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Illinois collector shows wind generators are nothing new

By DEBORAH BEHRENDS
Illinois Correspondent

SYCAMORE, Ill. — Standing out above the steam engines and hit-and-miss motors at the 53rd annual Sycamore Steam Show and Threshing Bee was a vintage windmill, circa 1930.

Wincharger, according to owner Ed Keller of Hampshire, Ill., partnered with Crosley Radio. The generators were available in several sizes to farmers not yet on electric lines.
“They were used to power their radios and sometimes a light bulb,” Keller said.

A collector displaying several types of engines, Keller also displays advertising literature. He said a friend purchased the windmill at an auction and then Keller bought it from him.

Originally manufactured in Sioux City, Iowa, a number of the generators also were sold in Holland during the occupation by German forces during World War II, according to literature found online.

Founded as the Wincharger Corporation in 1935, the firm became a subsidiary of Zenith Radio and remained so until 1968. Winco’s corporate home office today is in Minneapolis.

Steam show vendors

Vendors at the show sold everything from tools to collectibles to collectible belt buckles. A large number of the buckles were offered by Richard Elliott of Genoa, Ill., who inherited them when his father, Cliff Elliott, died in 2001.

“My wife told me to get them out of the garage or she was going to throw them out. I decided, maybe, I ought to be here selling them.”

Elliott and a friend, Chip Pruzik, of Sycamore, Ill., spent several days sorting the buckles in boxes to make them available during the steam show. He said he wanted to make sure he had a variety of designs available. “We had to do a lot of work before we got here as far as getting all the buckles together,” Elliott said. “I didn’t want to bring a hundred of one and none of another.”
Elliott said his father would develop a design for the belt buckles and have them manufactured at a business either in Harvard, Ill. or Delavan, Wis. He said his father would work on a design for several months.

“He would pick a different tractor every year (to be designed on the belt buckle). He enjoyed it,” Elliott said. “I’m not saying he started the day after the show was over for the next year, but it was very shortly after the show was over.”

Howard Nielsen, of Earlville, Ill. displayed his life-size train track. He said visitors seemed to enjoy viewing his model train track, which he has owned for about six years.

“There’s a lot of interest, especially with the kids,” Nielsen said. He added that visitors enjoy looking at all the different engines and farm equipment.

Also offering displays were the Kishwaukee Valley Heritage Society in Genoa, Ill., and the Sycamore History Museum in Sycamore, Ill. The former coordinates an annual Pioneer Day each August. The latter, housed at a farm leased from the city, will host an agriculture exhibit starting later in August.

Northern Illinois Steam Power

The show is hosted each year by the Northern Illinois Steam Power Club. The first membership meeting was conducted Feb. 16, 1957 at Halverson’s Implement Co. in DeKalb, Ill.

A movie entitled “When Steam Was King” was shown for the 150 people present. Dues were $1 a year and 49 people registered for membership. Dues were increased to $1.50 per year in 1964.
Membership is open to all. No equipment is needed, just an interest. For more information, visit www.threshingbee.org

8/26/2009