Dedicated toy man

Image Gallery McCormick-Deering dealership sign

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It takes a toy collector to truly love a toy show, and Don Dinges of Sublette, Ill., sure fits the profile. Don started collecting toys as a child; 20 years ago, he helped organize the first Sublette Toy Show, and today he continues to serve on that event's organizing committee. The show has grown into one of the state's largest, and last March's installment drew more than 7,000 people to Sublette, a north central Illinois community with a population of 500. As the show has grown, so has Don's toy collection, which includes a number of antiques as well as all the 'featured toys' from the show over the years. He owns examples of many makes and models of toy farm equipment and cars, and he favors the International Harvester (IH) brand. Besides being a member of the original Sublette Toy Show committee, Don is a member of one of the original families to settle Sublette. In 1893, his great-uncle, Paul Stephenitch, opened a hardware and implement store there that soon became the International Harvester dealership.

After World War II, the dealership moved to nearby Mendota, where it remains today as the Ace Hardware store, still owned and operated by the family. Both Don and his father, Raymond 'Mike' Dinges, now 92 and still living in Sublette, worked there - Don while he was in high school and college, and Mike for 40 years.

Mike has preserved the 1930s vintage Stephenitch IH dealership sign that once hung in Sublette, and encouraged his son's toy collecting.

Don's first toy collectible was a 1949 Ford automobile, a gift from his parents while he was still in grade school. Other childhood favorites include a 1941 cast-iron IH pickup, significant to Don because few iron toys were made after World War II, and one of the first plastic IH Ms, which came out right after WWII. The M was a gift too, from the uncle who then owned the dealership.

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