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| Southern Illinois farm toy show kicks off new year with an International theme |
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CARLYLE, Ill. — The first farm toy show of the New Year was Jan. 9-10 at the Convention Center at Mariner’s Village. The Show was sponsored by the Southern Illinois Chapter (No. 32) of the International Harvesters Collectors Club, Inc. (IHC); The National International Harvester Collectors Club is a group that provides a worldwide collector’s network for the preservation of history, products, literature and memorabilia of the International Harvester Company.
While this show was sponsored by the Southern Illinois IHC Chapter, all makes and models of farm toys, literature and memorabilia were on display. Tom Leutkemeyer, from Belleville, Ill. is an avid Allis Chalmers collector. Working for AC for years, Tom has a vast array of AC tractors, toys and memorabilia much that came from his many years of working for the company. “I began collecting when I was 14 years old,” Tom shared.
At the show, Tom pointed out an Allis Chalmers paper weight that he said was unusual on display in the booth of Niles Sharp of Benton, Ill. Tom shared that this item was available only through Allis Chalmers dealers. “You got this when you bought a crawler,” Tom shared.
Sharp added that the AC paper weight came in four variations. “One doesn’t have the blade,” Niles shared. “This one has the hydraulic cylinders. One has the hydraulic cylinders with a bar that came across and lifted the blades.”
He also described another version of the toy which like the real one had a blade that was lifted by a winch. The bar went above the head that lifted and lowered the blade and Niles added, “That was called a Noggin Knocker.”
The toys all have the name Baker on the blade because Niles pointed out although Allis Chalmers produced the tractor, the blade was made by Baker. This was just one of the interesting items at the 2010, sixth annual show.
Jim Kistler, a collector and toy dealer from St. Louis, Mo. also had a rare Arcade Service model building. Arcade Manufacturing Co., Freeport, Ill., is where Arcade farm toys were produced. Their toys included doll houses and furniture, cars, trucks, buses, planes, farm vehicles and of course, the famous farm toys. Arcade produced realistic farm toys from cast iron in a variety of models. While the toys themselves are found quite often, the buildings are rarely seen. Arcade toys would be placed around the building that Jim shared also had a pump that would be outside the Arcade Service station. “This building has one door and there is another version that has two,” he added.
Bud Redeford, a John Deere collector from Glenarm, Ill. drove the two hours south to attend this first show of the season. At the show, Bud and Tom were vying over which brand AC or JD was the most impressive. While there was no clear winner in the debate, it was clear that those that braved the chill of the winter’s Arctic blast, that held even southern Illinois in its grip, liked all the toys and memorabilia regardless of the make and model. |
| 2/17/2010 |
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