By CINDY LADAGE
Illinois Correspondent

BRIGHTON, Ill. — An 8N Ford was the first tractor that Lillian and Charles Winslade had on their farm. Lillian Winslade lives in Brighton, not far from her son, Jim.

Sitting in an armchair, with her silver hair gleaming in the sun as it filtered into Jim’s front room, she remembered quite well how that tractor ended up on that farm so many years ago.

“Before Jim was born,” Lillian explained, “we had two white horses. One of them got hit by lightning so Charlie got the tractor in East Alton.”

The tractor worked well for several years and served its purpose admirably. Then later according to Lillian, Charles sold the tractor to a farmer.

“Another man then bought it at an auction and was going to redo it, but it had our name on it.” That man happened to be Jim Winslade’s next door neighbor. The neighbor bought and sold Ford tractors and one day he told his son about the name being embedded in the bumper of the tractor. He asked his Mom about it, if Charles had carved their name out, and Jim’s mom said, “I told him yes.

The man still had the tractor and Jim went and got it!”

Today, the family tractor with so many memories is now sitting in Jim’s garage. Although Charles Winslade has passed away, both Lillian and Jim enjoy the memories the old Ford evokes.
Another family tractor that found its way to Jim is the Ford 4000 that was the last tractor they owned.

“The last Ford we had on the farm was a 1964 Ford 4000,” Jim shared. “I later found out the tractor was built in 1965. The guy that bought the farm kept the tractor and it was setting back of his house. We are very close to them and they still live in the house I grew up in. He sold me the 4000 and the Penfield, Illinois Historic Farm Days was the first show I took it to.”

Along with the two tractors, Jim also has a neat manure spreader, corn planter and a farm cultivator.

This is only a portion of Jim’s collection.

He is also an avid toy collector. Jim has only been back in Illinois since 2000, prior to that he had served in the Air Force in Alaska then settled there. These days Jim teaches waste water treatment classes at Southern Illinois University’s Edwardsville campus.
Jim’s toy collecting began in 1984. “Mom and Dad came up to Fairbanks and the State of Alaska was trying to promote farming and barley production because barley has high protein
content.

I took my dad to see some agricultural stuff at the John Deere dealership. I was trying to find Dad a calendar to bring back when we noticed a John Deere A toy on steel wheels which was like a present I had as a kid. I asked how much it was, it was $10.00. That one toy started it all.”

This toy kicked off his collecting. He soon joined the local antique tractor and toy club and began to collect in earnest. Jim’s collection includes a variety of farm toys, race cars and trucks as well as some rather unusual toys from Alaska.

His basement is filled with toys categorically arranged and his garage is filled with his two Ford tractors. Toys and tractors back where they belong. These days, Jim Winslade is a happy man.