Joe Gaspardo works for KSR Equipment out of Minonk, Ill., as a parts associate. For years Joe has been collecting John Deere memorabilia and at this year’s John Deere Memorabilia Conference in Davenport, Iowa, he was able to share information about it.

The draw of collectibles owned by Deere employees is that these are items not usually available to the general public and for collectors, are harder to come by. Joe shared new and older collectible items; some included Deere employee awards and gifts.
As part of his slideshow, Joe had many items from his own personal collection. Many employee items were created to celebrate a John Deere milestone, such as the collection of glasses created to celebrate 20 years of operation at the JD Davenport works. Glasses seemed to be a popular item, and were also made for the JD Des Moines and Waterloo Works.

Toys were another popular item made by Deere to celebrate milestones. Joe had a few brass toys, including a JD skid loader and a bulldozer as well as truck excavators made out of brass.
The Waterloo Works is known for its Christmas ornaments, which Joe said started in 1996: “Every year they made an ornament for the Waterloo Works until 1999. Now they are more sporadic and come in a plastic box with a snapover lid. The Waterloo Works also produced an 80th anniversary plate.”

As part of his presentation, Joe shared a belt buckle given to JD employees who were part of the JD Supervisors’ Club. “They have their own Club House and they had a medallion, belt buckle and key chain,” he said.

Another popular award item Deere selected was medallions. Joe had a medallion that stated, “Ten billion injury-free hours” that was awarded in 2003. Employee badges were also a unique collectible item, that each employee used to get at retirement. “The oddball-numbered employee badges are hard to find, like 7, 12, et cetera, years,” Joe said.

Some employee gifts are not to celebrate a happy time. There were also some John Deere closure gifts, such as colorful plates developed for the Minnesota parts department, printed with the years 1894-2005.

There are also the foreign counterparts. Joe had Deere anniversary tractor models from Germany and a 1997 medallion celebrating the anniversary of an engine plant in France. He also had a two-piece sickle section from the JD Parts Australia/New Zealand branch.
Some items he found on eBay; others, through his connections. With two uncles with their own toy museum, Joe comes by being a collector naturally. A newlywed, Joe credited his wife, Kristy, who works for Country Financial Services, with creating his PowerPoint presentation for him.

Joe not only has an amazing array of memorabilia, but a couple of tractors as well. In fact, his JD Industrial 40 tractor is on display at the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Ill., making it one of the most viewed tractors around.

“One hundred fifty-thousand people visit every year,” he said. “It is quite an honor.”

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