Everyone heading to the Red Power Round Up 2010 has Farmall Red on their mind.

This International Harvester collector event is scheduled June 24-26 in La Porte, Ind. The show will be held at the LaPorte County Fairgrounds and is hosted by the IH Collectors Northern Indiana Chapter 33.

While red is the brand of the moment, the city has information about another brand at the La Porte Historical Society Museum. Here, a collector may find a bit of Rumely and Allis Chalmers history to tuck into their trip and add to their information bank.
The Archives is a portion of the museum with items donated to the historical society. The society has archived the items and made them available to collectors who want to learn more.

Located in La Porte, the society has Rumely and AC materials at its website www.laportecountyhistory.org/RumelyArchive.htm where it explains how in the late 1990s, a large collection of original drawings from the Rumely Corp. was donated to the La Porte County Historical Society. The drawings had been stored in a garage, in their original dilapidated wood storage drawers.
Today, they have been inventoried, placed in archival quality sleeves and are now stored in top-quality metal blueprint cabinets. To view the drawings inventoried at the museum requires a personal visit because it does not have the resources to provide online or mailing services.

If visiting, what kind of information is available? According to the website, “The parts demonstrated in the drawings range from the smallest screw to larger parts that went into the making of Rumely products, especially threshing machines.”

During a visit, if there is something of particular interest, a drawing can be located and arrangements made for copying. Drawings are only a small portion of what is offered, though, at the museum. It also has three file cabinets of brochures, catalogs, photographs, employee publications and the like, for both Rumely and Allis-Chalmers.

While not typical “Red Power,” it is a treasure one might want to consider! The La Porte County Historical Society Museum is located at  2405 Indiana Ave., Suite 1, La Porte, IN 46350. For details, call 219-324-6767 or log onto the website.

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.