Tractor Shows
"Another piece of America's lost..."
Howdy.
This is a page all about tractor shows the way I remember them while growing up.
The Jerseyville Tractor Show
Fred Nolan has one of the best tractor shows if you're looking for old, unusual,
original tractors as well as good, clean fun. There's a 'tater dig for the kids,
music all day and well into the night, dances, Civil War re-enactments, booths
and tents of all sorts, and plenty of good eating. If you're wondering when and
where all this good stuff is going on, just hold your horses. This happens every
Labor Day Weekend at Jerseyville, Illinois. It's north of Alton a bit, just a
few miles outside of Jerseyville. Fred, his wife, their son, and my family all
get together to help put this on. He's got a sawmill, Rumley Oil-Pull, Cross-Motored
Huber, Pioneer, and many many more. The show itself takes place on about 50 acres around
a beautiful post-Civil War home built by a Confederate officer after he was injured
in the war. The house itself is worth seeing as much as the rest of the show,
and tours are given all day. It only costs a few dollars and it's lots of fun.
Seeing as the next Labor Day is still a sight off, I'll have
to wait to give you the specifics.
My Favorite Tractor Show
Tractor shows were an adventure to be treasured when I was growing up. Few
things in this whole world were as important to me as tractor shows back then.
It never failed. We'd load a couple old tractors on the truck and head for a
show. That truck cab was crowded with the five of us in there, but we didn't
mind so much. It was all well worth it. As usual when you're a kid, the trip
seems to take ten times as long as it would normally. After a few times of,
"Are we there yet?" Dad would threaten to turn around and go home...nothing ever
shut us up so fast as that. And it only took once.
Once we finally got there (after a lifetime it seemed), the first thing we did
was unload the tractors. First off was usually the Bantam. The Bantam was a
special little tractor made for doing small jobs like cutting the grass or plowing
snow (which it did more than once), but it was the perfect size for kids. Truth
be told, whoever designed it did not have average sized men in mind. My Dad isn't
and wasn't what you'd call a "big" man, but he was still terribly oversized to
run the tractor. The only reason he bought it was for us kids, my two older
brothers and myself. We ran that thing ragged. Did I say we? I meant they. We
were supposed to take turns driving, of course, but I usually ended up riding on
the fender all day. It was an incredible stroke of luck if they happened to get
tired of driving and actually let me have a go at it. But it was so much fun.
Dad had his tractor (almost always the 40-62 Super-Four Huber) and we had our
little Bantam.
One year, I remember quite plainly, we went to a tractor show in Arcola, Illinois.
It had been terrible wet that year and none of the steam engines or tractors were
going. The ones that tried to get out just got stuck. But not the Bantam. It
was small enough that we could push it out ourselves if, on one of the rare
occasions, it happened to get stuck. The ground was nothing but mud. But we
went. And those people setting around got the biggest kick out of watching us...
A lot of the time, I sat in a little red wagon pulled by the Bantam. I'd ride
while they drove. Well, that day I was all dressed up in my pretty little white,
Sunday best dress and I had no intention of getting out of that wagon. If I got dirty, Mom
and Dad would kill me. I believe my oldest brother was driving when he decided
to take a shortcut across this giant mudhole. We were doing fine until about half-way
through. I reckon it was a root, but whatever it was, when the wagon hit it, it
turned over on its side. But never fear, I held on. So there we were, my oldest
brother driving, my other brother sitting on the fender, and me getting drug through
a mudhole by a little Bantam tractor. When we finally made it out, my brothers
took me over to the water hose and washed me off. I'll never forget it. We even
made the local papers and the local news...a couple of reporters had gotten a great shot of me being drug
through that mud and decided to do a few pieces on it. Wasn't I proud. My Dad
still has an old newspaper cut-out with us on it. Even today, years and years later, people
who were at that tractor show will come up to my brothers and myself and joke
about it. Those people have never forgotten that little tractor and those little
kids who were the only excitement in a muddy tractor show. They'll never
forget it. And neither will I.
