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'49 Chevy Grain Truck Untouched by Time
Fifty years ago, Raymond Elder bought a brand new 1949 Chevy grain truck. Special care (and an annual coat of polish) kept the vintage classic in great shape as the decades slipped by. Raymond Elder has since passed on, but the truck remains a cherished -and working - part of the Elder family.
On a warm, summer day in 1949, Donald Elder (Raymond's son) and Dale Brown (Donald's then 10-year-old nephew) were sent to town to get the new' truck and bring it home. Home was rural Bluemound, IL near the Osbernville grain elevator.
Donald lives only a half-mile from where they brought home the Chevy. That trip remains a vivid memory.
Getting the truck home was a bit of a challenge.
"I remember when we turned onto Eldorado," Donald said. "It was the first time I drove anything with dual wheels ... I turned too short and ran up on the curb!"
Each harvest since, for more than 50 years, the Elders' Chevy has been used to haul grain to the Osbernville elevator. Now in its sixth decade, the old Chevy still pulls its weight.
When Donald Elder (left) and Dale Brown brought this '49 Chevy truck home from the dealership more than 50 years ago, they would never have dreamed that the truck would still be at work in the year 2000. For all of those years, the Chevy has played a key role in Elder's annual harvest operation. Donald and his sons, Calvin and R.D., farm about 650 acres near Osbernville, IL.
"It is not one of our starting players," Donald's son, Calvin, said, "but it still comes up to bat sometimes."
Three generations of the Elder family have taken their turn at the wheel.