Articles on threshing, print shop spur memories

December 2009
Emil J. Partak 
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Two articles in the September 2009 issue of Farm Collector really struck a chord and brought back fond memories of my early years.

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Sam Moore’s “Threshing Memories” took me back to my childhood on a small farm in northern Wisconsin. First, the memories of the giant old Avery gas tractor puck-pucking slowly up the road at (to me) a snail’s pace, followed by the awesome sounds, smells and bustle of men and noisy machinery with pulleys, wheels, shafts, belts and monstrous-looking teeth was equaled only in my later years by the same scene.

That time the same thresher was powered by a beautiful Minneapolis-Moline. As a boy of 10 or 12, I was old enough to help with the sacks of oats filled by the spewing pipe while dust and straw settled on me. How grown-up I felt in being able to help. That, followed by a huge meal for a dozen or so men, made this annual event more exciting than even Christmas or birthdays. Unfortunately, in 1944 when I was 12, my father’s sudden disability forced our family to move to Chicago where my mother could support us in a war plant job. For several years now I’ve toured the country attending threshing shows. I relive those wonderful times and never tire of it.

Next, the excellent article on the Printers’ Hall at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, reminded me of the eight years between ages 16 and 24 that I spent working part-time and summers in a small job shop close to home. There I was involved in every phase of letterpress printing except linotype operation while I pursued my education in dentistry. I learned the printing trade at J.S. Morton High School in Cicero, Ill.

To all of you who produce this excellent magazine: Thanks for the memories!

Emil J. Partak, DDS
Venice, Fla.

Send letters to: Farm Collector, 1503 S.W. 42nd St., Topeka, KS 66609; FAX: (785) 274-4385; e-mail: editor@farmcollector.com.

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