Sometimes collectibles can be part of the business atmosphere. On a recent trip to the Maple Hill Farms in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, I saw a neat example of this. The young woman that provided the tour of the dairy herd had a dairy cow display from the 1947 Virginia state fair. She had great fun buying the display and painting it. Down the road, she was able to use this cool farm collectible, along with other dairy items that she collected, to educate the public at Maple Hill. She also uses this collectible to teach school children the connection between cows and milk. That is just one example of how our business and hobby can combine.

*This collectible came originally from the 1947 Virginia fair and is now used for educational purposes at Maple Hill Farms.*

In North Carolina, there are many historic sites where farm collectibles are part of the atmosphere like at the Duke Homestead, where Washington Duke farmed before and after the Civil War. This is a state historic site and national historic landmark in Durham, North Carolina. The site commemorates the place where Washington Duke founded the nation’s largest early-20th-century tobacco firm, the American Tobacco Co. The home is open to the public along with the Duke home, the tobacco packing barn, and the barn where the tobacco was cured. Next to the barns there was farm equipment on display to help show how the tobacco was stored and processed. Sometimes collecting not only adds to the hobby, but educates the public on how these tools and machinery were used in the past.

Collecting truly can be an act of agricultural preservation and education. What items will you find to help this cause?

*At the Duke Homestead, there are items like the tobacco sled that are on display to show visitors how tobacco was processed.*

Girard Auction and Land Brokers — Ankeny, Iowa

On June 15, 2017, at 10 a.m., Girard Auction will offer a summer toy sale at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel. This auction will be held at the start of the 2017 Red Power Round-up. The collection includes over 400 cataloged lots of mainly International Harvester toys, but the auction also includes some great John Deere and 4-wheel-drive toys, too. For more information on this auction, view this PDF.

*This new-in-box Scout is a great example of a few of the toys available at this summer auction that takes place right before the Red Power Round-up.*

Red Power Magazine has information about the 2017 Red Power Round-up at this link. The Red Power Round-up is a great place to see everything IH, and it comes once every two years. If you are a Farmall fan, this is the show for you. I love the fact that the Red Power Round-up also offers some great tours, as well.

Nixon Auctioneers — Chisago City, Minnesota

Beginning at 9 a.m. on June 23–24, 2017, Nixon Auctioneers will be selling the estate of Gordon Nelson. The collection includes large gas engines, antique tractors, garden tractors, vehicles, and literature and farm collectibles.

The auctioneer’s notes stated: “Gordon [Nelson] was active as a young boy and enjoyed taking things apart. Through the NYA [National Youth Administration], he attended a machinist trade school in Shakopee [Minnesota]. During the 1940s, Gordon worked as a machinist with Lockheed Aircraft Service Co. in California. He then when on to work for Honeywell in Minneapolis for 21 years, which included items used in the NASA space program. Gordon started his own business in 1965 in Chisago County. He turned his hobby of collecting old tractors and gas engines into a company called Gor-Nel-Co, which made parts and restored machines. It developed into a mail order business sending parts all over the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. Gordon passed away in 1998, and everything has been left in the buildings since then.”

Some of the fun items offered at this sale include Cushman scooters, a Graham Bradley, plows, tons of gas engines, and more. To learn more about this huge sale, visit the auction’s website.

Polk Auction Co. — Flora, Indiana

Starting at 9 a.m., Eastern time, on Aug. 12, 2017, Polk Auction Co. is auctioning the Blaine Brubaker Collection. This auction offers literature, collectibles, parts, tractors and implements. Examples of literature include John Deere pocket ledgers from: 1885, 1902, 1904, 1924–25, 1936–90s. The collection also includes implement manuals from the 1920s and 1930s, and more. While there are John Deere and IH tractors, there is also a Gehl 2500 gas skid loader.

For more information, check out Polk Auction’s website.

With educational purposes in mind, whether it is for your business or your personal collections see what flips your lid, and add it to your collection. We would love to hear from you about some of your great finds. As summer arrives, get out and enjoy and bid away! Maybe we will see you there.

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