Tractor Shows in General
Sadly, they're changing. Few shows now
have the steam engines, balers, hayrakes, and everything else like they used to. And
the people themselves are changing. By and large, the younger generations have no idea
how things used to be and to tell the truth I really don't think they care. I'm young
and I care, but I'm one of terribly few who do, one of a dying race. Of all the people I know and of all the
people I've met, not even a handful of younger people were truly interested. That's not
only sad, it's depressing. And awful. We're losing our own heritage.
A great deal has been lost already, the ways, the customs, the lifestyles of the
people. The newer generations, even Generation X, don't know anything about it.
They've never felt a Pioneer shake the ground when it goes by or played in the
straw pile from a threshing machine or smelled steam engine smoke. God, that is
one of the most wonderful smells in all the world. Those of you who have had the
good fortune to smell it know what I'm talking about. It's beautiful. And most
of America doesn't even know it exists. Tractor shows aren't just someplace to
go and see tractors, it's a place to go and see the past. When they're gone, a
huge piece of our past will be gone, as well...becoming just so many more storybook
stories twisted and mangled by the ignorance and apathy of the rising times. A very
smart, wonderful man once told me, "The winner's write the books." The Past stands
no chance against the Future...the Future wins every time. And so the Past is written
as the winners want it to be written, not neccessarily the way it was. That is
why I consider tractor shows so important. The real ones, the good ones, are few
and far between, usually put on by individuals who can use all the help they can get.
Lend a helping hand, even if it's only as a patron. You'll probably be surprised
how much fun you have.
The shows nowdays have brand new tractors in them, common tractors, nothing
special. And you'd be hard pressed to find a set of men running a threshing
machine at any of them. I remember playing in the straw from those seperators
and getting chaf all down my back...and I wouldn't trade it for anything. They
were truly golden days. But the youth of today don't even have the chance to
experience it. They have movies and video games and computers...and there's
nothing wrong with that. Lord knows, I like them as much as the next person. But if they could just
see how much fun we used to have, maybe they could appreciate what we've lost. But
honestly, I don't believe they would, not even if they had the chance. The world is
changing too fast. It has been said that the more things change the more they stay
the same...but this is one time where the more it changes, the more it doesn't
stay the same. And it's truly a pity.
A Short Story
One year at a tractor show I was having a good time, walking all over the place and looking
things over, when I came up to this big engine. It was a huge four-cylinder diesel (probably
10 - 12 feet tall and 15 or so feet long) and the patrons had just fired it up. Anybody with
any sense knew not to stand too close to it because the exhaust came straight out the side...and
being a diesel it was blowing all kinds of dirt and stuff out. A couple in their early 30's walked
right up where the exhaust was blowing out (you could see it plain as day...there was no way they
couldn't see it). Well, the woman was wearing a white shirt (big mistake in the first
place...people come to shows thinking they aren't going to get dirty...how funnny), then she started
complaining about something. They walked away from the engine and came towards me and I could hear
what she was complaining about...she was having a fit because the diesel had blown little black pieces
of grime onto her brand new, high-quality, snow-white shirt. I laughed. What kind of moron (in the
kindest word I could muster) walks right up into the smoky, dirty exhaust of a diesel then complains because it
blew some dirt on them? Well, I know one...but I bet she never goes to any more tractor shows.
That's the kind of nonsense people nowdays do. They don't want to get dirty, don't expect to get dirty, then
get mad when they do get dirty. Lordy, lordy...goodness gracious. Who honestly expects to go to
a show and not get some kind of dirt on them? No one in their right mind, that's who. And they
let something like that stand in their way of having a great time...that truly is moronic. The
worst part is that they don't just cheat themselves out of a good time, they cheat their children, their
grandchildren, and everyone else. Less people at the shows means less money coming in to keep
the shows going. How ignorant and stupid these people must be I can only imagine.
Well, that about wraps it up for me...the one that still loves tractors and engines and dirt and grime. A little
dirt never hurt anyone (and I should know...I used to dine on clods as an after-dinner dessert). Good old tractor
shows are wonderful places to meet people, learn things, and experience life. Nothing on earth could make me give
up the memories and good-times I've had. Until you've been to one, you just don't know what you're missing.
Thank you kindly for stopping by. Have a nice day.
Come back soon!
Links
Home
Sister Page
Email: zwampee@yahoo.com
