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Views and opinions: Gateway Mid-America Toy Show great reunion for ag
 

This year was the 38th for the annual Gateway Mid-America Toy Show. There were some happy times and some sad times this year because the president of the Gateway Club, Judy Debatin, passed away in December 2018, leaving a hole in the hearts of many.

The St. Louis, Mo., show went on from Feb. 8-10, and she was remembered by being inducted into the Hall of Fame. “Judy was the heart and soul of the club,” said Elden Niemeyer, who gave out the Hall of Fame awards.

Judy was one of four new inductees. Others inducted included Chuck Steffens, Darryl Cox, and Charlie Letchworth. They were inducted that Saturday during the farm layout and scratch-built contest at the Westport Sheraton.

Farm layouts were amazing and varied; themes ranged from a huge grain truck operation to a beautiful barn layout and Southern Illinois hogs in the corn. Darryl offered a Cub display with some Farmall red to lighten the heart of any IH fan. A contractor from Henderson, Tenn., his layout centered on an original Cub sign.

“I ran across this rare cardboard sign from a friend,” he noted. “I think it came out about the same time as the Farmall Cub, around 1947. My friend said that International Harvester had the sign fit on the hood of the Cub to advertise the Cub’s features with the little cub bear and the slogan ‘A Cub in size and a bear for work.’

“When I came across the sign I thought people needed to see it. It does no good sitting in a closet somewhere.”

With the show going for so many years, it has become a place where many come to see old friends as well as the greatest and latest in the farm toy hobby. John Joritz of northern Illinois, a vendor who sets up with his uncle Bob Holland, said, “I sell primarily International Harvester memorabilia, but also have a mix with Oliver, Allis-Chalmers, and more.”

John’s favorite thing about the St. Louis show is “there is always something here I have never seen before. The show is always well attended, and I like that it is a three-day show since I come 300 miles.”

Mark Berkel, who is primarily a tractor guy from nearby Alton, Ill., explained why this event is a regular for him. “I have been coming to the show since 1981 when it was still at the Holiday Inn off Lindbergh (Blvd., west of St. Louis). My favorite thing about the show is meeting the people and finding leads on antique tractors, because most people that collect toys also collect tractors.”

Vendor Don Obermeyer and his wife, Cathy, are from Valparaiso, Ind. Don said everything for him in the farm toy hobby started about 50 years ago when he began collecting John Deere toys. “I’ve been doing it ever since,” he said. “I love seeing the toys; this is a big show.”

One change he has made in the last few years is switching from selling farm tractors to trucks. “I started doing this about five years ago.” He customizes trucks and in his trading room, he had an International quarry dump truck as one of the examples of his work.

He likes linking beds to other trucks. Besides the trucks at the show, Don said at home he has a 1908 Model F Buick that was owned by his grandpa. “He bought it brand new for $1,200 and I restored it 12 years ago,” he explained.

Don has been coming to the show for years with his friend Bob Beall from the town Twelve Mile, Ind. “I have always come together with Bob for at least the last 20 years,” he said. “I have been coming to the National show since 1983.”

Bob said he likes this show “because it is all inside and because of the people.” He collects a bit of everything, from farm toys to signs, tractors, and electric trains. He often travels with his wife, Angela, but she was not at this show.

Vendor Richard Chapman from Bowling Green, Ky., said his first job was working at an IH dealership. He had several collectibles in his room for sale, including a cool Canton Sesquicentennial memento of one of the IH Canton plant whistles. He also had an IH solar sign that came off a generator.

“After working at the IH dealership, I got started collecting,” Richard noted.

The Gateway Farm Toy Show brings together people interested in farm toys, literature, and memorabilia. You can find out more online at https://gatewaytoyshow.com

 

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication. Learn more of Cindy’s finds and travel in her blog, “Traveling Adventures of a Farm Girl,” at http://travelingadventuresofafarmgirl.com

6/20/2019