Hog oiler heaven
Your two articles "Yankee Ingenuity" in the December issue and "Out of the Hills of New England" in the January issue were very well written. Thank you for including Anne and I, along with the Nason, Chicoine and Davison families in the January issue.
I remember very vividly when the author's husband took the picture of me in front of the oiler display. On Dec. 18 I received a phone call from Bob Patterson, Sheridan, Ore. He read your article and saw my display of oilers and asked me if I had a Lunkenheimer Oiler. If not he had a number of them and would like to send me one, along with the original instruction sheet, which he did.
If Farm Collector were not read nationwide, I might not have obtained the oiler for my collection. Thank you again twice!
Stumped on pump
I have a water pump that I restored. This is the only one I have seen with two pump rods. It pumps when you pump the handle up and also down. There is no name on the pump. Does anyone know information about this brand of pump? It would be greatly appreciated.
- George H. Archer, 695 N.W. 43rd Ave., Des Moines, IA 50313; (515) 244-1784
Shedding more light on Dietz lanterns
Nancy Smith s article on lanterns implied that Dietz lanterns were manufactured in Hong Kong after the founder of the company, R.E. Dietz, died. Actually, most of the lanterns were manufactured in Syracuse, N.Y. From the mid-1800s to the 1960s, the lanterns were manufactured at the factory located on Wilkinson Street in Syracuse. Due to rising labor costs, manufacturing was transferred to Hong Kong, and now takes place in China. Lanterns are now sold through catalogs. The old Dietz factory still exists in Syracuse.
- Bill Zachow, e-mail: bzachow@dreamscape.com
Massey-Harris know-how found in original manuals
In your January 2003 Farm Collector on page 12, you received some incorrect information about the Massey-Harris Model 81 Tractor.
I have one just like it that I bought used in 1951 and have the original operating instructions and service manual. It shows a four-cylinder and not a six-cylinder Continental engine, and a four-speed transmission instead of a three-speed.