ELDON —
The Old Iron Show gave people the chance to see how farm equipment has evolved over time and how it made life easier for homesteaders and family farms.
Tom Nichols, coordinator of the Old Iron Show, which was held at the Wapello County Fairgrounds, said he and other Eldon Masonic Lodge members planned the first show to share their hobbies with the community.
The show was also started as a way to create more funds for the Masonic Lodge’s scholarship program for Cardinal High School seniors.
“Each of us have a hobby,” Nichols said, whether it’s antique cars, tractors or steam engines. “We’re passionate about old iron and want to share it with others. We hope to get other young people inspired.”
The show featured antique cars, old tractors, gas and steam engines, tools and agricultural and construction items.
“Basically anything that helped develop this country,” Nichols said. “People don’t have exposure to it. They don’t understand how we got to where we are today.”
If there’s enough interest, Nichols said the lodge will continue the show next year and hopefully expand it to a two-day event.
“As you can see, most people here are seniors,” Nichols said. “It brings back lots of memories for them.”
Richard Hemm, another lodge member, showed five Model A and Model T antique cars Saturday.
“People like to see it,” Hemm said. “It gives the guys that own this stuff a chance to show them.”
“The thing I like to see best is bugs plastered on the radiator, ‘cause that means they’re driving them,” Hemm said.
One piece of equipment, a 1917 22-horsepower Wood Brothers steam engine, was built in Des Moines and is now owned by Frank Tharp, of Albia.
Tharp said he has always been interested in old machinery since he grew up around it.
Roger Elliott and his wife, Norma, of Libertyville, have been collecting equipment from Louden Machinery Company, which operated in Fairfield from 1867 to 1953.
Louden is known for its hay carrier, litter carrier, overhead carrier and jointed door hanger, among others.
“I started showing in Mount Pleasant in 1971 after I got back from the service in 1970,” Roger said. “It’s evolved from there.”
Elliott showed everything from a “one man band,” which showed off several Louden pieces of equipment, to a litter carrier, which allowed farmers to push manure from a stall along a track to outside the barn, where it could be dumped.
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Related Photos
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Frank Tharp gave rides on his 1917 Wood Brothers steam engine Saturday. The Old Iron Show at the Wapello County Fairgrounds featured tractors, antique cars and other machinery. Chelsea Davis/The Courier
October 1, 2012
Old Iron Show showcases farm equipment, steam engines
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