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"Everybody else who worked there was much older than I was. I had to leave high school at the end of my sophomore year," he says, "because my parents couldn't afford books or clothes for school. My dad was unemployed."

So Leaich went to "National," and lied about his age. "I was 15, but I told them I was 17, so I could get the Job." That was Dec. 11, 1936. After a few months the boss asked Wade if he could read blueprints. "I told them I could if I was given the chance. I'd never had any experience at it, so he let me learn to be a setup man. So I began to set up the machines that did the machine work on the Vindex toys."

Each Vindex toy had its exact requirements. "The blueprint called for certain dimensions on the parts, and if they wanted a hole drilled in the part and a (screw) tap, they tell you what size tap goes in there and the depth of the thread. So what I did was set up the machine to run that part." The screw machine, or lathe, or milling machine also had to be set to different specifications for different toys, and when a new one came out - like the Case Manure Spreader (Case Spreader, #74) - or a new novelty, like the toy wheelbarrow - (#57), the machines had to be recalibrated. That was Wade's job.

"These toys were made in parts, and sections, like halves," he says. "They had to be riveted together, and all these parts had to pivot, like the front axle on the John Deere tractor, and the casting that the axle went through pivoted also, so the front wheels would turn, like the steering wheel in your car. There were quite a few different operations to learn, and it was kind of difficult, but I needed the job, so I figured I'd better get busy and learn it, so I did. I worked there for six years, and when I left, they offered me more money not to."

Though there are doubtless people who love the Vindex Oldsmobile cars or Harley Davidson motorcycles, many people have a special place in their hearts for Vindex farm toys. Like Ray Lacktorin of Stillwater, Minn.

"One of the reasons I'm interested in cast iron is that it's got its own mystique," he says. "When you see a nice cast iron piece, you know that it's probably real, because you really can't go out and duplicate that stuff and make it look real old."

He says no other cast iron-manufacturing companies made toys as wonderfully as Vindex and their John Deere and Case farm toy lines. "The cast iron on all Vindex pieces, except for their cars, is so thin and the workmanship is so great," he adds. "No company has come close to the quality and the way they're made. You'll never have to apologize for owning any piece of Vindex."

Ray's favorite Vindex piece is the John Deere combine. "I think that is the greatest piece there is, the way it's made, and so operational, and it looks so much like the real thing," he says. "It's just a great piece, and Vindex did such beautiful work on it."

He also really likes the Van Brunt grain drill. "It's just a fantastic, great piece." He says part of the reason the Vindex toys are so exquisitely made was probably because Vindex was a division of the National Sewing Machine Company.

Dale Johansen of Larimer, Iowa, also is very fond of Vindex farm toys. "I had a cast iron manure spreader when I was a kid, and I've got one just like it right now," he says. "I had a John Deere Vindex three-bottom plow, and I've got one of those now, too."


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