farms, along with older brother Dan, and prefers the farm toys, although he admires Tom’s construction toys. Bob’s collection, like Tom’s, is a mix of both new and old. Like Tom, he collects more than just the models and has some neat memorabilia, such as a CASE emblem off a tractor that his brother Donny made into a plaque.
“I started collecting in 1982. I first began with Case, then added Case IH and John Deere,” Bob said, adding he collects mostly show toys and custom pieces.
One of the toymakers Bob likes is Lyle Dingman. “I have 35 Lyle Dingman tractors,” he said. “The Dingman two-tone cases are my favorites. I have eight different versions. Lyle swore he’d never make a two-tone Case tractor, then he went and made eight of them!”
Bob also has a few toys from the collection of his late friend and neighbor, Mark Dornbush. “I also have a Case 247 made by Dary Burnett. He made it only a year or two.”
The collecting continues, and the only issue at hand may be, as Bob lamented, “We didn’t build the museum big enough!” |
| 4/29/2010 |
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